Concentrically Loaded Circular Steel Plates Bearing on Plain Concrete

This paper presents an analytical study to determine the effects of bearing stress distributions on concrete bearing strength and bearing plate flexural demand, for concrete blocks loaded concentrically through nonanchored flexible steel plates. Finite-element (FE) analyses of concrete specimens tested in previous investigations are employed to determine the bearing strength of the concrete when loaded through flexible plates. An FE parametric study is performed to derive formulas for the calculation of the concrete bearing stress distribution for flexible circular steel bearing plates. The results of this parametric study are used to develop a procedure for the design of concentrically loaded circular steel bearing plates on plain (unreinforced) concrete. The proposed procedure is compared with a standard design procedure.