Bearing Capacity near Support Areas of Continuous Reinforced Concrete Beams and High Grillages

This work presents a proposed engineering method for calculating the bearing capacity of the supporting sections of continuous monolithic reinforced concrete tape beams, which combine pressed or driven reinforced concrete piles into a single foundation design. According to the mechanics of reinforced concrete, it is recommended to consider the grillage to be a continuous reinforced concrete beam, which, as a rule, collapses according to the punching scheme above the middle support (pile caps), with the possible formation of a plastic hinge above it. The justification for the proposed method included the results of experimental studies, comparisons of the experimental tensile shear force with the results of calculations according to the design standards of developed countries, and modeling of the stress-strain state of the continuous beam grillage in the extreme span and above the middle support-pile adverse transverse load in the form of concentrated forces. The work is important, as it reveals the physical essence of the phenomenon and significantly clarifies the physical model of the operation of inclined sections over the middle support. The authors assessed the influence of design factors in continuous research elements, and on the basis of this, the work of the investigated elements under a transverse load was simulated in the Lira-Sapr PC to clarify the stress-strain state and confirm the scheme of their destruction adopted in the physical model by the finite element method in nonlinear formulation. Based on the analysis and comparison of the experimental and simulation results, a design model was proposed for bearing capacity near the supporting sections of continuous reinforced concrete beams and high grillages that is capable of adequately determining their strength.