1 Mesoscale modelling of size effect on the evolution of fracture process 1 zone in concrete 2 Rongxin Zhou a, b* , Yong Lu c , Li-Ge Wang d, e , Han-Mei Chen f 3 4 a School of Civil Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, China 5 b Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough 6 University, LE11 3TU, UK 7 c Institute for Infrastructure and Environment, School of Engineering, The University of 8 Edinburgh, UK 9 d Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield, UK 10 e Process Systems Enterprise, Hammersmith, London, UK 11 f School of Architecture, University of Liverpool, L69 7ZN, UK 12 * Correspondence: [email protected]; [email protected] 13 14 Abstract 15 A comprehensive mesoscopic investigation has been conducted to examine the evolution of 16 the fracture process zone (FPZ), using notched plain concrete beams subjected to three-point 17 bending as a generic representation. The concrete beams are modelled as random 18 heterogeneous materials containing three components, namely coarse aggregates, mortar and 19 the interface transition zone (ITZ). To better represent the fracture process in concrete, a 20 coupled cohesive-contact interface approach is employed to model the crack initiation, crack 21 propagation and the friction mechanisms during the fracture process. Thus, the FPZ is naturally 22 captured in the simulation as the zone composed by microcracks along the ITZ or through the 23 mortar matrix in the mesoscale model. The macroscopic response of load-deformation curves 24 as well as the shapes and sizes of FPZ calculated from numerical results are validated against 25 experimental observations and good agreement is achieved. Subsequent modelling results 26 demonstrate that the FPZ tend to exhibit a main crack and multiple secondary microcracks. 27 During the growth of the main crack, new microcracks initiate while some microcracks formed 28 earlier stop growing and even close. The evolution path of the FPZ is strongly irregular due to 29
Mesoscale modelling of size effect on the evolution of fracture process zone in concrete
Jun 24, 2023
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Related Documents
