ROBUSTNESS OF REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURES

Reinforced Concrete Structures usually reach the collapse through load/damage histories more complex and articulated with respect to other types of structure. This higher complexity may make unsuitable some definitions usually reported in Literature. In this paper, a brief recall of the robustness expressed in terms of indexes of damage proposed by other Authors is given and it is shown how they could not be applicable to reinforced concrete structure. Then a new formulation of two indexes of damage and robustness is proposed and discussed. In particular it is highlighted their consistency and coherence in dealing with structures made of different materials.