CONSEC CAPABILITIES
Program CONSEC may be used to perform concrete section analysis of reinforced concrete members with or without embedded steel shapes. Options are available to calculate section properties, interaction diagram, slenderness effects and perform section analysis and/or moment-curvature analysis for given loads.
Program input may be supplied interactively by filling in the GUI tab control form or via an externally created file. Input files may be saved for later editing and reuse. The input may be supplied in either English or Metric units. The program is not dimensionless, therefore dimensions should be input as specified under Units in the Design Criteria section. To facilitate common input units, the loads are input in either kip-ft (English) or kN-m (Metric). The tool tips will indicate any deviation from the common input units while hovering over the text boxes.
Concrete section analysis may be performed using either ACI-318, AASHTO, AREMA, AASHTO LRFD, CSA A23.3 or CAN/CSA-S6 design criteria. The program has built in default values for material strength, stress block, strength reduction factors, resistance factors and slenderness parameters which change depending on the design criteria selected.
Concrete sections may be input as any combination of rectangular or circular shapes. Both positive and negative shapes may be specified to represent voids, such as in a box girder. The shape must be specified relative to the extreme compression fiber. The lateral location of the member is not required since the analysis is not performed for out-of-plane loads. The section may be viewed assuming that each section is centered laterally.
Reinforcing bars may be input as any combination of lines or arcs. The program will internally recalculate the correct arc length when 360 degrees is entered for a complete circle. The reinforcing bars must be specified relative to the extreme compression fiber. A single bar area may be used to represent a group of bars at a given distance "d" for simplicity. The lateral location of the reinforcing is not required since the analysis is not performed for out-of-plane loads. The section view assumes that lines oriented at 0 degrees are centered and that lines oriented at 90 degrees are on each side. All other bars are plotted relative to the center, and may therefore not be shown correctly on the view.
Steel shapes may be input as any combination of rectangular or pipe shapes. The shape must be specified relative to the extreme compression fiber. The lateral location of the member is not required since the analysis is not performed for out-of-plane loads. The section may be viewed assuming that each section is centered laterally.
Any number of factored section loads may be input for analysis. The loads are input in either kip-ft (English) or kN-m (Metric). For slender columns with no intermediate loads, only an axial load is required. The end moments may be specified in the slenderness section. For member analysis without slenderness effects, an axial load and moment should both be specified. Future revisions may include analysis for shear and torsion.
Slenderness effects may be computed using moment magnification per the selected design criteria or per ACI-318's slender wall analysis procedure. Future revisions may include a general P-delta analysis option. The member length and effective length factor must be specified to calculate slenderness effects. Moment magnification of sway frames may be performed by unchecking the shear restraint at End i under the boundary conditions. An initial deflection may be provided under the load conditions to more accurately calculate the Q-based magnification factor for some criteria. If this option is desired, the user must also specify a shear value with the section loads.
Moment-curvature analysis may be performed using user-defined stress strain relationships for the concrete and reinforcing steel. Default stress-strain relationships are supplied for the most common materials. The concrete may be idealized with a linear relationship to determine the working stress moment-curvature distribution. A simple concrete model is provided which can be used for unconfined beam sections or poorly-confined columns. The so-called Mander stress-strain model is also provided for confined column sections which account for spalling outside the confinement. If the Mander stress-strain model is used, the user must supply the confinement reinforcing arrangement to calculate the confined stress and ultimate strain. The reinforcing steel and/or structural steel may be modeled with either a bi-linear relationship or the so-called Park stress-strain model which incorporates a complex strain hardening region. The user may modify the Park model to a use a simple parabolic strain hardening region from the Define Control Parameters menu if desired. The program will also calculate the local member ductility if the member length and boundary conditions are entered.