Behavior of RC Beams Subjected to High Rates of

Concentrated Loading
D. M. Cotsovos1; N. D. Stathopoulos2; and C. A. Zeris3
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Abstract: The work described in the present article is concerned with the numerical investigation of the dynamic response of reinforced
concrete 共RC兲 beams subjected to high rates of transverse loading. Of interest herein is the case of localized impact loading, such as that
encountered in the case of contact, impact, and ballistic problems, rather than the case of loads distributed over the entire span of RC
structural elements arising particularly from far field explosions. The investigation is based on the use of a commercially available general
purpose finite-element 共FE兲 package for nonlinear static and dynamic analysis of three-dimensional FE models. A key feature of our study
is the hypothesis that the material properties of concrete and steel reinforcement are independent of the loading rate. Based on this
assumption, the effects of the applied loading rate on the exhibited structural response are primarily attributed to the inertia forces that
develop within the beam and not to the loading rate sensitivity of the mechanical characteristics of the materials involved. This hypothesis
constitutes a major departure from currently accepted design and numerical modeling practices, which adopt exactly the opposite view,
thus, providing an alternative explanation as to the causes that affect the complex inelastic response of RC structural elements under high
loading rates, as well as the cracking patterns, observed during testing. The results obtained correlate closely with the experimental
observation that structural performance, in the form of stiffness, load carrying capacity, and deformability, depart significantly from those
recorded under quasi-static loading as certain thresholds of applied loading rates are surpassed, with these changes becoming more
pronounced as the rate of loading increases. From the analysis of numerical and experimental predictions, the causes that lead to the above
change in behavior are established and a relatively simple design model is proposed, which is able to quantify the observed increase in
load-carrying capacity exhibited by RC beams with increasing rates of applied loading as well as the concentration of damage.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲0733-9445共2008兲134:12共1839兲
CE Database subject headings: Reinforced concrete; Concrete beams; Concentrated loads; Stiffness.

Introduction rate loading conditions 关for extensive literature reviews on this

Previous research on the numerical finite-element 共FE兲 analysis of
the response of plain concrete prismatic specimens 共characterized
by a low moisture content兲 under high rates of uniaxial compres-
sive and tensile loading, confirmed that the material properties of
concrete are essentially independent of the applied loading rate
共Georgin and Reynouard 2003; Cotsovos 2004; Cotsovos and
Pavlovic 2008a,b,c兲. The influence of the applied loading rate on
specimen behavior observed during testing was shown to be pri-
marily the result of significant inertia forces, which develop lo-
cally within the concrete medium as it deforms, rather than an
intrinsic material property with a dominating influence on the
recorded—predicted response. Moreover, it was concluded
共Cotsovos and Pavlovic 2008a,b兲 that test data obtained from
prismatic and cylindrical concrete specimen tests under extreme
1
Concept Engineering Consultants, 8 Warple Mews, Warple Way,
London W3 0RF, U.K.
2
Tutor of Technical Studies, Architectural Association School of
Architecture, 36 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3ES, U.K.
3
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, National Technical
Univ. of Athens, Zografou 15775, Greece.
Note. Associate Editor: Khalid M. Mosalam. Discussion open until
May 1, 2009. Separate discussions must be submitted for individual pa-
pers. The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and possible
publication on June 14, 2006; approved on May 7, 2008. This paper is
part of the Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol. 134, No. 12,
December 1, 2008. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9445/2008/12-1839–1851/
$25.00.
subject, see Bischoff and Perry 共1995兲 and Cotsovos 共2004兲兴 can-
not describe the behavior of concrete at the material level as
usually assumed: in contrast with similar type of specimens under
quasi-static loading, these no longer constitute a material unit
from which average material properties may be obtained, but
need to be viewed as structures, whose behavior is directly related
to their geometry, the inertia effects of their mass, and the bound-
ary conditions imposed during testing. For these reasons, the ex-
trapolation of such data for the material characterization of
structural concrete behavior at the structural level under high
loading rates, is questionable. Nevertheless, the modification of
effective material properties remains a practical means for design,
in order to account for the influence of rate effects at the structural
level for the dynamic structural response prediction under loading
rates ranging from seismic 共Mander et al. 1983兲 to blast and im-
pact loads 关TM5-855-1 共1998兲兴. This is particularly so, when
static analysis methods are used, or, equivalently, when the dis-
tribution of member inertia effects are neglected during the analy-
sis, as is usually the case in lumped mass idealization of structural
response. Even in this case, however, the extrapolation of distrib-
uted inertia phenomena to the entire reinforced concrete 共RC兲
member structural response is not straight forward, since it is
heavily influenced by the type of loading imposed and the form of
member response, as subsequently demonstrated herein.
It is well established that the application of an external load
onto a concrete structural element leads to the development of a
complex triaxial stress field within the concrete medium, which is
further accentuated by the cracking processes and the ensuing

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J. Struct. Eng., 2008, 134(12): 1839-1851

 internal stress redistributions 共Kotsovos and Pavlović 1995兲.
Moreover, the application of an external time-varying 共dynamic兲
load onto an RC structural form leads to the formation of stress
waves, which propagate through the concrete medium, away from
the area where this load is imposed. The form and speed of propa-
gation of these waves is directly linked to the properties of the
material involved and the member dynamic characteristics, while
their intensity level depends on the intensity of the imposed load
and corresponding inertia forces. The formation of such waves
affects the triaxial stress field and will, therefore, also cause the
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development of high stress concentrations in localized regions of

