Mesoscopic modelling of concrete material under static and dynamic loadings: A review

Abstract

Further understanding of the mechanical responses and the failure mechanism of concrete under different loadings, the mesoscale modelling approach considering the heterogeneity of concrete has drawn extensive attention in investigating its mechanical behaviors. State-of-the-art mesoscale modelling approaches and material models for concrete are presented and compared with our developed 3D random mesoscale modelling approach, in which the randomness of particles in shape and spatial distribution in concrete is considered. This work mainly concentrates on the development and application of the 3D random mesoscale modelling approach in investigating the mechanical behaviors of concrete under static and dynamic loadings. Employing the 3D mesoscale modelling method, the mechanical properties of the ordinary concrete under dynamic compression, split- and direct tension are numerically studied. According to the example applications performed in this work, it is demonstrated that the 3D random mesoscale modelling approach has excellent validity in investigating the mechanical responses of concrete, which provides significant insights into the further development and application of concrete materials and structures under different conditions.