FraMCoS 10 2019 Bayonne, France

A concurrent two-scale approach for high strength concrete

The present work proposes a concurrent two-scale (macro and mesoscale) approach for HSC, in which a linear elastic model with homogenized elastic properties is used for the macroscale and a three-phase material composed of coarse aggregate, mortar matrix and the…

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Year 2019
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Abstract

The present work proposes a concurrent two-scale (macro and mesoscale) approach for HSC, in which a linear elastic model with homogenized elastic properties is used for the macroscale and a three-phase material composed of coarse aggregate, mortar matrix and the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) with nonlinear behavior models are assumed for the mesoscopic level. The coarse aggregates are randomly generated from a certain grading curve and placed in the mesoscale subdomain, using the “take-and-place” method. The mesh fragmentation technique is employed, as proposed by Manzoli et al. [13]. This technique is based on the use of interface finite elements with high aspect ratio, which along with the employment of a constitutive tensile damage model is able to represent the crack initiation, propagation and coalescence, considering the individual behavior of each phase as well as their mutual interactions in the mesoscale HSC. The macroscopic and mesoscopic meshes are attached via coupling finite elements, which provide a rigid coupling between them. Dog-bone specimens and three-point bending tests with different aggregate size distributions are numerically simulated. The results showed that the proposed approach is a promising methodology and may be useful for modeling crack propagation in concretes with different strengths.