the specimen, leading to local tensile failure and cracking. The
complexity of the above stress field is further intensified by the
fact that the stress waves are deflected internally by the preferen-
tial orientation of the cracking planes that form within the con-
crete medium, as well as externally, at the boundaries of the RC
member 共both the free surface and the supports兲. Based on the
above, it would appear that the investigation of the behavior of
RC structural elements under dynamic—and especially high
rate—loading is a complicated nonlinear wave-propagation dy-
namic analysis problem. Thus, for reliable and meaningful nu-
merical predictions, considerable attention must be given to the
triaxiality that characterizes concrete behavior, in order to realis-
tically predict the complex triaxial stress field that develops
within the element and the way this changes with the applied
loading rate; following such an understanding, simpler local re-
sponse representations can be developed for design purposes.
Data obtained from tests carried out to date confirm that RC
structural forms exhibit significant departures from static testing
as certain thresholds of the applied loading rates are surpassed
共Hughes and Speirs 1982; Miyamoto et al. 1989; Kishi et al.
2001, 2002兲. More importantly, these deviations from static re-
sponse become more pronounced as the rate of loading increases
and primarily take the form of an increase in stiffness and load-
carrying capacity, followed by a reduction in deformability. The
present article sets out to investigate numerically the response of
simple RC beams under dynamic loading rates ranging from seis-
mic to impact or blast loading. The objective of this work is to
determine the effect of the applied loading rate on the various
aspects of member behavior with emphasis on load-carrying ca-
pacity, deformation profile, crack distribution and propagation,
and failure mechanism. The numerical investigation carried out is
based on the use of ANSYS—ANSYS 共2004兲 a well established
FE package for three-dimensional 共3D兲 nonlinear static and dy-
namic analyses.
As for the case of the analysis of plain concrete prisms men-
tioned earlier 共Cotsovos 2004; Cotsovos and Pavlovic 2008a,b,c兲,
the work is based on the hypothesis that material behavior does
not depend on the rate of loading, but relies solely on the realistic
constitutive description of the triaxial nonlinear behavior of con-
crete under quasi-static loading, as well as the 3D effect of the
distributed inertia of the beam’s mass. Based on the numerical
predictions, an analytical model is formulated in order to quantify
the observed increase in load-carrying capacity exhibited by the
RC beams under such a type of extreme loading conditions and to
determine the loading rate beyond which the response of these
elements starts deviating from static load behavior 共also analyzed
herein, as a special case, for purposes of comparison兲. The vali-
dation of the numerical and analytical models adopted herein is
based on the comparison of the predicted behavior with the mea-
sured and observed structural response established from experi-
mental investigations published in the literature.
Fig. 1. Typical curves expressing the relationship between applied
load and deflection at the point where impact load is applied
共Miyamoto et al. 1989兲
Review of Experimental Data
A large number of experiments have been carried out to date in
order to investigate the behavior of a wide range of RC structural
elements 共such as beams, walls, slabs, arched shells, boxed type
structures, and entire frames兲 under high loading rate conditions.
The present review will concentrate on summarizing the most
important findings and conclusions drawn from published experi-
mental information on RC beams, since they are the most com-
mon member type investigated 共Hughes and Speirs 1982;
Miyamoto et al. 1989; Kishi et al. 2001, 2002兲 being of interest
herein. Most tests consist of simply supported RC beams sub-
jected to a transverse point load impinging at midspan, by means
of a steel mass left to fall freely onto the specimen from a certain
height, depending on the desired rate of loading. In the majority
of these tests, special provisions were taken in order to avoid
uplift at the supports. The duration of loading in such tests is
extremely short 共of the order of some msec兲 and the intensity of
the applied load increases rapidly from zero to a maximum value.
For comparison, both static and high-rate loading response is in-
vestigated, in most cases. Typically, measurements of strain, dis-
placement at various points along the specimen length, velocity
and acceleration of the impactors mass, as well as measurements
of the support reactions are recorded. In addition, the gradual
cracking pattern of different specimens at various intensities of
the applied load, up to failure, was closely monitored, as an indi-
cation of the internal stress state of the beam at each load level of
testing.
Experimental investigations reported reveal that the behavior
of the RC beams under high rates of loading is significantly dif-
ferent from static response. Experimental results 共Hughes and
Speirs 1982; Miyamoto et al. 1989; Kishi et al. 2001, 2002兲 pre-
sented in Figs. 1–3 depict a gradual change in the specimen be-
havior with increasing loading rate, once a certain threshold of
loading rate is surpassed. In Fig. 1, typical load-deflection curves
at the load point 共midspan deflection兲 are shown, whereas the
deflection profile within the beam portion between the support
and the midspan are shown in Fig. 2, for the different rates of
loading. In Fig. 3共a兲, a summary of available relevant experimen-

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J. Struct. Eng., 2008, 134(12): 1839-1851

 60

50

maxP d/maxP s
40 Hughes and Spiers - 1982

30 Miyamoto et a - 1989

20 Kishi et al - 2001

10 Kishi et al - 2002

0
1.E+03 1.E+04 1.E+05 1.E+06 1.E+07
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load rate (kN/sec)

(a)

2.5

maxδ d/maxδ s
1.5
Hughes and Spiers - 1982
1

0.5

0
Fig. 2. Deflected shape predicted by analysis for RC beams under 1.E+03 1.E+04 1.E+05 1.E+06 1.E+07

transverse load applied at midspan at various rates 共Miyamoto et al. load rate (kN/sec)
1989兲
(b)
tal data is presented describing the variation of peak recorded 1
resistance of the various specimens with the rate of the applied 0.9
load, normalized, in each case, by the load-carrying capacity es- 0.8
maxδ d/maxδ s

