International Conference on Sustainable Built Environment

Extraction of Strut and Tie Model

From 3D Solid Element Mesh Analysis

Dammika Abeykoon, Naveed Anwar, Jason C. Rigon

ICSBE 2010
12-14 December 2010
• The conventional “Beam” or “Plate” theory does not predict
the response of structural members with large proportions
and in areas of concentrated loads and discontinuities
• Design based on conventional approaches is not appropriate
• The “Truss Analogy” or the Strut and Tie Models are more
appropriate
• Members can be divided in “B” Regions where Bernoulli’s
theory holds, and “D” regions which are “Disturbed” by stress
fields

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D-Regions and Discontinuities (ACI 318R-02 Appendix A)
Ritter’s Truss Model (Ritter 1899)

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 Idealized Force
Stress Field
Paths
• Strut and Tie Model (STM) approach originated from truss
analogy concept has become more rational to use as a tool for
designing of D-regions of concrete structures
• The structural member is idealized as a truss by introducing
uniaxial compressive struts and tension ties
• The truss action is produced by diagonally cracked web
concrete struts while longitudinal and transverse
reinforcement are act as horizontal and vertical ties
• The locations where struts and ties intersect called as nodes
• Manual selection and analysis of Strut and Tie Model (STM) is
arbitrary and time consuming
• Available tools to find STM are iterative and more time
consuming
• Difficulties in imagination of STM for a particular structural
members as their complexities in stress distribution
• Difficulties in confirming the adequacy of identified STMs and
selection of better model from available many options
Previous Research, using Shape Optimization and Form Finding

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Present approach: Direct extraction from Finite element Models

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• Create a Finite Element Model using Shell or Brick Elements
• Apply the primary loads and assign boundary conditions
• Run the analysis and obtain results

• Transfer results to text files

• Read results, compute principle stress directions and values
• Group using appropriate techniques
• Find resultant vector and value of the group
• Try and complete strut and tie model from the groups

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Modified space truss model by Kanok-Nukulchai, Anwar.(1996)
• All the structural members considered are analyzed using Solid
element model in SAP 2000 V12
• Solid element is an eight node element consisting six
quadrilateral faces with a joint located at each corners

Solid Element & Stresses(CSI Analysis Reference Manual SAP2000)

• Required output results from FEA
– Solid element corner joints and centroid coordinates
– Solid element joint connectivity
– Solid element principal stresses at corner joints
– Principal stress direction cosines at solid element corner joints
– Solid element properties
• Principal Stresses Averaging
– Principle Stresses averaging within the element
– Principle Stresses averaging of each node
– Averaged Principal Stresses which has maximum absolute magnitude
in each node & centroid is taken as significant stress component for
strut & tie extraction
 Averaged Principal stresses
Principal (Maximum absolute values)
stresses with Sorting based on Direction cosines
same directions
stored in
separate cells
Principal
stresses with
same
Direction cosines in Z direction

1 direction

…::
::…:. Sorting based on magnitude
1

Principal
Direction stresses with
cosines in Y
same
direction
direction &
-1
-1 1
-1 magnitude
Direction cosines in X direction
 Principal stresses with same Rotating of Principal stress vectors to align with
direction & magnitude vertical (Z) axis & bring it to the origin
Z
Z

Y
Y

X X

Z Z Divide the xy plane

in to grid based on
strut or tie size &
identify the stress
tubes
Y Y

X X
Rotate back to original position
Extracted strut or tie through stress tubes
• Rerun the program by changing following parameters to get
better strut and tie layout
– Stress limit considered
– Number of divisions in direction cosines
– Number of divisions in stress range
– Strut or tie size
• Program output of strut & tie layout is coming out from two
formats
– Graphical interface
– Text format data file
• Because of the complexity of three dimensional stress states,
finding of connectivity between extracted struts and ties is not
implemented
• As an alternative method, extracted struts & ties are modeled
in SAP 2000 to generate final truss model
 Principal
Compressive
Stress Contours

Principal Tensile
Stress Contours

Solid Element Model of Two

Piles-Pile Cap
Stress Trajectories from Program Output Strut & Tie Layout from Program Output

Although many strut and tie members present in the layout, the basic
expectation of triangular shaped strut and tie layout is achieved
 Four pile cap configurations having span/depth vary from 1 to 4 are modeled
with solid element and FEA results are used to extract possible strut and tie layout

Pyramid shaped strut and tie model is expected according to reviewed literature

Simple 3D Struts and Tie Model for a Four Piles-Pile Cap

(Adebar, Kuchma, & Collin, 1990)
 Principal
Tensile Stress
Contours

Principal
Compressive
Stress
Contours
Solid element model (Frame
element for piles & column)
 Results of Four Piles Pile Cap - Span/Depth = 1

Stress Trajectories from Program Output Strut and Tie Layout from Program Output

 Four inclined strut layout is clearly shown in program output

 Principal Tensile
Stress Contours

Principal
Compressive
Stress Contours
Solid element model (Frame
element for piles & column)
Stress Trajectories from Program Output Strut and Tie Layout from Program Output
• Four horizontal ties clearly appeared in between piles at the bottom of pile cap
• Two inclined struts are appeared in each corner of the pile cap
• Although the inclinations of struts are not sufficient to intersect within the body of the pile
cap, it can be idealized as a shape of pyramid when each corner struts are represented
by a single strut
 Principal Tensile
Stress Contours

Principal
Compressive
Stress Contours
Solid element model (Frame
element for piles & column)
Solid element
model
Principal Compressive Stress Contours Strut & Tie Layout from Program Output

The program output Shows the strut & ties layout clearly showing four
inclined struts at pier head region and four vertical struts in vertical shaft
Solid element
model
 Principal Tensile Principal Compressive Strut & Tie Layout from
Stress Contours Stress Contours Program Output

 Although the truss configuration is not cleared well, the horizontal ties at top of
the pier head, inclined struts at bottom of the pier head and vertical strut at shaft of
the pier is cleared which is match with principal stress contours
 Solid element
model

Extraction of Strut and Tie Model from 3D Solid

 Results Output from Program

Principal Tensile Principal Compressive Strut & Tie Layout from

Stress Contours Stress Contours Program Output

Tension ties on top of the pier head and vertical compressive struts at pier shaft
can be seen from the extracted strut and tie layout which is match with principal
stress contours of the pier
Compressive struts cannot be clearly seen at the bottom of the pier head
• Extracting models from Shell Element in planer problem is
much easier than in solid mesh
• Solid element mesh analysis can display the internal stress
flow of three dimensional structural members & initial strut &
tie layout can be visualized through it
• Proposed method can extract the possible strut and tie
member layout that match with internal stress flow of three
dimensional disturbed region members
• Pile caps with piles & column modeled from frame element
give better results
• Further modifications are required to improve the quality of
the results