Abstract
In this paper, the propagation of localized damage in reinforced concrete structures is investigated in three dimensional domain. A mesoscale approach is employed whereby the material is perceived as a composite medium comprising two constituents, i.e. concrete matrix and steel reinforcement. The response at the macroscale is obtained via a homogenization procedure that incorporates the volume averaging. After the onset of cracking in concrete, a traction-separation law is introduced for the fractured zone, in which the Timoshenko beam theory is used to assess the stiffness characteristics in the presence of reinforcement. A general 3D scheme for tracing the crack geometry is incorporated, which employs a smoothening algorithm. The mathematical formulation is implemented in Abaqus user subroutine UMAT to verify the performance of the proposed methodology against the available experimental data. A number of numerical examples are given that examine the crack pattern formation and the associated fracture mechanism in concrete beams at different intensity of reinforcement.
Published Version
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