tablished from the static loading tests 共Hughes and Speirs 1982;
Miyamoto et al. 1989; Kishi et al. 2001, 2002兲. A similar sum-
mary of experimental data is presented in Figs. 3共b and c兲, de-
scribing the variation, with rate of applied load, of the maximum
vertical midspan deflection exhibited by the RC beam specimens
prior to failure, normalized by its counterpart under static loading.
It should be noted at this point that the experimental data
共illustrated in Fig. 3兲 are characterized by considerable scatter,
which is attributed to differences in the specimen characteristics
共such as specimen geometry, grades of concrete used, and amount
of longitudinal and transverse reinforcement兲, on the one hand,
and the difficulties associated with testing under high loading
rates on the other. Due to the extremely short duration, the load
intensity and the explosive failure associated with high-rate load-
ing tests, it is often difficult to obtain accurate measurements, due
to the lack of adequate sensitivity of the instruments used 共par-
ticularly for earlier impact tests兲 or due to the fact that the instru-
ments could easily go out of range during testing. Such an effect
in the accuracy of measured quantities at high loading rates has
been demonstrated already, at the material level, whereby the re-
cent introduction of more accurate test setups, namely the split
Hopkinson bar test, has brought upon a corresponding revision in
the rate dependency of the concrete compressive strength 共Cotso-
vos 2004; Cotsovos and Pavlovic 2008a,b兲. In spite of this scatter,
the experimental data give a good qualitative description of the
effect of the rate of loading on the overall behavior of RC beams.
By examining Figs. 1 and 3共a兲, it can be seen that an increase
in the rate of applied loading results in a gradual increase of the
load-carrying capacity of the specimens. On the other hand, as it
is illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3共c兲, the maximum deflection of the
load point decreases with increasing impact rate, though this can-
not be established with sufficient clarity in the case of the data
0.7
0.6
0.5 Miyamoto et al - 1989
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
1.E+03 1.E+04 1.E+05
load rate (kN/sec)
(c)
Fig. 3. Variation of: 共a兲 load-carrying capacity, and 共b兲, 共c兲 maximum
deflection of RC beams with loading rate 共max Pd = load carrying
capacity under dynamic loading, max Ps = load-carrying capacity
under static loading, max ␦d = maximum deflection under dynamic
loading, max ␦s = maximum deflection under static loading兲, as pre-
dicted by Hughes and Speirs 共1982兲 and Miyamoto et al. 共1989兲
presented in Fig. 3共b兲 due to the considerable scatter characteriz-
ing the data. Particularly regarding the deflection at failure, it is
important to note that, when considering the maximum deflection
exhibited at the midspan of an RC beam, one has to identify at
what load intensity the beam ceases to behave as a continuous RC
structural element due to the level of damage sustained by the
concrete medium. Given adequate anchorage of the reinforce-
ment, at this stage, the beam mobilizes membrane action mecha-
nisms in order to transfer the external load to the supports,
thereby undergoing large deformations and finally collapse. Such
behavior is not modeled by the FE model presently adopted, as it
is considered to represent postfailure behavior.

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 Another interesting observation based on the data presented in
Fig. 2 is that as the rate of the applied load increases, the damaged
portion of the RC beam mostly affected by the application of the
external load tends to concentrate in the region of the load point
at the midspan cross section. By examining more carefully the
deflected shape of the beams indicated by the curves shown in
Fig. 2 关from Miyamoto et al. 共1989兲兴, it can be seen that as the
rate of loading increases, the deflected shape clearly exhibits a
slope “discontinuity” point, which is not directly justified by the
boundary and loading conditions imposed 共it is reminded that the
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RC beam specimens are simply supported and subjected to a
point load imposed at their midspan cross section兲, but seems to
be directly related to the inertia load distribution along the mem-
ber as a consequence of the dynamic response. A portion of the
specimen 共presently termed “effective response length” Leff兲 may
be, therefore, identified as that part of the span extending between
the two consecutive slope discontinuity points on each side of the
center, as shown in Fig. 2. In fact, Fig. 2 clearly indicates that as
the rate of loading increases, the deflections measured within Leff
increase at a rate much higher than that of the deflections within
the remaining portions outside the bounds of Leff toward the sup-
ports. It may further be noted in the figure that the width of Leff
decreases with increasing rate of loading.
This presence of a slope discontinuity is further corroborated
by looking at the distribution of cracks with the applied rate of
loading. By observing the crack patterns presented in Fig. 4, it
can be seen that, under high rates of loading, cracking primarily
consists of a cluster of cracks radiating diagonally from the load
point down to the tensile face of the beam, in contrast with the
crack distribution under static loading, which seems to extend all
the way to the supports. As the rate of loading increases, the
portion of the beam in which the crack pattern described above
takes place becomes narrower. Furthermore, in the case of high-
rate loading, cracking may also initiate in the upper face of the
beams, around the point of slope discontinuity, extending verti-
cally downwards toward the bottom face. Overall, cracking is
concentrated within Leff, extending primarily between the succes-
sive discontinuity points.
These observations reveal that under high rates of loading, a
significant change occurs in the way the RC beam responds and
transfers the impinging load to its supports compared to the static
case. As it will be later shown herein, this change in the specimen
behavior is attributed to the inertia forces, which develop inter-
nally and significantly affect the member response.
General Aspects of the FE Model Adopted for the
Numerical Investigation
Due to the difficulties and limitations associated with RC element
tests under high rates of loading, resort has been made to the use
of nonlinear FE analysis 共Du et al. 1989; Miyamoto et al. 1989;
Thabet and Haldane 2001; Georgin and Reynouard 2003; Hatzi-
georgiou et al. 2001; Abbas et al. 2004; LS-DYNA 2007兲. Use of
the FE element method provides a more detailed description of
their response and, furthermore, it allows the investigation to be
extended to structural forms more complex than the simple RC
structural elements that can be studied experimentally. Another
advantage of the numerical investigation is that, unlike testing,
which relies on measuring and recording the effect of the rate of
loading on structural behavior, it allows a more comprehensive
study of the causes of change in the behavior exhibited by the RC
structural elements.
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J. Struct. Eng., 2008, 134(12): 1839-1851
The FE analysis code adopted for the current investigation—
ANSYS—LS-DYNA ANSYS 共2004兲—is capable of carrying out
3D nonlinear analysis, employing a suitable material model that
accounts for the triaxial behavior, and capacity interaction of con-
crete. The adoption of 3D analysis is dictated by the need to
sufficiently account for the effects of the nonlinear behavior of
concrete and steel. Additionally, detailed 3D analysis—as op-
posed to the simplifying 2D representation of the problem, as is
usually the case in design—also permits full allowance for the
effect of inertia, since it accounts for a more precise modeling of
the specimen’s mass and its effect on the overall response, in
general, and on the region surrounding a crack 共or a smeared
group of cracks兲 within the concrete medium and around the re-
inforcement, in particular. In this context, the investigation of the
behavior of an RC beam under high-rate loading is a dynamic
problem and as such it is governed by the equation of motion.
Due to the nonlinear behavior of concrete, this equation is solved
numerically through the implicit Newmark integration scheme
共Belytschko 1976兲. As long as the stability criteria are observed,
the method yields comparable results with explicit finite-element
formulations in RC element analysis. A brief description of the
model parameters follows for completeness.
Concrete Modeling
The constitutive model presently adopted to describe the concrete
behavior is a phenomenological model, which aims at mimicking
the effects affiliated with the nonlinear behavior of concrete at a
structural level. Its derivation is based on an analysis of test data
from tests on concrete cylinders and cubes subjected to uniaxial
compression and tension under quasi-static load rates. The result-
ing stress-strain curve 关see Fig. 5共a兲兴 consists of an ascending
共strain-hardening兲 and a descending 共strain-softening兲 branch,
thus, describing the behavior of concrete both before and after the
peak-stress value. By assuming that concrete is an orthotropic
material, the uniaxial law described above is applied to each
principal-stress axis leading to a formulation of a more general
constitutive model capable of describing the behavior of concrete
under triaxial loading conditions 共following Willam and Warnke
1974兲.
The presently-adopted hypothesis that the material properties
of concrete are independent of the rate of loading contrasts with
the vast majority of constitutive models used for describing the
behavior of concrete under high rates of loading, which are usu-
ally based on the assumption that there is a link between the
material properties of concrete and the rate at which the loading is
imposed 共frequently denoted as “loading-rate sensitivity”兲. The
influence of rate is generally expressed as two different scale
factors for the quasi-static compressive and tensile cylinder
strength, respectively. These scaled properties are subsequently
assumed to affect all other strength-related mechanical properties
of the material, such as the initial and secant modulus and the
confined stress and corresponding strain 共TM5-855-1 1998;
Mander et al. 1983兲. Such strain rate dependencies, however, are
primarily intended for use in validating entire member or struc-
tural models in seismic and impact load inelastic analyses, in
which distributed inertia effects are typically ignored following
lumped mass representation.
However, loading-rate sensitivity has been based on a certain
interpretation of the available experimental data, the validity of
which was questioned 共Cotsovos 2004; Cotsovos and Pavlovic
2008a,b,c兲. By assuming that the material properties of concrete
are independent of the loading rate, the effect of the latter on the
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Fig. 4. Crack patterns at failure of RC beams under various rates of loading established experimentally by 共a兲 Hughes and Speirs 共1982兲; 共b兲
Kishi et al. 共2001兲; and 共c兲 Miyamoto et al. 共1989兲

