Structure-Independent Parallel Platform for Nonlinear Analyses of General Real-Scale RC Structures under Cyclic Loading

Abstract

Notwithstanding powerful computational simulation methodologies available today, there remain significant challenges: the plane-section assumption of popular fiber models, the scale limitations of sophisticated microscopic methodologies such as particle-lattice models, and the difficulty in describing structural damage in actual physical terms. Here, the authors validated a structure-independent parallel platform that tackles these challenges. Nonlinearity is captured by novel microphysical mechanisms: a multidirectional smeared crack model, a tribology-inspired three-dimensional (3D) interlocking model, a topological transition-based steel bar model that captures progressive buckling, and a general confinement model exploiting nonlocal information (i.e., mesh-objective proximity to adjacent reinforcements and boundaries). These innovative features are made possible by virtue of optimized parallel algorithms. The validation and application span a variety of RC elements: columns with a hollow or solid section, rectangular walls with or without opening, and H- or T-shaped multistory walls. Importantly, all simulations embrace realistic geometry and reinforcements, but they require only two material properties and no structure-dependent calibrations. The universality and efficiency of the platform will feed more physical damage information to fragility functions, and also give rise to a powerful tool for next generation performance-based engineering, which calls for a multitude of structural analyses.