ABSTRACT
Numerical calculations based on the finite element method have become a standard tool for designing of structures. It seems that today, it’s only a question of computer capacity, the size of the element mesh, and the modeling of the non-linear material behavior, in order to analyze an arbitrary complex reinforced structures with almost unlimited accuracy. But this is not the case as will be shown in this paper. The main problems are not of numerical or mechanical type but to model the real behavior of a concrete structure and to estimate the required reinforcement. The focus of this paper is not to present highly sophisticated analysis but day-to-day problems a structural engineer has to deal with.
