Fracture properties of concrete using damaged plasticity model -A parametric study

Abstract

The field of fracture mechanics has gained significance because of its ability to address the behaviour of cracks. Predicting the fracture properties of concrete based on experimental investigations is a challenge considering the quasi-brittle nature of concrete. So, there is a need for developing a standard numerical tool which predicts the fracture energy of concrete which is at par with experimental results. The present study is an attempt to evaluate the fracture energy and characteristic length for different grades of concrete using Concrete Damage Plasticity (CDP) model. Indian Standard and EUROCODE are used for the basic input parameters of concrete. Numerical evaluation is done using Finite Element Analysis Software ABAQUS/CAE. Hsu & Hsu and Saenz stress-strain models are adopted for the current study. Mesh sensitivity analysis is also carried to study the influence of type and size of elements on the overall accuracy of the solution. Different input parameters like dilatation angle, eccentricity are varied and their effect on fracture properties is addressed. The results indicated that the fracture properties of concrete for various grades can be accurately predicted without laboratory tests using CDP model.