Influence of Confined Concrete Models on the Seismic Response of RC Frames

In this study, the influence of confined concrete models on the response of reinforced concrete structures is investigatedat member and global system levels. The commonly encountered concrete models such as Modified Kent-Park, Saatçioğlu-Razvi, and Mander are considered. Two moment-resisting frames designed according to thepre-modern code are taken into consideration to reflect the example of an RC moment-resisting frame in thecurrent building stock. The building is in an earthquake-prone zone located on Z3 Soil Type. The inelasticresponse of the building frame is modelled by considering the plastic hinges formed on each beam and columnelement for different concrete classes and stirrups spacings. The models are subjected to non-linear static analyses.The differences between confined concrete models are comparatively investigated at both reinforced concretemember and system levels. Based on the results of the comparative analysis, it is revealed that the column behaviouris mostly influenced by the choice of model, due to axial loads and confinement effects, while the beams areless affected, and also it is observed that the differences exhibited in the moment-curvature response of columncross-sections do not significantly affect the overall behaviour of the global system. This highlights the critical roleof model selection relative to the concrete strength and stirrup spacing of the member.

Resistance of full-scale beams against close-in explosions.Numerical modeling and field tests

This paper explores the performances of a finite element simulation including four concrete models applied to a full-scale reinforced concrete beam subjected to blast loading. Field test data has been used to compare model results for each case. The numerical modelling has been, carried out using the suitable code LS-DYNA. This code integrates blast load routine(CONWEP) for the explosive description and four different material models for the concrete including: Karagozian & Case Concrete, Winfrith, Continuous Surface Cap Model and Riedel-Hiermaier-Thoma models, with concrete meshing based on 10, 15, and 20 mm. Six full-scale beams were tested: four of them used for the initial calibration of the numerical model and two more tests at lower scaled distances. For calibration, field data obtained employing pressure and accelerometers transducers were compared with the results derived from the numerical simulation. Damage surfaces and the shape of rupture in the beams have been used as references for comparison. Influence of the meshing on accelerations has been put in evidence and for some models the shape and size of the damage in the beams produced maximum differences around 15%. In all cases, the variations between material and mesh models are shown and discussed.

Parameters Sensitivity Analysis and Correction for Concrete Damage Plastic Model

In order to understand the effect of hardening ductility parameters and softening ductility parameters of the concrete damage plastic model in LS-DYNA,a sensitivity and reliability analysis of these parameters through a convenient cube unit test was conducted. The results showed that the peak strength strain was independent of the hardening ductility parameter DH,but affected by AH,BH,and CH. The softening ductility was mainly related to the softening ductility parameter AS,but not affected by the damage ductility exponent BS. In case that the model with default parameters failed to match the AS-controlled damage softening phase,an optimized model with an AS correction was developed. The corrected model with the AS value of 2 matched well with the code model,and exhibited good feasibility in predicting the stress-strain curve of different grades of concrete. Moreover,the practicability of the corrected model was further validated by the conventional triaxial test. The simulated curve exhibited favorable consistence with the trial curve. Therefore,the model with parameter correction could provide a prospective reference for predicting the mechanical properties of concrete.

Evaluation of Blast-Resistant Performance Predicted by Damaged Plasticity Model for Concrete

in order to evaluate the capacity of reinforced concrete （RC） structures subjected to blast Ioadings, the damaged plasticity model for concrete was used in the analysis of the dynamic responses of blast-loaded RC structures, and all three failure modes were numerically simulated by the finite element software ABAQUS. Simulation results agree with the experimental observations. It is demonstrated that the damaged plasticity model for concrete in the finite element software ABAQUS can predict dynamic responses and typical flexure, flexure-shear and direct shear failure modes of the blast-loaded RC structures.

Dolomite fracture modeling using the Johnson-Holmquist concrete material model:Parameter determination and validation

In this paper,the Johnson-Holmquist concrete(JHC)constitutive model is adopted for modeling and simulating the fracture of dolomite.A detailed step-by-step procedure for determining all required parameters,based on a series of experiments under quasi-static and dynamic regimes,is proposed.Strain rate coefficients,failure surfaces,equations of state and damage/failure constants are acquired based on the experimental data and finite element analyses.The JHC model with the obtained parameters for dolomite is subsequently validated using quasi-static uniaxial and triaxial compression tests as well as dynamic split Hopkinson pressure bar(SHPB)tests.The influence of mesh size is also analyzed.It shows that the simulated fracture behavior and waveform data are in good agreement with the experimental data for all tests under both quasi-static and dynamic loading conditions.Future studies will implement the validated JHC model in small-and large-scale blasting simulations.

