Numerical Analysis of Effective Permeability of Concrete-Like Material With a Random Three-Phase Mesostructure

Shibing Zhang,Bo Yang,Jiuchang Zhang,Zhihao Cui,Junli Zhou,Zhen Sun

doi:10.3389/fphy.2021.752589

Abstract

Interfacial transition zone (ITZ) is an important component of a concrete-like material. Accurately simulating the ITZ's characteristics of the concrete-like materials is a difficult process in numerical simulation. This article proposed a random three-phase mesostructural modeling method using the incorporation of random aggregate generation, Minkowski sum theory, and polygon union techniques. It was found that this method can better simulate the mesostructure and ITZ characteristics of concrete-like materials. By using this method, a random three-phase mesostructural model had been built for conducting a finite element analysis to investigate the effective permeability parameters of concrete. A good agreement between numerical and experimental results indicates the feasibility of this method in the concrete-like material analysis.

Highlights

Concrete is regarded as a composite material composed of aggregates, cement mortar, and an interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between it
Compared with the simple analytical investigation, numerical simulation technology can be considered to be competent for the mechanical description of complex morphological Interfacial transition zone (ITZ) characteristics of concrete-like materials [2]
This work proposed a three-phase model generation method for concrete-like materials using the Minkowski sum theory. This method can give an accurate description of the ITZ geometry

Summary

Introduction

Concrete is regarded as a composite material composed of aggregates, cement mortar, and an interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between it. Low elastic modulus, and high permeability, the ITZ is considered to be the weakest area of concrete. The ITZ is the main factor which determines the mechanical properties of concrete. How to accurately describe the characteristics of the ITZ is significant in the study of concrete mechanical behavior. Compared with the simple analytical investigation, numerical simulation technology can be considered to be competent for the mechanical description of complex morphological ITZ characteristics of concrete-like materials [2]. The application of numerical simulation has gradually deepened the understanding of the mesomechanical behavior of concrete-like materials [3]

Methods

Results

Conclusion