To what extent does RFEM consider the inserted reinforcement when determining the stress or internal forces? Is the entered reinforcement only taken into account by the RF‑CONCRETE Surfaces add-on module?

Question

To what extent does RFEM consider the inserted reinforcement when determining the stress or internal forces? Is the entered reinforcement only taken into account by the RF&#8209;CONCRETE Surfaces add-on module?

Accepted Answer

When determining surface stresses or surface internal forces in RFEM, the entered reinforcement is not taken into account initially.In this case, RFEM applies the isotropic linear-elastic material model. However, you can optionally use the RF&#8209;CONCRETE&nbsp;NL add-on module to perform the nonlinear serviceability limit state design in the RF&#8209;CONCRETE Surfaces add-on module. Here, you can define the provided reinforcement before the calculation.The add-on module determines nonlinear stiffness, taking into account the applied reinforcement and the cracked state.You can then optionally export this nonlinear stiffness to RFEM and activate it for a new calculation of the surface internal forces for the individual load cases and load combinations.

Question

To what extent does RFEM consider the inserted reinforcement when determining the stress or internal forces? Is the entered reinforcement only taken into account by the RF‑CONCRETE Surfaces add-on module?