* Corresponding author. Tel.: 0065-874-2158.

E-mail address: cvetheve@nus.edu.sg (V. Thevendran)

Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 32 (1999) 125}139
Nonlinear analysis of steel}concrete composite beams curved
in plan
V. Thevendran*, S. Chen, N.E. Shanmugam, J.Y. Richard Liew
Department of Civil Engineering, National University of Singapore 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260, Singapore
Abstract
This paper deals with the behavior of structural steel}concrete composite beams curved in plan. The "nite
element package ABAQUS has been used to study the nonlinear behavior and ultimate load-carrying
capacity of such beams. A three-dimensional "nite element model has been adopted. Shell elements have
been used to simulate the behavior of concrete slab and steel girder, and rigid beam elements to simulate the
behavior of shear studs. The proposed "nite element model has been validated by comparing the computed
values with available experimental results. An acceptable correlation has been observed between the
computed and experimental results obtained for beams of realistic proportion. 1999 Elsevier Science B.V.
All rights reserved.
Keywords: Steel}concrete composite beams; Beams curved in plan; Ultimate load behavior; Nonlinear analysis; Finite
element method
1. Introduction
I-girders curved in plan are frequently employed in structures such as highway bridges, inter-
changes in large urban areas and balconies of buildings. Despite the advantages of composite
construction, engineers are reluctant to use curved composite girders in construction because of
mathematical complexities associated with geometry and material. Under gravity loading, beams
curved in plan are subjected to twisting moments in addition to #exural moments. In a highly
curved beam, the interaction between #exural and torsional stresses along the span length is rather
complex. Using conventional analytical methods to analyze a structure with both geometric and
0168-874X/99/$- see front matter 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 1 6 8 - 8 7 4 X( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 1 0 - 4
MSC-NASTRAN is a trademark of MacNeal-Schendler Corporation.
Nomenclature
The following symbols are used in this paper:
c
`
"crack width
E

"Young's modulus of concrete

E
'
"Young's modulus of steel
f

"stress of concrete
f
"
"cube strength of concrete
f
'`
"yield stress of steel
f
'"
"ultimate stress of steel
f
'"
"ultimate tensile stress of concrete
G "shear modulus
G

