Abstract
Microcracks in concrete can coalesce into larger cracks that further propagate under repetitive load cycles. Complex process of crack formation and growth are essentially involved in the failure mechanism of concrete. Understanding the crack formation and propagation is one of the core issues in fatigue damage evaluation of concrete materials and components. In this regard, a numerical model was formulated to simulate the thorough failure process, ranging from microcracks growth, crack coalescence, macrocrack formation and propagation, to the final rupture. This model is applied to simulate the fatigue rupture of three-point bending concrete beams at different stress levels. Numerical results are qualitatively consistent with the experimental observations published in literature. Furthermore, in the framework of damage mechanics, one damage variable is defined to reflect stiffness reduction caused by fatigue loading. S-N curve is subsequently computed and the macroscopic damage evolution of concrete beams are achieved. By employing the combined approaches of fracture mechanics and damage mechanics, made possible is the damage evolution of concrete beam as well as the microscopic multiple fatigue crack simulation. The proposed approach has the potential to be applied to the fatigue life assessment of materials and components at various scales in engineering practice.
Highlights
Fatigue problems are prevalent in the service life of concrete structures such as bridge slabs, highway pavements and offshore structures [1,2,3]
Complex process of crack formation and growth are essentially involved in the failure mechanism of concrete
The purpose of approaches related to damage or fracture mechanics is to develop effective models that are able to reflect the progressive material degradation under fatigue loading
Summary
Fatigue problems are prevalent in the service life of concrete structures such as bridge slabs, highway pavements and offshore structures [1,2,3]. It is fair to say, our work is motivated by the aforementioned efforts In this context, the purpose of approaches related to damage or fracture mechanics is to develop effective models that are able to reflect the progressive material degradation under fatigue loading. It shall be pointed out that the model is stipulated to pure concrete materials, the internal longitudinal and transverse reinforcements with related effects [4,5,6] are not considered in the present work Based on these proposed models, attempts have been made to the numerical simulation of fatigue [18,31]. We are mainly focused on the fatigue damage analysis microscopically and macroscopically In this regard, the aim of the present work is to define a damage variable that reflect the fatigue evolution of concrete specimens, on the basis of the multiple crack simulation in concrete beams.
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