Analytical examination of mesh-dependency issue for uniaxial RC elements and new fracture energy-based regularization technique

2021 ◽  
pp. 105678952110392
Author(s):  
De-Cheng Feng ◽  
Xiaodan Ren
Keyword(s):  
Reinforced Concrete ◽  
Fracture Energy ◽  
Regularization Method ◽  
Strain Energy ◽  
Plain Concrete ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Stress Strain ◽  
Regularization Technique ◽  
Mesh Dependency ◽  
Energy Equivalence

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the mesh-dependency issue for both plain concrete and reinforced concrete (RC) members under uniaxial loading. The detailed mechanisms for each case are firstly derived, and the analytical and numerical strain energies for concrete in different cases are compared to explain the phenomena of mesh-dependency. It is found that the mesh-dependency will be relieved or even eliminated with the increasing of the reinforcing ratio. Meanwhile, a concept of the critical reinforcing ratio is proposed to identify the corresponding boundary of mesh-dependency of RC members. In order to verify the above findings, several illustrative examples are performed and discussed. Finally, to overcome the mesh-dependency issue for RC members with lower reinforcing ratios, we propose a unified regularization method that modifies both stress-strain relations of steel and concrete based on the strain energy equivalence. The method is also applied to the illustrative examples for validation, and the numerical results indicate that the developed method can obtain objective results for cases with different meshes and reinforcing ratios.

Mechanical Properties and Fracture Energy of Concrete Beams Reinforced with Basalt Fibres

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Caroline Da Costa Santos ◽  
Paul Archbold
Keyword(s):  
Tensile Strength ◽  
Reinforced Concrete ◽  
Fracture Energy ◽  
Mechanical Performance ◽  
Plain Concrete ◽  
Natural Fibre ◽  
Bending Test ◽  
Natural Material ◽  
Fibre Reinforced Concrete ◽  
Steel Fibres

Fibre-reinforced concrete (FRC) is widely employed in the construction industry, with assorted fibre types being used for different applications. Typically, steel fibres give additional tensile strength to the mixture, while flexible fibres may be used in large sections, such as floor slabs, to control crack width and to improve the handling ability of precast sections. For many reasons, including durability concerns, environmental impact, thermal performance, etc, alternatives to the currently available fibres are being sought. This study examines the potential of using basalt fibres, a mineral and natural material, as reinforcement of concrete sections in comparison to steel fibres and plain concrete mix. Mixes were tested containing 0.5% and 1.0% of basalt fibres measuring 25mm length, 0.5% of the same material with 48mm length and steel fibres measuring 50mm by 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.15% and 0.2% of the concrete volume. For the mechanical performance analysis, the 3-point bending test was led and the fracture energy, Young’s modulus and tensile strength in different moments of the tests were calculated. When compared to the control mixtures and the steel-fibre-reinforced concrete, the mixes containing basalt had a reduction in their elastic modulus, representing a decrease in the concrete brittleness. At the same time, the fracture energy of the mixtures was significantly increased with the basalt fibres in both lengths. Finally, the flexural strength was also higher for the natural fibre reinforced concrete than for the plain concrete and comparable to the results obtained with the addition of steel fibres by 0.15%.

scholarly journals Effect of the Notch-to-Depth Ratio on the Post-Cracking Behavior of Steel-Fiber-Reinforced Concrete

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 445
Author(s):  
José Valdez Aguilar ◽  
César A. Juárez-Alvarado ◽  
José M. Mendoza-Rangel ◽  
Bernardo T. Terán-Torres
Keyword(s):  
Reinforced Concrete ◽  
Plain Concrete ◽  
Fiber Reinforced Concrete ◽  
Fiber Reinforced ◽  
Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete ◽  
Cracking Behavior ◽  
Bending Tests ◽  
Depth Ratio ◽  
Residual Performance ◽  
Concrete Control

Concrete barely possesses tensile strength, and it is susceptible to cracking, which leads to a reduction of its service life. Consequently, it is significant to find a complementary material that helps alleviate these drawbacks. The aim of this research was to determine analytically and experimentally the effect of the addition of the steel fibers on the performance of the post-cracking stage on fiber-reinforced concrete, by studying four notch-to-depth ratios of 0, 0.08, 0.16, and 0.33. This was evaluated through 72 bending tests, using plain concrete (control) and fiber-reinforced concrete with volume fibers of 0.25% and 0.50%. Results showed that the specimens with a notch-to-depth ratio up to 0.33 are capable of attaining a hardening behavior. The study concludes that the increase in the dosage leads to an improvement in the residual performance, even though an increase in the notch-to-depth ratio has also occurred.

