Multiscale simulation of salt crystallization-induced damage in porous materials

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Civil Engineering
• Geotechnical Engineering

Background:

• Salt crystallization is a major cause of porous material degradation.
• Existing models often lack detailed microscale mechanisms for damage prediction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a multiscale modeling strategy for simulating salt crystallization-induced damage.
• To couple microscale damage mechanics with macroscale transport phenomena.

Main Methods:

• Explicitly modeling salt crystallization pressure on a nonlinear representative volume element (RVE) at the microscale.
• Coupling moisture transport and salt crystallization using a multiphase model.
• Developing a phenomenological damage model trained on RVE simulations.

Main Results:

• The multiscale strategy effectively simulates salt crystallization damage in porous materials.
• The model accurately tracks macroscopic damage evolution in real-time.
• Validation against experimental data on salt-aged tiles confirms the model's effectiveness.

Conclusions:

• The proposed numerical strategy provides a robust framework for understanding and predicting salt damage.
• The approach facilitates integration with machine learning for advanced material analysis.
• This method offers insights into the durability of porous materials under saline conditions.