Abstract
The energy evolution behaviour and mesodamage mechanism of CRC (crumb rubber concrete) were investigated by laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. The mesoscopic physical and mechanical parameters of CRC (crumb rubber concrete) materials were analyzed and determined by the discrete element method and trial‐and‐error method, and the mechanism and evolution of microcracks propagation during CRC failure were studied based on the parallel‐bond model. The relationship among dissipation energy, damage threshold, and rubber content during CRC damage was studied by adopting the method of microscopic energy tracking. The energy release ratio was proposed to analyze the degree of “brittleness” of CRC after reaching its peak strength. The essential mechanism of different failure characteristics of CRC and NC (normal concrete) was analyzed and discussed by referring to their correlation between the microenergy evolution rule and the constitutive curve. The results show that (1) the calibrated mesoscopic physical and mechanical parameters can better reflect the mechanical characteristics of CRC materials, (2) there is a strong correlation between the mesoscopic damage threshold of CRC with different rubber contents and the proportion of dissipation energy at the peak strength, and the damage threshold of the CRC with 25% rubber mass is the largest, (3) the relationship between elastic strain energy release ratio of CRC and rubber particle contents can be fitted by the negative exponential function, and (4) the essential reasons for the different destruction characteristics of CRC and NC is that the addition of rubber particles makes more external input energy to be converted into dissipative energy required for microcracks propagation and sliding friction between particles and released step by step.
Highlights
CRC, referred as elastic composite material concrete, has the excellent performance on light weight, elastic damping, ductility and toughness, and environmental protection
CRC has been broadly applied in the fields of road, highway, bridge deck, and underground engineering, while it often suffers damage and failure on a larger scale due to the generation and propagation of microcracks, which are often neglected. erefore, understanding and mastering the mesodamage mechanism and failure rules of CRC materials is very important to ensure the quality and safety of the materials applied in engineering
Taking the CRC group with the maximum damage threshold as the representative, the essential mechanism of different failure characteristics of CRC and NC was discussed from the perspective of mesoscopic energy. is process can effectively solve the limitations caused by the laboratory test and the dispersion of experimental results, and can provide useful reference and supplement for the study on mechanics, progressive deformation, and failure characteristics of composite materials
Summary
CRC (crumb rubber concrete), referred as elastic composite material concrete, has the excellent performance on light weight, elastic damping, ductility and toughness, and environmental protection. Eldin and Senouci [1], Khatib and Bayomy [2], and Yu and Zhu [3] conducted laboratory experiments to study the law of the physical and mechanical properties of composite material mixed with different sizes and different amounts of rubber particles. The damage mechanism and energy evolution of CRC materials in the process of deformation and failure were studied from a microscopic perspective by referring to the particle discrete element method introduced by Cundall and Strack [22] in 1979. The mechanism of generation and propagation of microcracks during CRC failure was analyzed, and the correlation between mesoscopic damage variable and dissipated energy at different stages was studied, and the evolution of CRC damage threshold with rubber content was discussed. Taking the CRC group with the maximum damage threshold as the representative, the essential mechanism of different failure characteristics of CRC and NC was discussed from the perspective of mesoscopic energy. is process can effectively solve the limitations caused by the laboratory test and the dispersion of experimental results, and can provide useful reference and supplement for the study on mechanics, progressive deformation, and failure characteristics of composite materials
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