Constitutive modeling of damageable brittle and quasi-brittle materials

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to develop a constitutive model for damageable brittle and quasi-brittle materials. A damage model, which can handle damage anisotropy, distinct tensile and compressive damage behavior, and damage deactivation simultaneously, is developed. A general expression for the effective continuum tangent operator is derived based on the effective space plasticity hypothesis. A closed-form expression for the apparent continuum tangent operator is subsequently derived. The versatility of the present model is demonstrated through modeling several different materials. The present model is found to be capable of handling various mechanical behaviors, complex loading conditions, and complex loading paths. It is also found to be capable of facilitating the calibration of its associated material parameters from experimental data. A wide variety of mechanical behaviors can be incorporated into the present model in the future.