Strength Calculation of the Coupling of the Floor Slab and the Monolithic Reinforced Concrete Frame Column by the Finite Element Method

   This study aims at developing the concept of fragmentation of the frame to assess the load-bearing capacity of the floors.   As a rule, a frame-rod design scheme is used under the finite elementmodeling of high-rise buildings made of monolithic reinforced concrete. Numerical experiments using volume-rod and volume-plate models of a repeating structural fragment were performed on a test example of a six-span three-storey monolithic reinforced concrete frame. Practical recommendations have been developed for the refined strength calcula-tion of the floors of monolithic reinforced concrete frames of multistorey buildings.   Materials and Methods. Computational experiments were performed using the ANSYS Mechanical software package, in which the finite element method was implemented in the form of a displacement method. A plate-rod ensemble of finite elements was used to simulate the stress-strain state of a monolithic reinforced concrete frame. The refined calculation of the coupling zone of the floor slab and column under static loading was performed using solid, beam, truss and plate elements.   Results. An engineering technique has been developed for numerical analysis of the stress-strain state of the coupling of the floor and the column of the reinforced concrete monolithic frame under static loading. The most accurate result was provided by a finite element model constructed using beam finite elements as reinforcing rods.   Discussion and Conclusions. The developed technique of numerical modeling of the coupling of the floor and the column made it possible to estimate the real strength margin of this node, taking into account the real geometry of reinforcing grids, as well as to clarify the bearing capacity of a monolithic reinforced concrete frame under various loading scenarios.