Nonlinear Reinforced Concrete

For reinforced concrete surfaces with nonlinear material properties, you can display the results of the structural analysis related to Nonlinear Reinforced Concrete in the Navigator.

Selecting Results of Nonlinear Reinforced Concrete Calculation in Navigator

In RFEM, the results of concrete design in the add-on and the nonlinear reinforced concrete analysis follow a different convention than the classical principal stresses from mechanics. The concept is based on the following considerations:

• The concrete stress σ_c,I always represents the maximum compressive stress, since this value is governing for design—particularly for compressive stress analysis.
• Consequently, σ_c,I is also consistent with the maximum reinforcement stress σ_s,I and crack width w_k,I on the opposite side of the cross-section.

This design-oriented classification deliberately deviates from the algebraic ordering of the principal linear stresses (σ₁ ≥ σ₂), since the distinction between compressive and tensile stress is more relevant in practice for concrete design.