3D Mesoscale Finite Element Modelling of Concrete under Uniaxial Loadings

Concrete exhibits a complex mechanical behavior, especially when approaching failure. Its behavior is governed by the interaction of the heterogeneous structures of the material at the first level of observation below the homogeneous continuum, i.e., at the mesoscale. Concrete is assumed to be a three-phase composite of coarse aggregates, mortar, and the interfacial transitional zone (ITZ) between them. Finite element modeling on a mesoscale requires appropriate meshes that discretize the three concrete components. As the weakest link in concrete, ITZ plays an important role. However, meshing ITZ is a challenging issue, due to its very reduced thickness. Representing ITZ with solid elements of such reduced size would produce very expensive finite element meshes. An alternative is to represent ITZ as zero-thickness interface elements. This work adopts interface elements for ITZ. Damage plasticity model is adopted to describe the softening behavior of mortar in compression, while cohesive fractures describe the cracking process. Numerical experiments are presented. First example deals with the estimation of concrete Young's modulus. Experimental tests were performed to support the numerical test. A second experiment simulates a uniaxial compression test and last experiment simulates a uniaxial tensile test, where results are compared to data from the literature.