specimen behavior is primarily attributed to the inertial response
of the specimen mass, which, in our case is included in the model
through distributed discretization: such a simple and, arguably,
obvious—albeit unorthodox—postulate is tested herein in order to
ascertain whether or not it can be extended to entire structural RC
elements, as opposed to test cylinders, for reproducing their ex-
perimentally measured response under high-rate loading. Through
this analysis the importance and significance of the role that in-
ertia plays in the element’s dynamic performance under high
loading rates can be assessed. At this point, it is important to note
that the modeling is limited to RC structures that have been air
cured and, therefore, exhibit low moisture content.
Reinforcement Modeling
Steel reinforcement is explicitly included in the FE model using
one-dimensional bars under uniaxial tension and compression
only, with full deformation compatibility at the nodes. Full bond

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Fig. 5. Presentation of 共a兲 the concrete material model; 共b兲 the RC structural form investigated; and 共c兲 FE model adopted to describe the RC
structural form

is assumed, therefore, between steel and concrete, with local bond
transfer bounded by the tensile capacity of the concrete Gauss
points near the reinforcement. Steel constitutive behavior follows
a simple bilinear hardening model accounting for the initial elas-
tic and an averaged postyield behavior of the bars. Following the
same reasoning as in the case of concrete, the effect of the loading
rate on the behavior of the steel reinforcement is neglected at the
material level.
Crack Modeling
Following the modeling capabilities of the analysis program
共ANSYS 2004兲, cracking, which corresponds to localized failure
of the concrete medium, is modeled using the smeared instead of
the more complicated discrete crack approach. Following this
modeling convention, cracks are allowed to form at the integra-
tion points where stress evaluation takes place and their effect is

