Numerical validation of a dowel action triple-block test set-up

Dowel action provided by steel rebars in reinforced concrete is particularly relevant in existing reinforced concrete structures characterized by lack of construction details and designed with obsolete code. In the 80’s and 90’s, dowel action effect was widely investigated at Politecnico di Milano by means of monotonic tests performed on single-block specimens. In the framework of the Research Project of National Interest “Failure mechanisms due to lack of construction details and degradation phenomena in existing reinforced concrete structures”, this previous investigation is now extended by performing an experimental campaign that includes cyclic tests. Hence, a triple-block test set-up - particularly suitable for conducting cyclic tests - was designed. This paper aims to numerically validate the triple-block test set-up, by comparing its behaviour to that obtained in the previous experimental campaign for the single block in monotonic tests. A good agreement is achieved in terms of global behaviour, failure mechanisms and shear force at which reinforcement yielding occurs, while a difference in terms of stiffness is highlighted.