scholarly journals Effect of the Geometrical Constraints to the Wenner Four-Point Electrical Resistivity Test of Reinforced Concrete Slabs

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (13) ◽  
pp. 4622
Author(s):  
Kevin Paolo V. Robles ◽  
Jurng-Jae Yee ◽  
Seong-Hoon Kee
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Electrical Resistivity ◽  
Reinforced Concrete ◽  
Concrete Slab ◽  
Plain Concrete ◽  
Electrode Spacing ◽  
Concrete Slabs ◽  
Reinforced Concrete Slabs ◽  
Spacing Ratio ◽  
Geometrical Constraints

The main objectives of this study are to evaluate the effect of geometrical constraints of plain concrete and reinforced concrete slabs on the Wenner four-point concrete electrical resistivity (ER) test through numerical and experimental investigation and to propose measurement recommendations for laboratory and field specimens. First, a series of numerical simulations was performed using a 3D finite element model to investigate the effects of geometrical constraints (the dimension of concrete slabs, the electrode spacing and configuration, and the distance of the electrode to the edges of concrete slabs) on ER measurements of concrete. Next, a reinforced concrete slab specimen (1500 mm (width) by 1500 mm (length) by 300 mm (thickness)) was used for experimental investigation and validation of the numerical simulation results. Based on the analytical and experimental results, it is concluded that measured ER values of regularly shaped concrete elements are strongly dependent on the distance-to-spacing ratio of ER probes (i.e., distance of the electrode in ER probes to the edges and/or the bottom of the concrete slabs normalized by the electrode spacing). For the plain concrete, it is inferred that the thickness of the concrete member should be at least three times the electrode spacing. In addition, the distance should be more than twice the electrode spacing to make the edge effect almost negligible. It is observed that the findings from the plain concrete are also valid for the reinforced concrete. However, for the reinforced concrete, the ER values are also affected by the presence of reinforcing steel and saturation of concrete, which could cause disruptions in ER measurements

scholarly journals Fracture and Size Effect of PFRC Specimens Simulated by Using a Trilinear Softening Diagram: A Predictive Approach

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 3795
Author(s):  
Fernando Suárez ◽  
Jaime C. Gálvez ◽  
Marcos G. Alberti ◽  
Alejandro Enfedaque
Keyword(s):  
Reinforced Concrete ◽  
Size Effect ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Plain Concrete ◽  
Specimen Size ◽  
Bending Test ◽  
Orientation Factor ◽  
Fibre Reinforced Concrete ◽  
Softening Function ◽  
Three Point Bending

The size effect on plain concrete specimens is well known and can be correctly captured when performing numerical simulations by using a well characterised softening function. Nevertheless, in the case of polyolefin-fibre-reinforced concrete (PFRC), this is not directly applicable, since using only diagram cannot capture the material behaviour on elements with different sizes due to dependence of the orientation factor of the fibres with the size of the specimen. In previous works, the use of a trilinear softening diagram proved to be very convenient for reproducing fracture of polyolefin-fibre-reinforced concrete elements, but only if it is previously adapted for each specimen size. In this work, a predictive methodology is used to reproduce fracture of polyolefin-fibre-reinforced concrete specimens of different sizes under three-point bending. Fracture is reproduced by means of a well-known embedded cohesive model, with a trilinear softening function that is defined specifically for each specimen size. The fundamental points of these softening functions are defined a priori by using empirical expressions proposed in past works, based on an extensive experimental background. Therefore, the numerical results are obtained in a predictive manner and then compared with a previous experimental campaign in which PFRC notched specimens of different sizes were tested with a three-point bending test setup, showing that this approach properly captures the size effect, although some values of the fundamental points in the trilinear diagram could be defined more accurately.

