Micromechanical modelling of tensile response of elastic-brittle materials

Abstract

The stress-strain relation of elastic-brittle materials like concrete under tensile loading includes some of the stages of linear elasticity, pre-peak non-linear hardening, rapid stress drop and tension softening. These stages, which correspond to different mechanisms of damage, are modelled through micromechanical analyses. The behaviours of rapid stress drop and tension softening are the results of localization of damage and deformation. Based on the damage model of domain of microcrack growth proposed by Feng and Yu [Acta Mech. Sinica9, 251–260 (1993)], this paper gives the complete constitutive relation including the four stages of an elastic-brittle material subjected to uniaxial and triaxial tensile loads. As an illustration, the theoretical stress-strain curve in uniaxial tension is compared with an experimental result.