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 spread within a region associated with a particular Gauss point,
depending on the order of the polynomial element representation.
Alternatively, a discrete crack approach, associated with dense
共re兲meshing in order to model the cracking process is not consid-
ered herein, due to excessive computational costs.
Structural Form Investigated
From available test data of beams under impact loading available
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in the literature, a simply supported RC beam 共specimen C2兲
investigated by Hughes and Speirs 共1982兲 is selected herein. The
beam has a rectangular cross section with a height of 200 mm, a
width of 100 mm, and a clear span equal to 2,700 mm. The lon-
gitudinal reinforcement consists of four bars: two 12 mm diam
bars placed at the two corners at the bottom of the beam’s cross
section and two 6 mm diam bars placed at the two corners at the
top 关see Fig. 5共b兲兴. The transverse reinforcement consists of
6 mm diam stirrups placed at approximately 180 mm center-to-
center spacing. The elasticity modulus 共ES兲, the yield stress 共f y兲,
and the ultimate strength 共f u兲 of both the longitudinal and trans-
verse reinforcement bars used are 206 GPa, 460 MPa, and
560 MPa, respectively. On the other hand, the uniaxial compres-
sive 共f ck兲 and tensile 共f tk兲 strength of the concrete used for the
specimen are approximately 45 MPa and 3 MPa, respectively.
During the experiment, the RC beam is subjected to a point load,
which is applied on the center of the specimens’ span. This load is
applied by means of a steel mass, which is left to fall onto the
specimen from a certain height, depending on the desired rate of
loading; several loading rates are considered in the test, as well as
a quasi-static load application. An additional characteristic of the
loading procedure is the use of mild steel, rubber, or ply pads,
which are placed on the top face of the specimen in order to avoid
local damage 共spalling兲 by the impact of the falling mass.
FE Modeling of the Problem
The concrete medium is modeled by using a dense mesh of eight-
node brick elements with an edge size of between approximately
2 and 3 cm; the element formulation adopts a reduced integration
scheme to avoid numerical problems due to locking. Reinforce-
ment bars are modeled by two-node single Gauss point truss ele-
ments 关see Fig. 5共c兲兴 with sectional areas distributed to the
relevant nodes of the beam’s cross section so as to be equivalent,
in terms of both cross-sectional area and location, to the actual
reinforcement of the beams. Because of the double symmetry of
the problem at hand, one-quarter of the actual specimen was mod-
eled with suitable boundary conditions.
As in the case of the experimental investigation, the external
load is applied onto the midspan of the RC beam. The value of
the applied load increases linearly at a constant rate until the
load-carrying capacity of the RC beam is reached and failure
occurs. Various rates of loading are investigated herein rang-
ing from 200 to 200,000 kN/ sec 共which corresponds to 50 to
50,000 kN/ sec when considering the quarter of the specimen ac-
tually modeled兲. Initially the static problem is investigated in
order to effectively calibrate the model and this is followed by the
investigation of the dynamic problems.
In order to explain the behavior exhibited by the RC beams
under high-rate loading, the dynamic problem must be viewed as
a wave-propagation problem. Following the application of the
external load on the midspan, stress waves are generated and
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J. Struct. Eng., 2008, 134(12): 1839-1851
propagate initially away from the loaded area and toward the
supports. Neglecting any losses through the supports, these stress
waves are trapped by the boundary restraints and continuously
travel within the structural element, affecting the complex triaxial
stress field that develops within the concrete medium. The veloc-
ity at which the stress wave travels within the concrete medium is
given by equation u̇w = 冑 共G / ␳兲, where G = 关E / 共2 + 2␯兲兴 = shear
modulus; and ␳ = density of the concrete. By assuming that the
Poisson ratio v, the shear modulus E, and the density ␳ of con-
crete used are 0.2, 32 GPa, and 2,400 Kg/ m3, respectively 共which
are the average values for concrete with an f c of 45 MPa兲, the
velocity of the stress wave is found to be u̇w = 2.354 m / msec.
Given the distance between the point of load application at mid-
span and the supports is 1,350 mm, the time needed for the stress
wave to travel from the center span to the support is approxi-
mately 0.57 msec. Considering the nonlinear response of the ele-
ment due to the cracking of concrete and the yielding of steel, one
could suggest that if the loading duration is less than the time
needed for the stress wave to reach the beam’s support, then the
peak loading stresses will remain unaffected by the reflected
stress waves.
Static Load Case Study
In the static load case study, the external load is applied in the
form of displacement increments at midspan and the results ob-
tained are presented in Figs. 6共a–c兲. The predictions in Fig. 6共a兲
are presented in the form of a load-displacement curve, which
represents the relation between the applied load and the deflection
at the load point. The figure also includes the corresponding load-
deflection curve established experimentally by Hughes and Speirs
共1982兲 and shows a good correlation between the predicted and
experimental response. Based on the experimental measurements,
the beam exhibits a completely ductile behavior, with the load-
carrying capacity and the maximum deflection of the load point
being approximately 29 kN and 50 mm, respectively; failure of
the specimen was caused by yielding of the longitudinal rein-
forcement bars in the midspan, resulting in the formation of ex-
tensive cracking in that region that ultimately led to failure of the
compressive zone at this location. Fig. 6共b兲 shows how the RC
beam deforms for the case of static loading. Overall, the numeri-
cal investigation predicts a response of the RC beam similar to
that established experimentally, yielding slightly lower values of
load-carrying capacity and maximum deflection 共26 kN and
40 mm, respectively兲. The numerical prediction of the cracking
process is presented in Fig. 6共c兲: flexural cracks begin to appear
in the midspan region of the specimen and gradually extend to-
ward the supports as the imposed load increases. The predicted
cracking sequence correlates closely with that established experi-
mentally by Hughes and Speirs 共1982兲.
Dynamic Load Case Studies
In the dynamic case studies, the effect of five different rates of
loading on the behavior/response of the RC beam, ranging form
200 to 200,000 kN/ sec, is investigated. The numerical predic-
tions, given in Figs. 7共a and b兲, are presented in the form of load
deformation curves, depicting the variation of externally applied
load with vertical displacement of the nodes located at the mid-
span cross section of the RC beam. The numerical results ob-
tained show that under dynamic loading, there is a significant
 experimentl - static static analysis-with strain soft 35000
40000 30000

Applied Force (N)

35000
Applied Force (N)
25000 experimentl - static
30000
25000 20000 numerical - static
20000 15000
dynamic analysis-
15000
10000 200kN/sec
10000
5000 5000
0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Midspan Displacement (mm) Midspan Displacement (mm)
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(a) (a)

400000
experimental - static
350000

Applied Force (N)

300000
numerical - static
250000
200000
dynamic analysis-
150000 2000KN/sec

100000
(b) dynamic analysis-
50000 20000KN/sec

0 dynamic analysis-
0 10 20 30 40 50 200000KN/sec

3,124 N Midspan Displacement (mm)

(b)

Fig. 7. Load-deflection curves predicted by analysis for the beam

7,993N investigated under load applied at midspan for the cases of 共a兲 low
rates of loading 共200 kN/ sec兲; 共b兲 high rates of loading 共over
2,000 kN/ sec兲
12,596 N

parts is presented in Figs. 8共a–c兲 over the entire set of experimen-

24,120 N
(final load step)
(c)
Fig. 6. 共a兲 Comparison of load-deflection curves established by ex-
periment and predicted by analysis for the RC beam investigated,
under static loading; 共b兲 deformed shape of the RC beam under static
load; and 共c兲 crack patterns predicted by analysis for the RC beam
investigated at various stages of the applied static loading
change in the RC beam’s response when compared to its counter-
part under static loading: from the predictions illustrated in Fig.
7共a兲, it can be seen that for the lower rates of loading
共200 kN/ sec兲, the load-displacement curve obtained oscillates
around the static load-displacement curve. Furthermore, the val-
ues of the load-carrying capacity and the maximum exhibited
displacement predicted for the above low rates of loading are
similar with their counterparts obtained under quasi-static load-
ing. As the rate of applied loading increases, however 共over the
value of 2,000 kN/ sec兲, the numerical results illustrated in Fig.
7共b兲 reveal a considerable increase in stiffness and load-carrying
capacity and, at the same time, a decrease in the maximum de-
flection at midspan. Despite the lack of any rate sensitivity in the
constitutive model, a comparison of the numerical predictions
with the test results of Fig. 1 from tests on RC beams similar to
the one under investigation 共Miyamoto et al. 1989兲, reveals that
both sets of data exhibit similar trends in their response under
increasing rate of loading.
In order to investigate this similarity further, a comparison
between numerical predictions and their experimental counter-
tal data available. The experimental and numerical data illustrated
in Fig. 8共a兲 describe the variation of load-carrying capacity of the
RC beams under dynamic 共high-rate兲 loading 共max Pd兲 normal-
ized with respect to its counterpart under static loading 共max Ps兲
with the applied loading rate. The comparison of these two sets of
data reveals a relatively good correlation, with admittedly some
divergence in the maximum load predictions, whereby the maxi-
mum recorded load is smaller than the analytical one, even ne-
glecting any increase in the concrete and steel strength due to rate
关following, e.g., TM-855-1 共1998兲兴. The numerical predictions
and the experimentally established behavior presented in Figs. 8共b
and c兲 represent the variation of the maximum exhibited displace-
ment at the midspan section of the RC beam under dynamic load-
ing 共max ␦d兲, normalized with respect to its counterpart under
static loading 共max ␦s兲, with the applied loading rate. The experi-
mental data are characterized by considerable scatter, whereas the
numerical predictions obtained exhibit a particular trend, which
agrees with a large part of the available experimental evidence.
Both the reasons behind the scatter as well as the differences
observed between the numerical predictions and the experimental
data have been discussed earlier when reviewing the available
experimental data.
An alternative reason for the differences between numerical
and experimental data could also be the fact that in the numerical
investigations considered herein, failure is assumed to occur when
the structure’s stiffness matrix becomes nonpositive definite,
whereas in the experimental investigation, failure occurs when the
RC structural form suffers complete loss of its load-carrying ca-
pacity. In the present case, the latter occurred due to the disrup-
tion of the continuity of concrete caused by excessive crack
formation in the midspan region of the RC beam and it is as-