Mechanical characterization of a woven multi-layered hyperelastic composite laminate under uniaxial loading

2021 ◽  
pp. 002199832110115
Author(s):  
Shaikbepari Mohmmed Khajamoinuddin ◽  
Aritra Chatterjee ◽  
MR Bhat ◽  
Dineshkumar Harursampath ◽  
Namrata Gundiah
Keyword(s):  
Composite Materials ◽  
Energy Function ◽  
Strain Energy ◽  
Strain Energy Function ◽  
Mechanical Tests ◽  
Stress Strain ◽  
Aerospace Applications ◽  
Envelope Material ◽  
The Individual ◽  
High Dielectric

We characterize the material properties of a woven, multi-layered, hyperelastic composite that is useful as an envelope material for high-altitude stratospheric airships and in the design of other large structures. The composite was fabricated by sandwiching a polyaramid Nomex® core, with good tensile strength, between polyimide Kapton® films with high dielectric constant, and cured with epoxy using a vacuum bagging technique. Uniaxial mechanical tests were used to stretch the individual materials and the composite to failure in the longitudinal and transverse directions respectively. The experimental data for Kapton® were fit to a five-parameter Yeoh form of nonlinear, hyperelastic and isotropic constitutive model. Image analysis of the Nomex® sheets, obtained using scanning electron microscopy, demonstrate two families of symmetrically oriented fibers at 69.3°± 7.4° and 129°± 5.3°. Stress-strain results for Nomex® were fit to a nonlinear and orthotropic Holzapfel-Gasser-Ogden (HGO) hyperelastic model with two fiber families. We used a linear decomposition of the strain energy function for the composite, based on the individual strain energy functions for Kapton® and Nomex®, obtained using experimental results. A rule of mixtures approach, using volume fractions of individual constituents present in the composite during specimen fabrication, was used to formulate the strain energy function for the composite. Model results for the composite were in good agreement with experimental stress-strain data. Constitutive properties for woven composite materials, combining nonlinear elastic properties within a composite materials framework, are required in the design of laminated pretensioned structures for civil engineering and in aerospace applications.

Three Types of Stress-Strain Relationship’s Comparison of Circular Tubed Reinforced Concrete in FEA

2012 ◽  
Vol 204-208 ◽  
pp. 930-933
Author(s):  
Xiao Hu ◽  
Zhen Lin Chen
Keyword(s):  
Finite Element ◽  
Reinforced Concrete ◽  
Uniaxial Stress ◽  
Steel Tube ◽  
Finite Element Analyses ◽  
Stress Strain ◽  
Concrete Filled Steel Tube ◽  
Bearing Analysis

The paper introduces 3 types of uniaxial stress-strain relationships of concrete filled steel tube by Pan Youguang, Susantha and Saenz, and performs finite element analyses of the axial strengths of 18 CTRC columns, studies the characters of three models, and comprises between the axial strengths from FEA and existed experiments. Results show these 3 types of model are all suitable for bearing analysis, but Pan’s model is more accurate.

scholarly journals A bi-dissipative damage model for concrete

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-65
Author(s):  
J. J. C. Pituba ◽  
W. M. Pereira Júnior
Keyword(s):  
Reinforced Concrete ◽  
Structural Engineering ◽  
Damage Mechanics ◽  
Damage Model ◽  
Continuum Damage Mechanics ◽  
Concrete Material ◽  
Framed Structures ◽  
Energy Equivalence ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Damage Processes

This work deals with an improvement of an anisotropic damage model in order to analyze reinforced concrete structures submitted to reversal loading. The original constitutive model is based on the fundamental hypothesis of energy equivalence between real and continuous media following the concepts of the Continuum Damage Mechanics. The concrete is assumed as an initial elastic isotropic medium presenting anisotropy, permanent strains and bimodularity induced by damage evolution. In order to take into account the bimodularity, two damage tensors governing the rigidity in tension or compression regimes are introduced. However, the original model is not capable to simulate the influence of the previous damage processes in compression regimes. In order to avoid this problem, some conditions are introduced to simulate the damage unilateral effect. It has noted that the damage model is agreement with to micromechanical theory conditions when dealing to unilateral effect in concrete material. Finally, the proposed model is applied in the analyses of reinforced concrete framed structures submitted to reversal loading. These numerical applications show the good performance of the model and its potentialities to simulate practical problems in structural engineering.

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