Elastoplastic damage model for concrete based on consistent free energy potential

The aim of this study is to formulate an appropriate free energy potential for inelastic behavior of concrete and construct an elastoplastic damage model on a more rational basis. The concept of effective plastic energy storage rates is proposed, which are conjugate forces of hardening variables in an undamaged configuration. Then an analogy between the evolution of harden- ing variables and that of a plastic strain is used to postulate the formulation of plastic free energy. This formulation reflects the specific characteristics of a certain plasticity model, so it can serve well as a thermodynamic link between plasticity and dam- age. By combination of the general formulation of free energy with the double hardening plasticity theory and two-parameter damage expression, a thermodynamically well-founded elastoplastic damage model for concrete is constructed. The operator split algorithm is emploved, and the numerical simulations a^ree well with a series of material tests.