• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.3-12
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• 2000

A fracture energy concept proposed by Ouyang and Shah's fracture mechanics approach was used to predict cracking of reinforced concrete members subjected to tension. In this approach, fracture properties in plain concrete which incorporate the presence of the fracture process zone are first determined from the generalized size effect method, then fracture energy required for crack propagation with the same dimension and material properties are evaluated using an R-curve. Subsequently taking into account the material properties in Ouyang and Shah's approach, a theoretical analysis to predict the mechanical behavior of reinforced concrete members subjected to tension was performed and compared to observed experimental results. It is seen that the predicted average crack spacing curves agree well with the experimental results, whereas the analytical method seems to predict lower values for this study. The analytical approach predicts well responses of stress-strain curves before and after the first crack is formed. It is concluded from this study that a fracture energy concept based on the R-curve and the generalized size effect method is a rational approach to predict cracking of reinforced concrete members subjected to tension.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.80 no.5
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• pp.553-562
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• 2021

In this paper, a hybrid scaled boundary finite element and finite volume method (SBFEM-FVM) is proposed for simulating hydraulic-fracture propagation in brittle concrete materials. As a semi-analytical method, the scaled boundary finite element method is introduced for modelling concrete crack propagation under both an external force and water pressure. The finite volume method is employed to model the water within the crack and consider the relationship between the water pressure and the crack opening distance. The cohesive crack model is used to analyse the non-linear fracture process zone. The numerical results are compared with experimental data, indicating that the F-CMOD curves and water pressure changes under different loading conditions are approximately the same. Different types of water pressure distributions are also studied with the proposed coupled model, and the results show that the internal water pressure distribution has an important influence on crack propagation.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.569-585
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• 2014

In this paper, a four-layer road structure consisting of an edge transverse crack is simulated using three-dimensional finite element method in order to capture the influence of a single-axle wheel load on the crack propagation through the asphalt concrete layer. Different positions of the vehicular load relative to the cracked area are considered in the analyses. Linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) is used for investigating the effect of the traffic load on the behavior of a crack propagating within the asphalt concrete. The results obtained show that the crack front experiences all three modes of deformation i.e., mode I, mode II and mode III, and the corresponding stress intensity factors are highly affected by the crack geometry and the vehicle position. The results also show that for many loading situations, the contribution of shear deformation (due to mode II and mode III loading) is considerable.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.147-162
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• 2024

This study presents a random-aggregate mesoscale model integrating the random distribution of the coarse aggerates and the damage mechanics of the mortar and interfacial transition zone (ITZ). This mesoscale model can generate the random distribution of the coarse aggregates according to the prescribed particle size distribution which enables the automation of the current methodology with different coarse aggregates' distribution. The main innovation of this work is to propose the "correction factor" to eliminate the dimensionally dependent mesh sensitivity of the concrete damaged plasticity (CDP) model. After implementing the correction factor through the user-defined subroutine in the randomly meshed mesoscale model, the predicted fracture resistance is in good agreement with the average experimental results of a series of geometrically similar single-edge-notched beams (SENB) concrete specimens. The simulated cracking pattern is also more realistic than the conventional concrete material models. The proposed random-aggregate mesoscale model hence demonstrates its validity in the application of concrete fracture failure and statistical size effect analysis.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.691-707
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• 2004

This paper presents the micro-mechanical modeling for predicting concrete behavior under compressive loading. The model is able to represent the heterogeneities in the microstructure up to three phases, i.e., aggregate particles, matrix and interfaces. The smeared crack concept based on non-linear fracture mechanics is implemented in order to formulate the constitutive relation for each component. The splitting tensile strength is considered as a fracture criterion for cracking in micro-level. The finite element method is employed to simulate the model based on plane stress condition by using quadratic triangular elements. The validation of the model is verified by comparing with the experimental results. The influence of tensile strength from both aggregate and matrix phases on the concrete compressive strength is demonstrated. In addition, a guideline on selecting appropriate tensile strength for each phase to obtain specified concrete compressive strength is also presented.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.357-367
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• 2016

