I am studying at the Bern University of Applied Sciences in Biel and, as part of my thesis, I am dealing with a structural system where UHFB/UHPC plays an important role.
I have a question regarding design in RSTAB:
Is it possible to design components made of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHFB/UHPC) in RSTAB? Specifically, I am interested in whether RSTAB supports a direct code-based design for UHFB or if only the determination of internal forces with self-defined material properties is possible.
If direct UHFB design is not possible: Do you have recommended workflows from your side, for example through user-defined materials, steel fiber concrete approaches, or an external verification based on the internal forces determined in RSTAB?
For my thesis, it is especially important to know what is currently technically possible with RSTAB, where the limits of the software lie, and whether you can recommend a sensible approach for a student project in the field of timber engineering.
First the bad news: The design of fiber-reinforced UHPC according to SIA 2052 is currently not yet implemented in RFEM 6 or RSTAB 9. I have created a customer request for this.
Now the good news:
The material database contains fiber concrete and these materials can also be customized by users (e.g., to change HPC to UHPC). More information is provided in the chapter Steel Fiber Concrete in the manual.
The design according to Eurocode is also included in the Concrete Design add-on. A conformity comparison here could be an interesting side task for your student thesis. (For example, performance classes (1a-3b instead of L1/L2) or partial safety factor (1.5 instead of 1.25))
Regarding the simulation of slab/shell elements made of fiber concrete, this webinar and this technical article for RFEM 6 could also be interesting for you.
A source of inspiration for you could be the published theses on our homepage. In addition, you can of course use the search in the Dlubal community (possibly with the tag thesis [#thesis]).
If you want, you can also submit your thesis to us after completion and receive great benefits.