"elastic shear modulus of the uncracked concrete

l

"typical distance between cracks

P
"
"ultimate loading
"direct strain across the crack

"strain of concrete

"
"strain of concrete at which the maximum compressive stress is reached

"
"strain of concrete at which the concrete crushes

`
"c
U
/l
A
"0.005

"Poisson's ratio of concrete

'
"Poisson's ratio of steel
material nonlinearities might be di$cult, if not impossible. However, the availability of high-speed
digital computers makes it somewhat possible to study the complex nonlinear behavior of such
structural elements and to account for in designs.
In the past, researchers have used "nite element method to analyze the inelastic large-displace-
ment behavior of straight composite beams. They have used di!erent "nite element models to
simulate the behavior of concrete, steel and stud connectors in their studies of straight composite
beams. Hirst and Yeo [1] set up a two-dimensional model for use with standard "nite element
programs. Four-noded plane elements were used to simulate the concrete slab and steel beam while
standard quadrilateral elements were used in connecting the nodes on concrete part and steel part.
The material properties of these quadrilateral elements were adjusted to make them equivalent in
both strength and sti!ness to the actual stud connector. In addition, since the main function of
shear connectors is to transfer shear force across the steel concrete interface, pin jointed bar
elements of e!ective in"nite sti!ness have been added to prevent transfer of direct stress across the
interface of the elements.
A three-dimensional "nite element model was proposed by Brockenbrough [2] to study curved
multiple I-girder bridge using the software MSC/NASTRAN. In this three-dimensional model,
the concrete deck had been modeled with QUAD4 shell elements, the girder #anges with BAR
126 V. Thevendran et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 32 (1999) 125}139
` ABAQUS is a trademark of HKS.
elements (including axial and bending strains in two directions, and torsional e!ects), the girder
web with QUAD4 shell elements (four elements through depth of girder), and the connectors
between steel #ange to concrete deck with RBAR elements (rigid links connecting all degrees of
freedom to simulate composite action with the slab). The concrete deck was treated uncracked
throughout the bridge.
Razaqpur and Nafal [3] investigated the behavior of straight composite beam using the "nite
element software NONLACS [4] by adopting a three-dimensional "nite element model. They
applied facet shell elements on modeling concrete slab and steel beam. Shear stud connector
elements used in NONLACS permitted the modeling of full, partial, and no interaction at the
interface of the concrete slab and the steel beam. Tan et al. [5] and Liew et al. [6] adopted
a three-dimensional "nite element model to study the behavior of steel I-girder curved in plan using
the "nite element software ABAQUS` [7]. The curved beam was discretized into small "bers
consisting of triangular and quadrilateral shell elements.
However, there is a lack of research "ndings about the elastic and ultimate load behavior of
composite beams curved in plan. The present study is concerned with the ultimate load behavior of
such beams. Five curved composite beams, which were tested earlier by the authors, have been
analyzed using ABAQUS software. The ultimate strength values, load-de#ection curves and stress
distribution across the section obtained using ABAQUS are compared with the corresponding
experimental results to verify the accuracy of the proposed "nite element model.
2. Experimental investigation
As a part of the present study, experiments were carried out on steel}concrete composite beams
curved in plan to investigate the behavior and to determine the ultimate failure load. A series of "ve
large-scale composite beams (SP1}SP5) with span-length to radius of curvature (/R) ratios
ranging from 0 to 0.5 were tested to failure under a concentrated load applied at midspan. Each
specimen was 6.2 m long simply supported over a span of 6 m and consisted of a main girder and
three secondary beams. The main girder and secondary girders were made of UB356;
171;57 kg/m. The concrete slab of all specimens was a normal weight concrete slab with overall
thickness of 100 mm. The width of the slab was 1500 mm. The test setup was basically same for
both straight and curved specimens. The tests were carried out after the concrete had achieved its
design strength. A rest rig built on a strong #oor and capable of applying up to a maximum load of
2000 kN was used to test the specimens. The rollers were inserted at one end of the specimen and
the supporting beam to ensure the simply supported condition. The transverse beams at the ends of
specimen were to simulate the intersection brace at support in practice. The transverse beam at the
middle was for transmitting concentrated load to the specimen more smoothly. The load was
applied by a 1000 kN Shimadzu actuator as a monatonic concentrated load through a steel box
section welded at the midspan of steel beam. The straight beam was instrumented for measurement
of vertical de#ections along the length of the specimen, steel and concrete strains at midspan and
the slip between concrete slab and steel beam. For curved beams, transducers were mounted to
V. Thevendran et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 32 (1999) 125}139 127
Fig. 1. Typical "nite element mesh for composite beams curved in plan.
measure both vertical and lateral de#ections. Furthermore, concrete strains at quarter span were
also measured for SP3, SP4, and SP5. During testing, the steel beam was examined for yielding and
the surface of concrete was carefully inspected for cracks developing on the concrete surface.
Testing was terminated when crushing of the concrete occurred or the de#ection became excessive-
ly large and crack width excessively widened with the loading. The load}displacement curves,
ultimate load and mode of failure were recorded for each specimen.
3. Finite element analysis
3.1. Finite element model
A three-dimensional "nite element model with the following characteristics had been used in the
study:
1. Concrete slab } modeled by four-node isoparametric thick shell elements with the coupling of
bending and membrane sti!nesses.
2. Steel #ange and web } modeled by four-node isoparametric thin shell element with the coupling
of bending and membrane sti!nesses.
3. Shear connectors between concrete slab and steel #ange } modeled by rigid beam elements.
Full composite action between steel beam and concrete slab was assumed. The beams were simply
supported at their ends. A typical three-dimensional model with 1257 elements used in the study is
shown in Fig. 1.
128 V. Thevendran et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 32 (1999) 125}139
Table 1
Summary of coupon test results
Specimen Coupon
location
Young's modulus E
'
(GPa) Yield stress (MPa) Ultimate stress (MPa)
(E)
''
(E)
'
(
`
)
''
(
`
)
'
(
"
)
''
(
"
)
'
SP1 Flange 206.5 } 365.0 } 505.0 }
Web 210.0 } 390.0 } 542.0 }
SP2 Flange 220.0 225.0 371.0 385.0 522.0 537.0
Web 205.0 210.0 380.0 409.0 495.0 542.0
SP3 Flange 200.0 210.0 370.0 388.0 491.0 529.0
Web 210.0 220.0 401.0 401.0 502.0 530.0
SP4 Flange 212.5 217.5 352.0 391.0 535.0 549.0
Web 203.0 210.0 363.0 429.0 531.0 540.0
SP5 Flange 190.0 210.0 345.0 383.0 518.0 520.0
Web 199.0 220.0 338.0 400.0 520.0 525.0
(E)
''
"Modulus before bending; (E)
'
"Modulus after bending; (
`
)
''
"Yield stress before bending; (
W
)
?@
"Yield
stress after bending; (
"
)
''
"Ultimate stress before bending; (
"
)
'
"Ultimate stress after bending.
The rigid connection beam elements were used to model the shear studs in the "nite element
analysis of the beams. This is based on the assumption that no slip occurs between the concrete slab
and steel girder. In the experimental study, the interfacial slip at both ends between the slab and the
top #ange of steel girder was measured. The relative displacements at failure were found to be
negligibly small for all specimens and the maximum value recorded was 0.09 mm and hence the
slips could be ignored. The assumption of perfect bonding between the concrete slab and steel beam
in the analysis is, therefore, justi"ed.
Coupon test results for steel beams in all test specimens are summarized in Table 1. For each
specimen, average values of Young's modulus and yield stress given in the table have been used in
the "nite element analyses of the test specimens.
3.2. Material modeling
Steel was assumed to behave as an elastic}plastic material with strain hardening in both tension
and compression. Strain hardening had been modeled based on incremental plasticity theory. The
idealized stress}strain curve used in the numerical analysis is shown in Fig. 2(a). The constitutive
relation curve for concrete both in compression and tension is shown in Fig. 2(b). The material
model of concrete has the following characteristics:
1. Compressive behavior. Concrete in compression is considered to be elasto-plastic and strain-
hardening material. Its uniaxial compressive stress}strain curve is assumed to follow the expression
given below [8]:
f

