Wood-Armer / Clark-Nielsen Attributes Page 1 of 2

Armer / Clark-Nielsen Attributes

Wood-Armer and Clark-Nielsen attributes can be defined using the Attributes> Wood-Armer... menu item. These attributes
contain details and properties of slab reinforcement arrangements. When assigned to relevant features (see below), they
permit calculation of top and bottom reinforcement moments for plates and grillage elements and top and bottom
reinforcement forces for shell elements according to Wood-Armer / Clark-Nielsen theory. Multiple slab design attributes of
these types may be defined and assigned to relevant features on a model.

n Analysis category Shows the analysis category in use. Wood-Armer / Clark-Nielsen attributes can only be defined
for 2D Grillage / Plate and 3D analysis categories.
n Reinforcement angle sets the angle in degrees between the x direction reinforcement and the y' angle reinforcement.
Reinforcement angles are measured anticlockwise from the x-axis towards the y-axis. To carry out Wood-Armer
calculations on grillage elements an additional equivalent plate width parameter must be specified in the geometric
properties to convert bending and twisting moments into equivalent plate moments. Wood-Armer moments for shell
elements include both membrane and flexural effects using Clark's method.
n Reinforcement Distances from the centre of the reinforcement bars to the top and bottom faces of the concrete
section. These values are only required for slabs modelled with shell elements.

Design components
When carrying out a design based upon Wood-Armer (or Clark-Nielsen) calculations, the angle q of the failure cracks can be
entered using the k-factor parameter (k=tan q. In principle, any value for k can be chosen and an infinite number of possible
combinations capable of resisting a particular set of applied forces exists. For design purposes, a value of q (or k) may be
established to minimise the resistive forces applied , hence minimising the steel area requirement. The minimum k factor for
orthogonal reinforcement is +/- 1, or for q is +/- 45 degrees. For skew reinforcement, the minimum k factor depends upon the
direction of the reinforcement.

n Minimised total weight / area of reinforcement If the k factor is not specified,a default of 1.0 is used and the area of
reinforcement is minimised.
n k factor for non-minimised area of reinforcement allows a k factor (tan q) to be specified so that Wood-Armer /
Clark-Nielsen calculations can be carried out without minimisation of the reinforcement areas in order that the load
capacity of an existing reinforced concrete slab can be assessed.

Assessment utilisations
These are based upon known moment resistances.

n Display assessment utilisations allows input of resistive moments or forces (instead of the k factor) for top and
bottom surface reinforcements for assessment purposes.
l For Wood-Armer all values of top and bottom rebar moment resistance must be greater than zero.
l For Clark-Nielsen all values of top and bottom rebar force resistance must be greater than zero.
l If assessment values are specified, utilisation factors are calculated for each position on the model. Factors above
1 indicate failure.

On completion a Wood-Armer attribute with additional slab design data is created in the Attributes Treeview.

Assignment

l For models created with plate and shell elements the Wood-Armer / Clark-Nielsen attribute can be assigned to
surfaces.
l For models created using grillage elements the Wood-Armer / Clark-Nielsen attribute must be assigned to the points
in the grillage model where grillage moments will be determined (that is, at the intersection of longitudinal and
transverse members).

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Wood-Armer / Clark-Nielsen Attributes Page 2 of 2

Notes

l See Wood-Armer Reinforcement Calculations for more information.

l Top and bottom reinforcement moments are calculated for plate and grillage elements, and top and bottom
reinforcement forces are calculated for shell elements. Consult the Element Reference Manual for Wood-Armer
results column details.
l Contours of Wood-Armer and Clark-Nielsen components, and equivalent plate moments can be plotted. See
Visualising the Results for details.
l Plate equivalent moments are always available for a grillage model whenever the equivalent plate width is nonzero, as
they do not require any inputs from the Wood-Armer attribute. They are listed as a Force/Moment entity, and are
named “MX(Epw)”, “MY(Epw)” and “MXY(Epw)”.
l See Online help > Worked Examples > For LUSAS Bridge and LUSAS Civil & Structural > 'Wood-Armer bridge
slab assessment' for a worked example covering Wood-Armer calculation.
l For details of Wood-Armer reinforcement calculations refer to the Theory Manual.

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