Quantitative Assessment of the Influence of Tensile Softening of Concrete in Beams under Bending by Numerical Simulations with XFEM and Cohesive Cracks

Results of the numerical simulations of the size effect phenomenon for concrete in comparison with experimental data are presented. In-plane geometrically similar notched and unnotched beams under three-point bending are analyzed. EXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM) with a cohesive softening law is used. Comprehensive parametric study with the respect to the tensile strength and the initial fracture energy is performed. Sensitivity of the results with respect to the material parameters and the specimen geometry is investigated. Three different softening laws are examined. First, a bilinear softening definition is utilized. Then, an exponential curve is taken. Finally, a rational Bezier curve is tested. An ambiguity in choosing material parameters and softening curve definitions is discussed. Numerical results are compared with experimental outcomes recently reported in the literature. Two error measures are defined and used to quantitatively assess calculated maximum forces (nominal strengths) in comparison with experimental values as a primary criterion. In addition, the force—displacement curves are also analyzed. It is shown that all softening curves produce results consistent with the experimental data. Moreover, with different softening laws assumed, different initial fracture energies should be taken to obtain proper results.

Fracture behaviors of HVFA-SCC mixed with seawater and sea-sand under three-point bending

This paper aims to study the fracture behaviors of high-volume fly ash-self-compacting concrete (HVFA-SCC) mixed with seawater and sea-sand (SWSS) or freshwater and river sand (FWRS). Three-point bending test were performed on 24 notched beams fabricated with varying in replacement ratio of fly ash (0%, 30%, 50%, and 70%) and the type of water and sand (SWSS and FWRS). The initial and unstable fracture toughness of these test specimens are determined by the double- K fracture model. The effect of fly ash replacement ratio and type of water and sand on the fracture parameters is analyzed and discussed. In addition, the cohesive fracture toughness of all the test specimens is calculated by using Gauss–Chebyshev integral method and the weight function method based on the bilinear tensile softening curve given in CEP-FIP Model Code. A comparison of fracture toughness parameters of determined from the experimental approach and analytical approaches is presented in these SCC specimens. Results show that SCC mixed with SWSS replacing FWRS can improve the unstable fracture toughness and fracture energy, and decrease its brittleness behavior. The cohesive fracture toughness of SWSS-SCC specimens is underestimated by these analytical methods based on the tensile softening curve given in CEP-FIP Model Code.

Influence of tensile softening of concrete on crack development and failure in concrete and reinforced concrete beams

In the paper, the own test results were presented. The experimental investigation was focused at determining the cracking and load capacity of beams made of concrete. The beams were characterized by different longitudinal reinforcement ratio from zero — plain concrete beams, through low ratio 0.12% — slightly reinforced concrete beams, middle ratio 0.9% — typical reinforced concrete beams, up to the ratios 1.3% and 1.8% — higher reinforced concrete beams. On the basis of the performed experiments and the results of numerical calculations, the process of crack’s formation and crack’s development in plain concrete, slightly reinforced concrete and reinforced concrete beams with different reinforcement ratio was described. When discussing cracking process in the beams, the contribution of strain softening of tensile concrete in the microcracked zone on the character of beams’ failure was analysed as well. Keywords: civil engineering, concrete and reinforced concrete members, cracking and load capacity.

The Effects of Tensile Softening Curve Parameters on Fracture in Concrete Based on Initial Fracture Toughness Criterion

The effects of tensile softening curve parameters on the crack propagation P-CMOD and P-CTOD curves were analyzed using a calculation method which adopted the initial fracture toughness as the crack propagation criterion. The results showed that: the whole process of the P-CMOD and P-CTOD curves were affected by the tensile softening curve parameters, especially for the descending segment of the curves, but the peak load and critical crack mouth opening displacement were less affected.