Numerical modeling of composite beam to reinforced concrete wall joints: Part II: Global behavior

• Numerical simulation of composite beam to reinforced concrete wall joints.
• Validation of numerical models against experimental tests by means of M–Φ curves.
• Reasonable approximation of local results.
• Numerical characterization of the joint behavior.
• Parametric study extending the range of the experimental investigations.

This paper presents the second part of a numerical study that aims to reproduce the behavior of a novel type of joint between a composite beam and reinforced concrete wall using the finite element software ABAQUS. The joint configuration was developed within the RFCS project “InFaSo”, which provided the experimental results. In a preceding paper, the calibration of the joint components modeling through benchmarking was presented. Next, a three-dimensional FE model is proposed to simulate stiffness, strength and rotation behavior of the complete joint. The comparison between computation and experiments highlights the degree of accuracy of the proposed models. Subsequently, using the numerical data produced, the global behavior of the joint is further exploited. Finally, some parametrical variations put in evidence the influence of the longitudinal reinforcement bars in the composite beam, as the governing component, and analyze a variant of the joint configuration that aims to improve its performance.