Abstract
AbstractA novel coupled approach to modelling capillary-driven two-phase water flow in unsaturated concrete was formulated. By merging the discrete element method (DEM) with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) under isothermal settings, the process was numerically studied at the me-so-scale in two-dimensional conditions. Small concrete specimens of a simplified particle meso-structure were subjected to fully coupled hydro-mechanical simulation tests in isothermal conditions. A simple uniaxial compression test was used to calibrate the pure DEM represented by bonded spheres, while permeability and sorptivity tests for an assembly of bonded spheres were used to calibrate the pure CFD. For simplified specimens of the pure mortar, mortar with aggregate, and mortar with aggregate and interfacial transition zone (ITZ) of a given thickness, DEM/CFD simulations were performed sequentially. The numerical results of permeability and sorptivity were compared to the data found in the literature. The primary purpose of the re-search was to demonstrate the impact of ITZ on fluid flow in unsaturated concrete caused by capillary pressure.KeywordsDEM-CFDCapillary flowConcrete
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