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J. Struct. Eng., 2008, 134(12): 1839-1851

 24 numerical predictions
21
Miyamoto et al - 1989
18
Hughes & Spiers - 1984 -
maxPd/maxPs

15 pinned
Hughes & Spiers - 1984 -
12
simply supported Leff /2= L/2
9 analyitical predictions
a=0.1 (a)
6 analyitical predictions
a=0.2
3
analyitical predictions
a=0.3
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0
1,E+02 1,E+03 1,E+04 1,E+05 1,E+06 1,E+07
Loading rate (kN/sec)
(a)
Leff/2
1,6
numerical predictions (b)
1,4
Miyamoto et al - 1989
1,2
maxδd/maxδs

0,8

0,6
Leff/2
0,4
(c)
0,2

0
1,E+02 1,E+03 1,E+04 1,E+05 1,E+06
Loading rate (kN/sec)
(b)

1,6 Leff/2
1,4
(d)
1,2
maxδd/maxδs

1
Fig. 9. Deformed shape of the RC beam investigated under load
0,8
numerical applied at midspan at various rates of loading 共the arrows show the
0,6 predictions displacement vectors兲: 共a兲 200 kN/ sec; 共b兲 2,000 kN/ sec; 共c兲
0,4
Hughes &
Spiers - 1982
20,000 kN/ sec; and 共d兲 200,000 kN/ sec
0,2

0
1,E+02 1,E+03 1,E+04 1,E+05
Loading rate (kN/sec)
Fig. 8. 共a兲 Comparison of experimental, numerical, and analytical
predictions expressing the variation of load-carrying capacity of the
RC beams with loading rate 共max Pd = load-carrying capacity under
dynamic loading, max Ps = load-carrying capacity under static load-
ing兲; 共b兲 comparison of experimental and numerical data expressing
the variation of maximum deflection of RC beams with loading rate
共max ␦d = maximum deflection under dynamic loading, max ␦s
= maximum deflection under static loading兲
sumed that the large values of displacement recorded during test-
ing correspond to postfailure behavior.
Fig. 9 shows the way the beam deforms under different im-
posed rates of loading. By observing the predicted deformed
shapes of the RC beams presented in Fig. 9, it can be suggested
that for low rates of loading 共i.e., below 200 kN/ sec兲, the RC
beam deforms in a manner similar to that recorded in the static
case 关Fig. 6共b兲兴, following a near-parabolic form. However, as the
rate of loading increases, the numerical predictions confirm quali-
tatively the experimental observation of Fig. 2 共Miyamoto et al.
1989兲, which, namely, indicates that the deflected shape progres-
sively attains a narrower bell-shaped form in the vicinity of the
loading point, with its convex portions near the supports gradu-
ally increasing at the expense of the middle concave portion,
1,E+06 1,E+07
whose deflection becomes disproportionally large. The analysis
further reveals that this is related to the crack distribution under
(c) different rates of loading, as these are depicted in Figs. 10共a–d兲.
These results indicate that under low loading rates, cracks begin
to form in the midspan region of the RC beam 共where the external
load is applied and the bending moment is larger兲 at relatively
low values of the applied load and extend gradually throughout
the beam span as the applied load increases, similar to static load
response. However, as the rate of loading increases, the cracking
process in the beam changes by being more localized within the
midspan region of the beam, while the cracks seem to initiate at
higher levels of applied load. It is worth noting that during the
loading process, the predicted extent of cracking may extend be-
yond the boundaries of the concave portion of the beam, which
corresponds to what has earlier been defined as Leff 共see Fig. 9兲.
This, however, does not change the fact that the deformation ex-
hibited within this effective response length is much greater than
that exhibited outside this region.
An important feature of the crack distribution is that the cracks
under static and low-rate loading form at the bottom part of the
beam 共where high tensile stresses develop兲 and extend upwards as
the applied load increases, with an inclination that depends on the
cross-sectional distance from the midspan of the beam 共the longer
the distance, the more inclined the cracks are兲. In the case of
high-rate loading, cracking seems to form also in the upper part of
the specimen, gradually extending 共almost vertically兲 downwards.
These cracks form at the two ends of Leff, thus, defining the

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J. Struct. Eng., 2008, 134(12): 1839-1851

 50000

3,615N 9,613N 40000

support reaction (N)

30000
8,125N 12,813N 20000 200kN/sec
static
10000
26,996N 37,072N
0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16
-10000
30,022N 49,634N
Leff/2 -20000
Leff/2
time (sec)
(a) (b)
(a)
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24,128N 59,144 N 30000

25000

support reaction (N)

50,128N 115,144 N
20000

15000 2000kN/sec
68,128N 127,144 N
static
10000

112,072N 207,140 N 5000

Leff/2 0
(c) 254,820 N 0 0.004 0.008 0.012 0.016 0.02 0.024
-5000
time (msec)
290,540 N (b)

359,360 N 60000
50000

support reaction (N)

Leff/2
(d) 40000
30000
20,000kN/sec
Fig. 10. Crack patterns indicating the “effective response length” Leff 20000
static
of the RC beam investigated at various stages of the applied load for 10000

various rates of loading: 共a兲 200 kN/ sec; 共b兲 2,000 kN/ sec; 共c兲 0

20,000 kN/ sec; and 共d兲 200,000 kN/ sec -10000 0 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006