"f

"
!

, (1)
where f is the cylinder compressive strength of concrete in MPa. The strain,
"
, at which the
maximum compressive stress is attained, is taken as 0.002; the strain,
"
, at which the concrete
reaches crushing, is taken as 0.0038.
V. Thevendran et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 32 (1999) 125}139 129
Fig. 2. (a) Idealized uniaxial stress}strain relationships for steel. (b) Idealized uniaxial stress}strain relationships for concrete.
2. Tensile behavior. The constitutive relation for the tensile behavior of concrete is approximated
by two linear parts. The "rst linear part joins the origin (zero stress at zero strain) to the maximum
uniaxial tensile stress, f
'"
, at the strain at which the concrete cracks. A linear softening model is
assumed with the tensile stress decreasing with increasing tensile strain. Beyond the strain value at
130 V. Thevendran et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 32 (1999) 125}139
which f
'"
is attained, the tensile stress is assumed to decrease linearly from f
'"
to zero in order to
re#ect the softening of the concrete due to crack.
3. Shear retention. The loss of shear modulus due to cracks is taken into account by using
a multiplying factor, which de"nes the modulus for shearing of cracks as G"G

, where G

is the
elastic shear modulus of the uncracked concrete. The shear retention model assumes that the shear
sti!ness of open cracks reduces linearly to zero as the crack opening widens. The multiplying factor
is
"

1!

