Abstract
There has been a mounting interest in the use of image-based concrete finite element models to estimate their mechanical properties. The aim of this study is to present a new approach for determining the compressive strength of real concrete based on numerical analysis. In this study, the three-dimensional mesoscale finite element (FE) models of concrete specimens were generated based on the computed tomography (CT) images. Most models consider the concrete as a homogeneous material, whereas it is a heterogeneous composite consisting of aggregates, cement paste, and air voids. In addition, the existing heterogeneous models are limited to just one type of aggregate. In this study, two different types of aggregates were selected for concrete mix design and accordingly defined as separate phases in FE models. Two groups of concrete specimens with different water-to-cement ratios were cast. The images were taken using a medical CT scan device and converted to the manageable mesoscale hexahedron elements through the image processing accompanied with meshing technique. FE models were then built considering the mechanical properties of the individual components of concrete determined in the laboratory. Using the explicit dynamics solver of Abaqus software, compressive strength of the specimens was obtained. The compressive strengths of the three specimens with different shapes selected from the two groups of concrete (cubic group I, cubic group II, and cylindrical group II) were estimated with 8.8%, 9.7% and 8% deviations from the experimental curves. The accuracy and performance of this method makes it a potential candidate as a quality control tool for concrete structures. The findings revealed that X-ray CT (XCT) images can be utilized as a suitable method to estimate the ultimate strength of concrete based on early-aged specimens. This can greatly be of advantage to the supervisory administration.
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