-20000
time (msec)
(c)
boundaries between the portion of the RC beam’s span, which
responds to the applied load and that which remains practically 140000

unaffected. Such a crack pattern suggests that Leff essentially be- 120000
support reaction (N)

100000
haves as a beam fixed at its ends.
80000
From the analysis above, it can be seen that both experimental
60000 200,000kN/sec
and numerical data exhibit similar trends of behavior for the RC 40000 static
beams under high-rate loading. In particular, it can be suggested 20000
that the agreement observed between numerical and experimental 0
data validates the initial assumption that the effect of loading rates -20000 0 0.0002 0.0004 0.0006 0.0008 0.001 0.0012 0.0014

on the specimen behavior can be attributed, at least for the rates -40000

considered, purely to the inertia effect of the RC beams’ mass and time (msec)
the reduced effective response length and not to the loading-rate (d)
sensitivity of the properties of concrete and steel.
Fig. 11. Variation with time of support reactions of the RC beam
investigated under load applied at midspan at various rates of load-
ing: 共a兲 200 kN/ sec; 共b兲 2,000 kN/ msec; 共c兲 20,000 kN/ msec; and
Justification of the RC Beam Behavior under 共d兲 200,000 kN/ msec
High Rate of Loading

It appears from the above that the numerical investigation carried
out provided a realistic description of the effect of the loading rate
on the behavior of the RC beams investigated herein. Use of these
data in design, however, requires an understanding of the causes
that trigger these effects, which can be described by examining in
more detail this particular nonlinear wave propagation problem.
Upon impact, stress waves are generated at the point of load
application and propagate along the member, away from the
loaded area and toward the end supports. For the specimen con-
sidered in detail herein, the time necessary for the waves to travel
this distance is approximately 0.57 msec. Figs. 11共a–d兲 depict the
time histories of the predicted support reactions during loading
compared with the static reaction, equal to half the applied load.
For the case of static load, equilibrium requires that the above
histories are the same 关e.g., Fig. 11共a兲兴.
From the time histories presented in Fig. 11共a兲, it appears that
for low loading rates 共i.e., loading rates less than 200 kN/ sec兲,
the reaction forces are approximately half those of the applied
load. For such low rates of loading, the stress waves generated,
after reaching the specimen ends, are deflected and travel back-
wards and forwards along the length of the beam, trapped be-
tween the member’s end faces. As a result, the stress waves affect
the entire specimen, adding to the complexity of the internal
stress field 共except, of course, for static or quasi-static types of
loading兲 and, hence, it is difficult to predict where the highest
concentrations of stresses 共and strains兲 develop. Nevertheless, the

1848 / JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / DECEMBER 2008

J. Struct. Eng., 2008, 134(12): 1839-1851

 L Leff in the upper part of the beam between midspan and the supports.
For the case of static loading, the flexural capacity of the beam in
positive bending is M u = max PsL / 4 where max Ps = “ static” is the
load-carrying capacity; and L = beam span. For max Ps = 29 kN
and L = 2.7 m, M u is equal to about 19 kN m, with flexural crack-
M/ M/ ing being considered to initiate under a bending moment M cr
Bending moment = ␣M u where ␣ is about 0.30.
diagram
For a beam with fixed ends, such as Leff, the midspan bending
M
M
moment 共which is numerically equal to the fixed end moment兲 is
(a) (b) given by
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Fig. 12. Schematic representation of bending moment diagrams of Pd · Leff

the RC beam investigated under point load applied at midspan at 共a兲 M= assuming elastic structural response and
8
low; 共b兲 high rates of loading
共1a兲

numerically predicted and experimentally established load- Pd · Leff

deflection curves in Fig. 11共a兲 indicate that under such loading
conditions, the specimen behaves as if it were subjected to static
loading.
On the contrary, for high rates of loading over 2,000 kN/ sec,
the support reaction is considerably less than half the value of the
external load 关Figs. 11共b–d兲兴. In fact, the higher the loading rate,
the larger the difference between the two values. It may, therefore,
be assumed in this case that the stress waves generated by the
applied load at midspan are practically unable to reach the sup-
ports, either 共i兲 due to the short duration of the loading procedure,
when this is nearly equal or less than the time needed for the
stress wave to travel from the midspan to the beam ends, or 共ii兲
due to damage associated with cracking of the concrete and yield-
ing of the steel, characteristic of RC inelastic behavior, which
absorb part of the energy transmitted and artificially bound the
response. The numerical results shown in Figs. 11共b–d兲 reveal, in
fact, that damage to failure of the RC beam actually precedes the
development of a substantial buildup of the support reactions.
Therefore, it is realistic to assume that, in this case, the external
load does not affect the entire member, but only a portion of it,
Mu = − M U⬘ 共1b兲
4
at the ultimate limit state, defined by plastic hinge formation at
both midspan and ends of Leff 共Fig. 12兲, where M u = positive bend-
ing plastic moment at the middle of Leff; M ⬘u = ␤ · M u = negative
plastic moment at the ends of Leff; and Pd = applied impulsive
load, expressed as the product of the loading rate Ṗ and the du-
ration of loading ⌬t 共i.e., Pd = Ṗ · ⌬t兲. For the specimen at hand,
the longitudinal reinforcement comprises two 12 mm diam bars at
the bottom and two 6 mm diam bars at the top; therefore, the ratio
M ⬘u / M u = ␤ = 0.3.
As discussed previously, the identification of Leff is related to
the initiation of flexural cracking at the top face of the beam
between the load point and the supports. Considering the fixed-
end portion of the beam Leff, such cracking is considered to occur
under a bending moment M ⬘ = a · M ⬘u = ␣ · ␤ · M u. Defining Leff
= 2 · u̇w · ⌬tc 共as the stress wave travels in opposite directions each
side of the midspan兲, and solving Eq. 共1a兲, yields ⌬tc, the time
necessary for the first cracks to form at the edge of Leff