for 0)(
`
, (2)
"0 for *
`
, (3)
where is the direct strain across the crack and
`
is the value given on the data card of the
option. Cedolin and Poli [9] proposed that the slope of the shear stress}shear displacement curve
decreases with crack width. The crack width for which the slope becomes zero is given as
c
`
"0.75 mm. Referring this magnitude to a typical distance between cracks in the real structures,
l

"150 mm,
`
"c
`
/l
A
"0.005. The model also assumes that cracks which subsequently close
have a reduced shear modulus where is assumed as 0.95.
3.3. Analysis parameters
The material properties of steel are speci"ed using the elastic}plastic with strain hardening
options. ABAQUS requires for this purpose the input of the Young's modulus of steel, E
'
; Poisson's
ratio,
'
; the yield stress of steel, f
'`
; and the ultimate stress of steel f
'"
. For concrete, the elastic
properties are de"ned by the elastic option and its compressive stress}strain relationship outside
the elastic range is speci"ed using the concrete option. The values of Young's modulus, E

;
Poisson's ratio,

; and the values of f

for several values of

and the corresponding values given by

(!f

/E

) are required as input. To de"ne the shape of the failure surface of concrete, the ultimate
stress and strain values in uniaxial and biaxial stress states are speci"ed using the failure ratios
option. The ratio of the ultimate biaxial compressive stress to the uniaxial compressive ultimate
stress is taken as 1.16. The absolute value of the ratio of uniaxial tensile stress to the uniaxial
compressive stress at failure is taken as 0.1. The ratio of the magnitude of a principal component of
plastic strain at ultimate stress in biaxial compression to the plastic strain at ultimate stress in
uniaxial compression is taken as 1.28.
The nonlinear response of a beam under loading has been analyzed using the Newton's iterative
technique. The initial and "nal load increments as well as the allowable minimum and maximum
load increments are required in input "le. The program iterates to obtain the equilibrium condition
for the initial load increment and the subsequent increment amplitudes are automatically adjusted
by using the modi"ed Riks method [10] in conjunction with the modi"ed Newton}Raphson
method.
3.4. Convergence study
Convergence studies have been carried out separately on a straight composite beam and on
a curved composite beam in order to determine a suitable "nite element model for the analysis. The
V. Thevendran et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 32 (1999) 125}139 131
Fig. 4. Convergence study } load}vertical displacement curves of SP4.
Fig. 3. Comparison of "nite element and experimental load displacement curves for the straight composite beam [11].
convergence study for straight composite beam has been carried out on a beam that was tested by
Chapman and Balakrishnan [11]. The beam 5.5 m long consisted of concrete slab 1220 mm wide
and 152 mm deep and a steel I-beam section 12 in;6 in;44 lb. B.S.B. The material properties
were: (a) concrete: compressive strength, f
"
"50 MPa; tensile strength, f
'"
"5 MPa; Young's
modulus, E