This paper illustrates an experimental study on a self compacting polymer concrete called isobeton made of polyurethane foam and expanded clay. Several experiments were conducted to characterize the physic-mechanical properties of the considered material. Application of the Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) and determining the toughness of two isobetons based on Belgian and Italian clay, was conducted to determine the stress intensity factor $K_{IC}$ and the rate of releasing energy $G_{IC}$. The material considered was tested under static and dynamic loadings for two different samples with $10{\times}10{\times}40$ and $10{\times}15{\times}40cm$ dimensions. The result obtained by the application of the Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) shows that is optimistic and fulfilled the physic-mechanical requirement of the study.

• KCI Concrete Journal
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.211-221
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• 1999

A method to determine the fracture energy of concrete is investigated. The fracture energy may be calculated from the area under the complete load-deflection curve which can be obtained from a stable three-point bend test. Several series of concrete beams have been tested. The Present experimental study indicates that the fracture energy decreases as the initial notch-to-beam depth ratio increases Some problems to be observed to employ the three-point bend method are discussed. The appropriate ratio of initial notch-to-beam depth to determine the fracture energy of concrete is found to be 0.5. It is also found that the influence of the self-weight of a beam to the fracture energy is very small A simple and accurate formula to predict the fracture energy of concrete is proposed.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.31-37
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• 2000

When a crack is produced in a concrete structure, a micro crack zone of fracture process zone (FPZ) appears at the crack tip. To investigate the behaviour of this the micro crack zone, nonlinear fracture mechanics (NLFM) must be applied. However, when a massive concrete structure such as a concrete gravity dam is considered, the micro crack zone can be neglected and the structure can be assumed to have linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) behaviour. This study is divided into two main topics : (1) Calculating stress intensity factor (SIF) at the crack tip by surface integral method and (2) Investigating the propagation of the initial crack. If the initial crack propagates, the angle of the propagation is calculated by using maximum circumferential tensile strength theory. This study, also, contains the effects of body forces and water pressures on the crack face.

• Magazine of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.145-153
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• 1996

The fracture process zone in concrete is a region ahead of a traction-free crack, in which two major mechanisms, microcracking and bridging, play important roles. The toughness due to bridging is dominant compared to toughness induced by microcracking, so that the bridging is dominani: mechanism governing the fracture process of concrete. Fracture mechanics does work for concrete provided that the fracture process zone is being considered, so that the development of model for the fracture process zone is most important to describe fracture phenomena in concrete. In this paper the bridging zone, which is a part of extended rnacrocrack with stresses transmitted by aggregates in concrete, is modelled by a Dugdale-Barenblatt type model with linear tension-softening curve. Two finite element techniques are shown for the analysis of progressive cracking in concrete based on the discrete crack approach: one with crack element, the other without crack element. The advantage of the technique with crack element is that it dees not need to update the mesh topology to follow the progressive cracking. Numerical results by the techniques are demonstrated.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.51-61
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• 2019

Compressive ability is one of the most important mechanical properties of concrete material. The compressive failure process of concrete is pretty complex with internal tension, shear damage and friction between cracks. To simulate the complex fracture process of concrete at meso level, methodology for meso-structural analysis of concrete specimens is developed; the zero thickness cohesive elements are pre-inserted to simulate the crack initiation and propagation; the constitutive applied in cohesive element is established to describe the mechanism of crack separation, closure and friction behavior between the fracture surfaces. A series of simulations were carried out based on the model proposed in this paper. The results reproduced the main fracture and mechanical feature of concrete under compression condition. The effect of key material parameters, structure size, and aggregate content on the concrete fracture pattern and loading carrying capacities was investigated. It is found that the inner friction coefficient has a significant influence on the compression character of concrete, the compression strength raises linearly with the increase of the inner friction coefficient, and the fracture pattern is sensitive to the mesostructure of concrete.