Find in Library

Construction joints are stopping places in the process of placing concrete, and they are required because in many structures it is impractical to place concrete in one continuous operation. The amount of concrete that can be placed at one time is governed by batching and mixing capacity and by the strength of the formwork. A good construction joint should provide adequate flexural and shear continuity through the interface. In this study, available experimental tests were analyzed by using a nonlinear three-dimensional finite element ANSYS computer program (v. 9). In addition an interface model was proposed for the transverse construction joints.Six beams with different transverse construction joints at mid-span as well as to one reference beam without joint are analyzed. The reliability of the model is demonstrated by comparison with the experiment and alternative numerical analysis which shows 5-7% difference.