"26.7 GPa; compressive strain under maximum stress,

"
"0.003; ultimate compres-
sive strain,
"
"0.0045 and (b) steel: yield stress, f
'`
"240 MPa; Young's modulus, E
'
"184 GPa;
Poisson's ratio,
'
"0.3. Three independent convergence studies had been carried out on the mesh
sizes for concrete slab, steel web, and along the beam span, respectively. Based on the results from
these convergence studies, a mesh with 8 elements along concrete slab width, 4 elements along steel
web depth and 35 elements along the span was adopted for "nite element analysis. The di!erence
between the values of ultimate load obtained by analysis and experiment is about 8% as shown in
Fig. 3. To analyze the straight composite beam tested in the present study, however, a mesh with 10
elements along the width of the concrete slab, 4 elements along the steel web and 46 elements along
the span (total 1257 elements including connection rigid beam elements) was chosen.
In the convergence study of SP4 which is a composite beam curved in plan, the results
corresponding to three di!erent meshes involving a total of 837, 1257, 1677 elements were
compared. The results of comparison are illustrated in Fig. 4. The di!erence between the ultimate
132 V. Thevendran et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 32 (1999) 125}139
Table 2
Comparison of ultimate load predicted by ABAQUS with experiment
Specimen
R
Ultimate load P
"
(kN) (P
"
)
^"^''`
(P
"
)
'`"'
(P
"
)
^"^''`
(P
"
)
'`"'
SP1 0.00 450 490 0.92
SP2 0.05 422 448 0.94
SP3 0.10 430 460 0.93
SP4 0.25 378 438 0.86
SP5 0.50 205 235 0.87
strength corresponding to 837 elements and 1257 elements is about 6%, and that between the
values corresponding to 1257 elements and 1677 elements is less than 1%. The two curves
corresponding to the modeling with 1257 elements and 1677 elements lie very close throughout the
loading cycle. Therefore, "nite element analysis based on 1257 elements seems to be adequate in
predicting the elastic as well as ultimate load behavior of curved composite beam. Such a mesh has
been adopted in the "nite element modeling for all the composite beams curved in plan.
4. Results and discussion
The "nite element analyses give detailed picture of the complete behavior of the beams from
elastic to ultimate load. The stress distribution across the cross sections and along the span,
de#ected pro"les of the beam and ultimate load behavior can be obtained from the analysis.
However, distribution at selected locations, de#ection pro"le and failure load are chosen for
discussion herein.
The analytical values of the ultimate loads of "ve beams are summarized along with the
corresponding experimental values in Table 2. The comparisons between experimental and "nite
element values are also presented in the table. It can be seen that the "nite element predictions for
all beams are in relatively close agreement with the corresponding experimental results. The
maximumdeviation is about 14%. The "nite element modeling underestimates the ultimate load in
most cases. It appears, therefore, that the "nite element model used in the analysis is reliable and it
is conservative in predicting the ultimate strength of composite curved beams.
Load}de#ection curves for the specimens SP3, SP4 and SP5 are shown in Fig. 5 in which the
corresponding experimental curves are superimposed. The theoretical and experimental curves lie
very close to each other at initial stages for all the three specimens. However, there seems to be
some deviation between the results near the failure. The discrepancy may be due to the inadequacy
in concrete modeling. The concrete is not a homogeneous material and the concrete material model
used in the analysis signi"cantly simpli"es the actual behavior. Furthermore, the smeared &crack'
concept is used for numerical modeling of crack initiation and crack propagation. This smeared
&crack' model does not track individual `macroa cracks. Instead, constitutive calculations are
performed independently at each integration point of the "nite element model. However, when
V. Thevendran et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 32 (1999) 125}139 133
Table 3
Comparison initial crack load and yielding load predicted by ABAQUS with experiment
Specimen Initial yield load P
`
(kN) Initial crack load P