which extends to Leff with the latter essentially behaving as a
fixed-end beam whose span decreases as the loading rate in-
creases 共see Fig. 12兲. It is considered that it is this reduction of
Leff that is the underlying cause of the beam’s observed increase
in stiffness and load-carrying capacity, as these are established
experimentally and are also verified numerically 共Miyamoto et al.
1989兲; this reduction in effective response member span occurs
when the rate of loading increases beyond a “critical” value, lead-
ing to an increase in shear within the beam under a given applied
impact load.
From the crack patterns of Fig. 10, it can be seen that Leff
extends between the locations of the first flexural cracks that form
冑
4 · a · ␤ · Mu
⌬tc = 共2兲
Ṗ · u̇w
The values of ⌬tc obtained from Eq. 共2兲 for a = 0.3, ␤ = 0.3,
u̇w = 2,354 m / sec, M u = 19 kN m, and Ṗ = 200, 2,000, 20,000, and
200,000 kN/ sec, respectively, are given in Table 1, together with
the corresponding values of Leff. It should be noted, however, that
Leff cannot be larger than the span of the beam. Bearing this in
mind, it is possible to calculate the maximum load that causes
flexural failure of Leff for a given loading rate form Eq. 共1b兲 as
shown below

Table 1. Variation of Load-Carrying Capacity with the Rate of Loading for the RC Beam Investigated under Point Load Applied at Midspan
for Leff 艋 2.7 m
⌬t = 冑 关共2 · ␣ · ␤ · M u兲 / 共Ṗ · u̇w兲兴
Loading rates Ṗ for Leff ⬎ 2.7 m ⌬t = max Ps / Ṗ Leff = 2 · u̇w · ⌬t Pd = [4 · (1 + ␤) · M u / Leff]
共kN/sec兲 共sec兲 共m兲 共kN兲
200 0.145 ⬎2.7 max Ps = 29
578 0.0502 ⬎2.7 max Ps = 29
2,000 0.00129 ⬎2.7 30.3
8.834 0.00057 2.7 36.6
20,000 0.000334 1.57 63.53
200,000 0.000121 0.567 176

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J. Struct. Eng., 2008, 134(12): 1839-1851

 4 · 共M u + M u⬘兲 4 · 共1 + ␤兲 · M u
Pd = = where M ⬘u = ␤ · M u
Leff Leff
The values of Pd obtained from Eq. 共3兲 are also included in Table
1. It is interesting to note in Table 1 that for loading rates less than
8.834 kN/ sec, the whole length of the beam is affected by the
applied dynamic loading and the methodology described above
cannot be used. For such rates of loading, the beam responds to
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the impact load as a “simply supported beam,” while for higher
rates, the beam behavior is gradually transformed from “simply
supported beam” to that of a “reduced span fixed-end beam.” The
transition from one to the other of the above types of behavior
may be clarified as follows.
Assuming that the RC beam behaves elastically and that it is
supported on pins on either side, a simple analytical equation 关Eq.
共4兲兴 may be employed in order to calculate the value of the period
eigenvalue T1 共in seconds兲, which corresponds to the first 共domi-
nating兲 mode
T1 = 2 · ␲/␻1
where
␻1 = 冉冊冑
␲
L
2
·
E·I
␳·A
Based on Eq. 共4兲, the value of T1 is calculated at 0.027 sec. When
the duration of loading is less than this value, failure is exhibited
prior to the beam being able to oscillate as described for the case
of low loading rates. For duration of loading equal to or longer
than 0.027 sec, the beam is assumed to exhibit a load-carrying
capacity practically equal to that established under static. There-
fore, the loading rate, which corresponds to the above duration of
loading, is assumed equal to the ratio of the beam’s static load-
carrying capacity to the duration of the loading, i.e.
Ṗ = max Ps/T = 29 kN/0.027 sec ⬇ 1,047 kN/sec
Having established the loading rate at which the applied load
may be considered as static, the effect of the rate of loading
between this loading rate and the one at which Leff = L may be
obtained by a linear interpolation. Based on the above reasoning,
it is deduced that for small rates of loading less than
1,074 kN/ sec 共such as, for example, 200 kN/ sec兲, the behavior of
the beam is similar to its counterpart under static loading 共i.e., it
behaves as a simply supported beam兲. As a result, for loading
rates between 8,843 kN/ sec 共where Leff = L兲 and 1,074 kN/ sec,
the beam behavior is established by linear interpolation between
the values of load-carrying capacity corresponding to the above
rates of loading.
Applying the above analysis to the problem at hand, a range of
values of Pd are obtained from Eq. 共3兲 by adopting different val-
ues of the parameter a 共used to quantify cracking at the slope
discontinuity points兲; these are compared with their counterparts
established by experiment as well as those predicted by FE analy-
sis in Fig. 8共a兲, which shows a reasonable agreement between the
three. It should be noted that since the validation of the proposed
model was based on a single set of data, in order to prove its
generality, model predictions must be compared with additional
experimental data, which will refer to other RC beams with def-
erent dimensions and reinforcement arrangements.
1850 / JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / DECEMBER 2008
J. Struct. Eng., 2008, 134(12): 1839-1851
Conclusions
The constitutive model used by the FE program in the present
共3兲
study to analyze the behavior of RC beams under impact loading
is based on static material properties independent of the strain
rate, for steel and concrete. The comparative study between nu-
merical and experimental data revealed that such constitutive
models are capable of obtaining realistic predictions of the experi-
mentally recorded behavior of RC beams, under increasing rates
of loading. Adequate predictions were possible to obtain not only
the measured member’s resistance, but also the deformed shape at
failure under impact. It is concluded that the effect of loading rate
on the specimen’s behavior reflects the influence of inertia loads
on the response, reducing the “effective length” of the beam,
which, in turn, leads to an increase of its stiffness and load-
carrying capacity, together with a reduction of its maximum ver-
tical displacement under the load point. Based on the beam
dynamic response, this effective response length has been related
to the rate of applied loading, wave speed, and moment at onset
of cracking. Furthermore, it is concluded that such an increase in
load-carrying capacity reflects the change in the manner that the
共4兲 structural element responds to the applied load rather than to an
increase in flexural capacity.
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Belytschko, T. 共1976兲. “A survey of numerical methods and computer
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Bischoff, P. H., and Perry, S. H. 共1995兲. “Impact behaviour of plain
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450.
Cotsovos, D. M. 共2004兲. “Numerical investigation of structural concrete
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Cotsovos, D. M., and Pavlovic, M. N. 共2008a兲. “Numerical investigation
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