A damage-plasticity constitutive model for the description of fracture in plain concrete is presented. Two approaches, the local model comprising the adjustment of the softening modulus and the nonlocal model based on spatial averaging of history variables, are applied to the analysis of a concrete bar subjected to uniaxial tension and to a three-point bending test. The influence of mesh size a...

Concrete is a so called quasibrittle material which, despite predominantly elastic material response, exhibits in tension loading a stable non-linear fracture response, when tested under displacement control. The reason for the non-linearity is the development of a fracture process zone, in front of the crack, due to micro-cracking and crack bridging. The effect of the fracture process zone is ...

Waters’ variant of the Boneh-Boyen IBE scheme is attractive because of its efficency, applications, and security attributes, but suffers from a relatively complex proof with poor concrete security. This is due in part to the proof’s “artificial abort” step, which has then been inherited by numerous derivative works. It has often been asked whether this step is necessary. We show that it is not,...

We subjected the time series of quasi-rigid-body vibration pulses (elastic emissions) from laboratory fracture carried out by a piezoelectric accelerometer on concrete and rock specimens under uniaxial compression to statistical analysis. In both cases, we find that the waiting-time distribution can be described by a scaling law extending over several orders of magnitude. This law is indistingu...

A class of ultra-high-performance fibre-reinforced cementitious composites (UHPFRCC) has been developed at Cardiff university and registered under the trade name CARDIFRC. The method of its production and its mechanical and fracture properties were reported previously in a series of papers in Magazine of Concrete Research. Here the results of recent fatigue and shrinkage tests on this material ...

The existing experimental data concerning the Size Effects on the fracture parameters [1] were analyzed, in order to check the validity of certain theoretical models. In this aim, the present work studied: a) the use of some rigorous statistical tests in order to eliminate the “rough” errors, b) different theoretical models (e.g. the Bazant’s Size Effect Law (SEL) [2], the Modified Size Effect ...

Arch dams are generally built in cantilvever monoliths. Vertical contraction joints between monoliths control the stresses due to concrete shrinkage and temperature variations. Past studies in earthquake safety evaluation of the system often show the tensile fracture and local nonlinear deformation of joints. In this paper, some nonlinear joint element constitutive models are presented to exami...

Arch dams are generally built in cantilvever monoliths. Vertical contraction joints between monoliths control the stresses due to concrete shrinkage and temperature variations. Past studies in earthquake safety evaluation of the system often show the tensile fracture and local nonlinear deformation of joints. In this paper, some nonlinear joint element constitutive models are presented to exami...

Concrete is a complex heterogeneous material, and thus, it is important to develop numerical modeling methods to enhance the prediction accuracy of the fracture mechanism. In this study, a two-dimensional mesoscale model is developed using a non-ordinary state-based peridynamic (NOSBPD) method. Fracture in a concrete cube specimen subjected to pure tension is studied. The presence of heterogene...