Flexure-Shear Fiber Beam-Column Elements for Modeling Frame Structures Under Seismic Loading — State of the Art

Whilst currently existing modeling approaches of reinforced concrete (RC) behavior allow a reasonably accurate prediction of flexural response, the determination of its shear counterpart needs further developments. In the last 20 years, models that predict shear response with acceptable accuracy for conditions of monotonic loading have been introduced, whilst, on the other hand, models capable of predicting the shear response under cyclic loading are less common. Among the approaches used for performing nonlinear analyses of frame structures, fiber beam-column elements have shown high capability in reproducing axial and flexural response, whereas the coupling between normal and shear stresses has been accounted for in very few models only. In this research work, the existing fiber beam-column elements with shear have been reviewed, underlying their most prominent characteristics and shortcomings, where relevant, with the objective of providing those interested in the topic with a relatively comprehensive overview of the subject. From this review, it can be concluded that thanks to the models proposed in the literature (and in particular, the ones herein presented) important and significant steps have been done towards the development of an analytical tool capable of modeling RC frame structures under cyclic and seismic loadings. However, further developments and improvements are still required in this research area.