Fracture Modeling of Concrete in Plain and Reinforced Concrete Members

Abstract

To simulate response of concrete members and structures, comprehensive description of concrete behavior is required. This paper presents two groups of models that could be used to simulate behavior of concrete in tension for finite element modeling. The first group of models is based on stress–strain relationships and the second is based on stress–displacement relationships. Six relationships available in literature are investigated to model the response of plain concrete struts of various shapes and the behavior of reinforced concrete frame. Three of these relationships define tension in terms of stress–strain, whereas the other three describe tension in terms of stress–displacement. Comparing model estimates with results from experiments on plain and reinforced concrete members, it is concluded that tensile behavior of concrete can be represented well using stress–strain relationship. Modeling tensile behavior of concrete based on stress–displacement relationships can simulate response of these members, too, but not as well. The stress–strain relationship given by Tsai is the best option to simulate tension in concrete compared to the other stress–strain relationships and stress–displacement relationships considered in this study.