ABSTRACT
In the context of solid mechanics, it implies that the second order terms of the strain-displacement can be ignored and (or) the material properties are independent of the stresses. The applications of the finite strip method to non-linear problems were first attempted in the late eighties and since then the developments have been quite remarkable. For such non-linear problems, the finite strip method has a definite advantage over the finite element method because of its smaller number of degrees of freedom involved and consequently the much smaller amount of computational efforts. The layered concept for material non-linear finite element analysis was adopted earlier and the finite strip was similarly divided into imaginary concrete layers in thickness and a number of segments in the longitudinal direction for numerical integration requirement. Reinforcement was further replaced by a smeared steel layer with the original reinforcement area having stiffness only in the direction of the reinforcement.
