Numerical modeling of bond in cracked reinforced concrete elements

Bond modeling is quite a complex problem, since the constitutive laws of concrete, steel and their interface should be taken into account and combined with structural behavior, which is in turn influenced by several pa-rameters, such as type and size of reinforcing bars, concrete properties, loading history and conditions, an-chorage arrangement, etc. For these reasons, several models have been developed in the past, which necessari-ly tackle the problem in a simplified way. Among possible approaches, non linear FE methods allow a quite realistic description of the influence exerted by bond on structural behavior. In this work, this last approach has been followed, by implementing some of the most known bond-slip models into 2D-PARC constitutive relation for RC elements subjected to plane stresses, which accounts for tension stiffening contribution in the cracked stage. The effectiveness of the proposed procedure has been proved by performing some comparisons with experimental tests on simple structural elements.