Plastic hinge length in reinforced HPFRCC beams and columns

The use of ductile concrete materials such as High Performance Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composites (HPFRCCs) within plastic hinge regions of structural components has garnered research interest in order to improve the seismic resistance of reinforced concrete structures. While experimental and numerical results appear promising in reducing component damage and probability of system level collapse, accurate nonlinear analysis tools capable of capturing the influence of axial load well into a component's inelastic regime is needed. In this study, a series of 180 high fidelity numerical simulations of HPFRCC beam-column elements are simulated and used to calibrate new plastic hinge length expressions for concentrated and distributed plasticity models for use in system level structural analysis. The numerical models cover a range of HPFRCC material properties, reinforcement ratios, shear span lengths, and axial load levels. The ability of the newly developed expressions to predict component inelastic rotations are subsequently compared to hinge length expressions in the literature and the inelastic rotations of 47 experimental components. The results of this study provide new insights into the effects of axial load on the plastic hinge behavior of HPFRCC components, significantly improves on the accuracy of past plastic hinge length expressions allowing for more accurate modeling of HPFRCC component responses and system level behavior.