Experimental and numerical investigation on the role of interface for crack-width control of hybrid SHCC concrete beams

Shozab Mustafa,Shantanu Singh,Dick Hordijk,Erik Schlangen,Mladena Luković

doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2021.113378

Shozab Mustafa, Shantanu Singh + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2021.113378

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Abstract

Hybrid application of conventional concrete and Strain Hardening Cementitious Composite (SHCC) is recently shown to be promising for crack width control. In this paper, a combined experimental and numerical study is performed to validate the concept and to study the effect of interface treatment on crack width control. The interface is varied between smooth, profiled, partially debonded and completely debonded surfaces. The beams are tested under a four-point bending configuration. The crack development is monitored using digital image correlation throughout the loading, and maximum crack width of 0.3 mm at the surface is taken as the limiting criterion for analyses. The hybrid and control beams are simulated using the lattice model. Both experimentally and numerically, it is observed that stronger interfaces enable the composite action in the hybrid beams and provide better crack width control compared to the artificially weakened interfaces.

Highlights

Concrete is the most commonly used construction material in the world due to, among others, its high compressive strength and the ease to be cast in various shapes
The step is to investigate the role of these fibres on structural behaviour and crack development in the hybrid beams, where cracking behaviour of Strain Hardening Cementitious Composite (SHCC) is influenced by the embedded steel reinforcement, restraint at the interface and cracking in the adjacent concrete
By ensuring that the inverse analysis procedure is systematically imbedded throughout the modelling and that multiple performance criteria are compared for each test, the modelled parameters are considered to be robustly presented – especially given the limited number of the lattice parameters. From this experimental and numerical study, it is observed that the interfacial treatment in hybrid SHCC concrete structures exhibits an interplay between two effects leading to crack localization in SHCC

Summary

Introduction

Concrete is the most commonly used construction material in the world due to, among others, its high compressive strength and the ease to be cast in various shapes. Recently there has been some in terest in using the lattice modelling approach to simulate the structural behaviour of reinforced concrete [33,34]. These studies present a promising opportunity to explore and understand the fundamental mechanisms in structural members. The possibility of using the lattice approach for modelling hybrid concrete structures is inves tigated Simulating such structures still presents a challenge using commercially available finite element software due to the (1) complex non-linear behaviour of interface when loaded parallel and perpendic ular to its plane and (2) still unknown interaction between these behaviours. A new analysis is performed with the removed element and this process is repeated until the ultimate failure of the structure

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