This study develops a parameterized digital finite element workflow for comparative analysis of reinforced concrete beams with steel and hybrid steel-basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) reinforcement. Nine reinforcement configurations were represented within a common ANSYS Workbench environment using identical geometry, loading, boundary conditions, mesh strategy, and nonlinear concrete constitutive assumptions. Concrete nonlinearity was represented using a coupled damage-plasticity microplane formulation with a smooth three-surface Drucker-Prager cap yield function, whereas steel and BFRP reinforcement were represented through their respective elastic and strength parameters. The digital workflow enabled systematic extraction and comparison of tensile and compressive concrete strains, reinforcement stress development, tensile-damage initiation response, steel-yielding stages, and ultimate flexural behavior across three reinforcement series. The simulations showed that reinforcement composition substantially affects concrete strain development after cracking. Hybrid steel-BFRP beams exhibited earlier redistribution of internal forces and altered tensile-strain growth, while increased longitudinal reinforcement area reduced concrete deformation. The principal contribution is not a new constitutive law but a reproducible computational framework for comparing multiple reinforcement configurations under controlled numerical conditions. The proposed workflow demonstrates how nonlinear finite element simulation can support digital structural assessment and preliminary reinforcement-design decisions before extensive physical testing.
Keywords
Digital Finite Element ModelingANSYS WorkbenchParametric SimulationNonlinear Structural AnalysisHybrid Steel-BFRP ReinforcementConcrete StrainComputational Engineering
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