Structures

Three Dimensional Fracture Material Model for Ultra-high Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete under Tensile Loading

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Abstract

Ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHP-FRC) can be designed to exhibit strain hardening response under tensile loading accompanied by multiple cracks and relatively large energy absorption prior to fracture localization. However, existing material models in the finite element code are challenged to capture such strain hardening and multiple cracking behaviors. Therefore, a three dimensional fracture material model based on smeared rotating/fixed crack theory is developed to accurately represent the tensile behavior of UHP-FRC. In the proposed fracture material model, Rankine yield surface is used to govern the crack initiation and the proposed shape of the tensile-softening diagram for UHP-FRC is used to control the crack propagation. Crack band-width approach is used to guarantee the mesh objectivity. The proposed fracture material model for UHP-FRC is successfully implemented and compiled in LS-DYNA through the UMAT (User MATerial Subroutine). The numerical simulation of uniaxial tension test is conducted to validate the developed material model and the results reveal that the developed fracture material model shows an agreement with the test data and is capable to capture the behaviors of strain hardening, multiple cracking and softening of UHP-FRC under tensile loading.

Keywords: finite element analysis, fracture model, strain hardening, smeared crack theory, UHP-FRC

How to Cite:

Wille, K. & Xu, M., (2016) “Three Dimensional Fracture Material Model for Ultra-high Performance Fiber Reinforced Concrete under Tensile Loading”, International Interactive Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Concrete 1(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.21838/uhpc.2016.104