A number of numerical models have been developed for simulating self-healing behaviour, these include models based on hydration, mechanical damage at the macro-scale and coupling hydro-chemo-mechanical processes. This paper describes a new model for simulating self- healing behaviour in cementitious…
A number of numerical models have been developed for simulating self-healing behaviour, these include models based on hydration, mechanical damage at the macro-scale and coupling hydro-chemo-mechanical processes. This paper describes a new model for simulating self- healing behaviour in cementitious materials by using a 3D two phase micro-mechanical constitutive formulation. The composite is modelled using a Mori-Tanaka homogenisation scheme and the stress concentrations, adjacent to inclusions, are included using an exterior point Eshelby solution. Anisotropic micro-cracking is simulated using arrays of circular cracks. This model incorporates self-healing by using a new solidification formulation. The focus of this paper is on how the different model parameters affect the predicted response of structural elements formed from self- healing materials. The initiation and subsequent evolution of micro-cracks in both the original and healed materials are simulated alongside the healing processes. The performance of the 3D micromechanical self-healing model is illustrated using a series of stress-strain paths that involve damage and healing cycles. A series of paths and their stress-strain responses are shown whereby healing takes place whilst the material is subject to load. The examples show that this micro- mechanical self-healing model is capable of representing the characteristic mechanical response of self-healing cementitious materials with a good degree of accuracy.