Abstract
Nowadays, the education of the engineers has been rounded by use of formulas, codes, standards and the most critical part, a complete dependence on the use of the computer software that help to understand the behavior of the structures, but despite of that, they only were created as a tool for solving mathematical problems of such a magnitude that the human being would take an important time to solve; if we add the lack of experiments in the career and particularly on the structural field, it could be figured out that a laboratory of models is an excellent complement to the theories given in the classroom. This article shows the results of different researches conducted at Universidad de La Salle and Escuela Colombiana de Ingeniería which the reduced scale models have been used to understand the behavior of the structures under to different types of loads. As a result, important advances were achieved in the simulation of basic concepts of the behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) elements, such as flexural and shear failure in beams, T Beams and RC Columns. On the other hand, it was noticed that the absence of well qualified man-work is a relevant (if not decisive) issue for the creation of new models. Currently, this research is focused on more advanced theories such the influence of flexural cracking in the shear resistance of RC slabs, study of the behavior of deep beams using Strut and Ties Models and the punching shear failure in footings supported on springs. Results of these research works are expected on late 2010