(kN)
(P
`
)
'`"'
(P
`
)
^"^''`
(P
`
)
^"^''`
(P
`
)
'`"'
(P

)
'`"'
(P

)
^"^''`
(P

)
^"^''`
(P

)
'`"'
SP1 325 350 1.07 440 412 0.93
SP2 315 340 1.08 405 410 1.01
SP3 310 320 1.03 325 400 1.23
SP4 305 300 0.98 280 250 0.89
SP5 220 200 0.91 140 100 0.71
Fig. 5. Load}vertical displacement curves of composite curved beams SP3, SP4 and SP5.
a crack developed in the concrete during the experiment, the moment of inertia of the whole section
decreased and the ratio of the deformation to loading increased considerably.
Loads corresponding to initial crack in concrete and initial yield in steel beam determined
analytically are presented in Table 3. The corresponding experimental values are also given in the
table for comparison. It can be seen that the yield loads predicted by analysis are somewhat larger
than the values obtained from the experiment and the maximum deviation is about 10%. The
deviation for initial cracking load is between !29% and 23%. The results show that ABAQUS
can predict yield loads well but cannot predict crack loads accurately.
Even though the "nite element analysis provides a detailed picture of the de#ection pro"le along
the span and tangential stress distribution at a number of locations for di!erent stages of loadings,
only selected sets of results are presented for brevity. Results for the beams SP3 and SP4 are
presented for further consideration. The variation of in-plane de#ected pro"le along the curved
134 V. Thevendran et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 32 (1999) 125}139
Fig. 7. Variation of vertical de#ection along the curved length for SP4.
Fig. 6. Variation of vertical de#ection along the curved length for SP3.
length at three di!erent loading stage (viz. 150, 200 and 250 kN, respectively) is shown in Figs.
6 and 7. The corresponding experimental results are also given in the "gures. Generally, good
agreement is observed between the experimental and analytical values for all three loading stages.
Fig. 8(a) and Fig. 9(a) show the analytical variations of tangential stresses across the slab width at
midspan and at quarter span of SP3 and SP4, respectively, corresponding to an applied load of
200 kN and the experimental values are superimposed in the "gures. Fig. 8(b) and 9(b) show
tangential stresses across steel section at midspan and at quarter span of SP3 and SP4, respectively;
the results obtained from the "nite element modeling for an applied load of 200 kN are given along
with the corresponding experimental values. Generally good agreement between analytical and
experimental values is observed. The predicted stress values for steel are somewhat smaller
compared to experimental values in some cases. In concrete part, discrepancies are observed
between the predicted values and the experimental values. The predicted values are smaller than
those obtained from experiment. It may be due to the following two reasons: (i) since the concrete is
not a homogeneous material, the concrete material model in the analysis is a simpli"ed model and
cannot re#ect the true behavior; (ii) the strength of concrete at top surface is less than that at the
inside since the concrete slab is cast vertically and thus the aggregates and sand may not be evenly
distributed across the depth of the slab.
V. Thevendran et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 32 (1999) 125}139 135
Fig. 8. (a) Tangential stress distribution across the width of concrete slab at midspan and quarterspan of SP3 for an
applied load of 200 kN. (b) Tangential stress distributions in steel beam section at midspan SP3 for an applied load of
200 kN.
136 V. Thevendran et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 32 (1999) 125}139
Fig. 9. (a) Tangential stress distribution across the width of concrete slab at midspan and quarterspan of SP4 for an
applied load of 200 kN. (b) Tangential stress distributions in steel beam section at midspan of SP4 for an applied load of
200 kN.
V. Thevendran et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 32 (1999) 125}139 137
Although some discrepancies exist between stress values predicted by analysis and those
obtained experimentally at the concrete surface, the trend in stress variation is same. It can be seen
that the tangential stresses at the top of concrete slab in outer curvature side at midspan are greater
than those at inner curvature side. At quarter span, the stress distribution along slab width is
reversed and the tangential stresses at outer curvature side are less than those at inner curvature
side.
5. Concluding remarks
Finite element modeling of structural steel}concrete composite beams curved in plan is present-
ed in this paper. The nonlinear behavior of composite beams has been studied with reference to
those beams tested earlier by the authors. The software package ABAQUS was employed in the
analysis. Load}de#ection curves, de#ection pro"le, ultimate strength values and tangential stress
distribution across the cross section were obtained from the "nite element analysis. These results
have been compared with the corresponding results obtained from the experiments. The close
agreement between the "nite element and experimental results has been observed. The maximum
deviation in the prediction of ultimate strength has been found to be 14% and the results
established the validity of the proposed "nite element model. In addition, "nite element method
provides extensive information on the behavior of these beams up to failure.
As discussed in Section 4, concrete model in ABAQUS is quite simpli"ed and results in
discrepancies between "nite element and experimental values. Correct modeling especially in
concrete is, therefore, essential in order to ensure more accuracy in theoretical prediction. The
development of such an analytical model will be useful to designers as it will save from the need of
carrying out expensive and time consuming full-scale tests to predict the behavior of composite
curved beams.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the research grant (RP940660) provided by the National
University of Singapore towards this study.
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