Effect of strain ratio variation on equivalent stress block parameters for normal weight high strength concrete

Replacement of actual stress distribution in a reinforced concrete (RC) flexural member with a simpler geometrical shape, which maintains magnitude and location of the resultant compressive force, is an acceptable conceptual trick. This concept was originally perfected for normal strength concrete. In recent years, high strength concrete (HSC) has been introduced and widely used in modern construction. The stress block parameters require updating to account for special features of HSC in the design of flexural members. In future, more varieties of concrete may be developed and a corresponding design procedure of RC flexural members will be required. The usual practice is to conduct large number of experiments on various sizes of specimen and then evolve an empirical relation. This paper presents a numerical procedure through which the stress block parameters can be numerically derived for a given strain ratio variation. The material model for concrete is presented and computational procedure is described. This procedure is illustrated with several variations of strain ratio. The advantages of numerical procedure are that it costs less and it can be used with new material models for any new variety of concrete.