Modified cyclic steel law including bond-slip for analysis of RC structures with plain bars

The paper describes a modified cyclic bar model including bond-slip phenomena between steel reinforcing bars and surrounding concrete. The model is focused on plain bar and is useful, for its simplicity, for the seismic analyses of RC structures with plain bars and insufficient constructive details, such as in the case of '60s -'70s Mediterranean buildings. The model is based on an imposed exponential displacements field along the bar including both steel deformation and slip; through the adoption of equilibrium and compatibility equations a stress-slip law can be deducted and simply applied, with opportune operations, to RC numerical models. This study aims to update and complete the original monotonic model published by the authors, solving some numerical inconsistencies and, mostly, introducing the cyclic formulation. The first aim is achieved replacing the imposed linear displacement field along the bar with an exponential too, while the cyclic behaviour is described through a formulation based on the results of parametric analyses concerning a large range of steel and concrete properties and geometric configurations. Validations of the proposed model with experimental results available in the current literature confirm its accuracy and the reduced computational burden, highlighting its suitability in performing nonlinear analyses of RC structures.