The Numerical Simulation of Disturbed Region Corbels Containing Sustainable Concrete

The concept of sustainable concrete is aimed at using alternative materials instead of natural resources in concrete production. In recent years, many experimental and numerical studies have been carried out to show that sustainable concrete is an alternative to conventional concrete. In this study, a detailed numerical simulation of reinforced concrete corbels produced with sustainable concrete has been conducted comprehensively. According to the author's best knowledge, the novelty of this study: (1) this is the first time that comprehensive numerical simulation results of sustainable concrete corbels are reported in detail, (2) investigation of the applicability of existing numerical models in sustainable concrete corbels, (3) contribution the realistic simulation of the structural behavior of sustainable concrete corbels. It should also be highlighted that the variables included in the study were the recycled concrete aggregate ratio, the shear span-to-effective depth ratio, the tapering ratio, the angle between strut and tie element, and the amount of reinforcement. Furthermore, the numerical simulation results obtained by the finite element and truss analogy methods were extensively compared with the experimental results. In addition, a structural optimization design was executed on a short corbel to check the suitability of the selected truss analogy model. Based on the study, the simulation results obtained from the finite element method agreed fairly well with the experimental results. Furthermore, the truss analogy method provided relatively accurate and conservative results compared with the experimental results depending on the span-to-depth ratio. Besides, some recommendations for designing sustainable concrete corbels were also discussed.