Membrane reinforcement in concrete shells: Design versus nonlinear behavior

The design of membrane reinforcement in concrete shells versus their ultimate behavior is studied. The present method of design is reviewed in which the reinforcement design is based on the pointwise elemental ultimate behavior in the shell, using the stresses obtained from the elastic analysis. The adequacy of this method of design is examined both on the elemental level and on the global level. On the elemental level, the adequacy of the design method is confirmed based on the study of experimental results. It is noted that, when the conventional cracking model for reinforced concrete structures is used on the elemental level, the design and the nonlinear behavior are not, in general, consistent. A cracking model is proposed which is consistent with the design and the nonlinear behavior on the elemental level. The model is verified using several experimental results.