Evaluating damage scale model of concrete materials using test data

A reliable concrete constitutive material model is critical for an accurate numerical analysis simulation of reinforced concrete structures under extreme dynamic loadings including impact or blast. However, the formulation of concrete material model is challenging and entails numerous input parameters that must be obtained through experimentation. This paper presents a damage scale analytical model to characterize concrete material for its pre- and post-peak behavior. To formulate the damage scale model, statistical regression and finite element analysis models were developed leveraging twenty existing experimental data sets on concrete compressive strength. Subsequently, the proposed damage scale analytical model was implemented in the finite element analysis simulation of a reinforced concrete pier subjected to vehicle impact loading and the response were compared to available field test data to validate its accuracy. Field test and FEA results were in good agreement. The proposed analytical model was able to reliably predict the concrete behavior including its post-peak softening in the descending branch of the stress-strain curve. The proposed model also resulted in drastic reduction of number of input parameters required for LS-DYNA concrete material models.