Browsing by Author "Mensah, Kenneth Kwesi"

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    Reliability assessment of structural concrete with special reference to shear resistance
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012-03) Mensah, Kenneth Kwesi; Retief, J. V.; Viljoen, Celeste; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineeering. Dept. of Civil Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Structural design standards based on the principles of structural reliability are gaining worldwide acceptance and are fast becoming the new basis of structural safety verification. The application of these principles to establish a standardised basis for structural design using partial factor limit states design procedures is done in the European Standard for the Basis of Structural Design EN 1990 from which it is adapted to the South African Basis of Design Standard for Building and Industrial Structures SANS 10160-1. The basis of design requirements stipulated in EN 1990 and SANS 10160-1 apply to all aspects of structural design: This includes reliability levels of structural performance and their differentiation and management; identification of various limit states and design situations; the specification of all the basic variables; separate treatment of actions and material-based resistance. However, application of these requirements is then primarily focused on actions whilst the provision for structural concrete is then left to the materials based design standards. This two-part thesis describes a systematic assessment of the degree to which the application of the reliability framework presented in the basis of design requirements has been achieved in the present generation of structural concrete design standards. More importantly, attempts are made to identify ways in which the process can be advanced. Special attention is drawn to issues that are specific to South African conditions and practice in structural concrete. Part One of the thesis focuses on the key elements of the reliability framework presented in EN 1990 and traces to what extent the requirements have been propelled through the design stipulations of the Eurocode Standard for Design of Concrete Structures EN 1992-1-1. The implications of the different reference level of reliability between the Eurocode default value of ß = 3.8 and that characteristic of South African practice ß = 3.0 through various issues are highlighted. The use and advantage of explicit treatment of reliability performance on reliability management related to some aspects of quality control are explored. A critical aspect is the shear prediction model providing unconservative estimates of shear resistance. Part Two of the thesis focuses on characterising the model factor of the EN 1992-1-1 shear prediction model for members requiring design shear reinforcement. This is done by a comparison to a compiled experimental database with special focus on situations with high reinforcement ratios. The significance of the modelling uncertainty in shear prediction is verified by this comparison. The use of the more conceptually rational modified compression field theory (MCFT) to improve on the quality of shear predictions is investigated and proves to yield more precise values with lower scatter hence making it a more reliable tool for predicting shear. The MCFT can then be used as reference for the reliability calibration and possible improvement for the Eurocode procedure.
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    Reliability assessment of structural concrete with special reference to stirrup design
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-03) Mensah, Kenneth Kwesi; Viljoen, Celeste; Retief, J. V.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Civil Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Structural design standards based on the principles of structural reliability are gaining worldwide acceptance and are fast becoming the new basis for structural safety verification. The application of these principles to establish a standardised basis for structural design using partial factor limit states design procedures is done in the European Standard for the Basis of Structural Design EN 1990 from which it is adapted to the South African Standard Basis of Design for Building and Industrial Structures SANS 10160-1. South Africa (SA) is on the advent of adopting the European Concrete Design Standard EN 1992-1-1 (EC2) as the equivalent standard for local use. This investigation seeks to provide a transparent quantitative reliability basis for the SA’s adoption of EC2, as well as provide for its subsequent implementation under local conditions and practice. The investigation kicks-off with a critical review of the reliability framework for structural resistance. The review establishes the relationships between the key elements of the framework, shedding light on issues SA needs to consider as it adopts EC2. Important issues for SA to consider include (1) target levels of structural performance ( -values), (2) partial factors, (3) model uncertainties, and (4) quality control. Design for shear resistance was investigated in greater detail by comparison of EC2’s Variable Strut Inclination Method (VSIM) for stirrup design against alternative approaches, namely, (1) South Africa’s currently operational SANS 10100-1 procedure, and (2) the fib Model Code 2010 first Level of Approximation (LoA I) and fib LoA III, which are based on the Modified Compression Field Theory (MCFT). Unbiased capacity predictions from the MCFT-based sectional analysis Program Response-2000 (R2k) served as LoA IV best-estimate results during this assessment. Results of this investigation showed that EC2 offers higher capacity predictions in excess of 1 MPa of stirrup reinforcement, with significantly higher predictions in the range of 1 to 2 MPa. A reliability performance assessment was therefore commissioned to assess safety regimes in terms of achieved reliability across a parametric range of the amount of stirrup reinforcement (from 0.45 to 2.0 MPa). The First Order Reliability Method (FORM) was implemented as part of the reliability performance assessment of the EC2’s VSIM design procedure. The model uncertainty for shear resistance (stirrup failures) was characterised according to a database of published stirrupreinforced concrete beam shear tests. Three cases of the Model Factor for shear resistance were derived from the experimental database for alternative shear resistance prediction models; two of which formed part of basic investigations conducted using the conventionally formulated performance function, and the other was integrated as part of an independent validation procedure using R2k predictions to obtain the reliability model. Results obtained from the basic reliability model ( -values) generally indicated lower levels of reliability with an increase in stirrup reinforcement and concrete strength, compared to those estimated from the R2k-based reliability model ( -values). The disparity between and -values revealed that systematic effects affect each model’s ability to predict the expected value of true shear resistance . There is reasonable evidence to suggest that the predictions of can be improved by accounting for each model’s peculiar sensitivity to concrete strength, consequently providing more representative estimates of . However, in the interim, and -values, respectively, represent reasonable lower and upper bound estimates of the performance of EC2’s VSIM design procedure.