Reinforced Concrete Beams in Karamba

Hello. I’ve just discovered this plug-in and giving it a spin. I’ve noticed that with Karamba3D it is not straightforward how one would use it for Reinforced concrete columns and beams (but it’s possible for slabs…? )

Is there a specific workflow for this, one that i am missing somehow, or is it simply outside the scope of the software?

Hello @adel.albloushi,
at the moment (version 1.3.3) the design of reinforced concrete columns and beams is not directly possible in Karamba3D.
For the design of the concrete cross sections one can use the strength values of the concrete materials together with a reduced target utilization. The reinforcement design then needs to be done in a separate step based on the cross section forces and buckling length.
– Clemens

Thank you for your reply. Do you have an example of reinforcement design using karamba, or a demonstration?

Thank you

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Hi,
I’m struggling with the same problem. I designed a high rise precast concrete building in karamba. And with the help of mohr’s circle I calculated the normal stresses and shear stresses. But now I want to analyse these stresses and this analysis should lead to a reinforcement percentage in the shell elements. But I’m not sure how to make the connection her, because I understand that Karamba calculates this lineair-elastic and doesn’t take reinfocement into consideration when calculating stresses. How did you design this component to calculate the principal stresses and is there a way to influence the stresses by altering material properties?
Thank you in advance!

Hi @anneholthaus,
the ‘OptiReinf’-component in Karamba3D calculates the reinforcement based on linear elastic cross sections forces assuming a cracked cross section (see here).
Alternatively you get the principal cross section forces via the ‘ShellForces’-component (see here) which can be used to determine reinforcement quantities.
– Clemens