Damage model of fresh concrete in sulphate environment

A model of damage to fresh concrete in a corrosive sulphate environment was formulated to investigate how and why the strength of corroded concrete changes over time. First, a corroded concrete block was divided into three regions: an expanded and dense region; a crack-development region; and a noncorroded region. Second, based on the thickness of the surface corrosion layer and the rate of loss of compressive strength of the corroding region, a computational model of the concrete blocks' corrosion-resistance coefficient of compressive strength in a sulphate environment was generated. Third, experimental tests of the corrosion of concrete were conducted by immersing specimens in a corrosive medium for 270 d. A comparison of the experimental results with the computational formulae shows that the calculation results and test results are in good agreement. A parameter analysis reveals that the corrosion reaction plays a major role in the corrosion of fresh concrete containing ordinary Portland cement,but the diffusion of the corrosion medium plays a major role in the corrosion of concrete mixtures containing fly ash and sulphate-resistant cement. Fresh concrete with a high water-to-cement ratio shows high performance during the whole experiment process whereas fresh concrete with a low water-to-cement ratio shows poor performance during the late experiment period.

Physical Model of Drying Shrinkage of Recycled Aggregate Concrete

We prepared concretes（RC0, RC30, and RC100） with three different mixes. The poresize distribution parameters of RAC were examined by high-precision mercury intrusion method（MIM） and nuclear magnetic resonance（NMR） imaging. A capillary-bundle physical model with random-distribution pores（improved model, IM） was established according to the parameters, and dry-shrinkage strain values were calculated and verified. Results show that in all pore types, capillary pores, and gel pores have the greatest impacts on concrete shrinkage, especially for pores 2.5-50 and 50-100 nm in size. The median radii are 34.2, 31, and 34 nm for RC0, RC30, and RC100, respectively. Moreover, the internal micropore size distribution of RC0 differs from that of RC30 and RC100, and the pore descriptions of MIM and NMR are consistent both in theory and in practice. Compared with the traditional capillary-bundle model, the calculated results of IM have higher accuracy as demonstrated by experimental verifi cation.

Damage response of conventionally reinforced two-way spanning concrete slab under eccentric impacting drop weight loading

Reinforced concrete(RC)structures are generally designed to carry quasi-static gravity loads through almost indispensable components namely slab,however,it may be subjected to high intense loads induced from the impact of projectiles generated by the tornado,falling construction equipment,and also from accidental explosions during their construction and service lifespan.Impacts due to rock/boulder falls do occur on the structures located especially in hilly areas.Such loadings are not predictable but may cause severe damage to the slab/structure.It stimulates structural engineers and researchers to investigate and understand the dynamic response of RC structures under such impulsive loading.This research work first investigates the performance of 1000×1000×75 mm^(3)conventionally reinforced two-way spanning normal strength concrete slab with only tension reinforcement(0.88%)under the concentric impact load(1035 N)using the finite element method based computer code,ABAQUS/Explicit-v.6.15.The impact load is delivered to the centroid of the slab using a solid-steel cylindroconical impactor(drop weight)with a flat nose of diameter 40 mm,having a total mass of 105 kg released from a fixed height of 2500 mm.Two popular concrete constitutive models in ABAQUS namely;Holmquist-Johnson-Cook(HJC)and Concrete Damage Plasticity(CDP),with strain rate effects as per fib MODEL CODE 2010,are used to model the concrete material behavior to impact loading and to simulate the damage to the slab.The slab response using these two models is analyzed and compared with the impact test results.The strain rate effect on the reinforcing steel bars has been incorporated in the analysis using the Malvar and Crawford(1998)approach.A classical elastoplastic kinematic idealization is considered to model the steel impactor and support system.Results reveal that the HJC model gives a little overestimation of peak displacement,maximum acceleration,and damage of the slab while the predictions given by the CDP model are in reasonable agreement with the experimental test results/observations available in the open literature.Following the validation of the numerical model,analyses have been extended to further investigate the damage response of the slab under eccentric impact loadings.In addition to the concentric location(P1)of the impacting device,five locations on a quarter of the slab i.e.,two along the diagonal(P2&P3),the other two along the mid-span(P4&P5),and the last one(P6)between P3 and P5,covering the entire slab,are considered.Computational results have been discussed and compared,and the evaluation of the most damaging location(s)of the impact is investigated.It has been found that the most critical location of the impact is not the centroid of the slab but the eccentric one with the eccentricity of 1/6th of the span from the centroid along the mid-span section.

Crack Propagation and Failure Characteristics of Modeled Concrete with Natural and Brick Aggregates

The failure characteristics of recycled concrete containing brick aggregates are still indistinct,especially how the angular aggregates effect the crack propagation.Based on the concept of modeled concrete,the development of cracks in concrete containing the natural aggregate and brick aggregate under a compression loading was studied.The strain distribution was analyzed with the Digital Image Correlation(DIC).The modeled aggregates include circular and squared ones,and the squared modeled aggregates were placed in different orientations,including 0°,22.5°and 45°.The results show that when the aggregate is placed at 45°,the upper and lower vertices of the aggregate lead to the highest critical strain concentration,therefore,cracks are easy to propagate from these areas and the strength of the corresponding modeled concrete is the lowest.When the modeled natural aggregate is placed at the orientation of 0°,the strain concentration first appears at the interface on both lateral sides of the aggregate.The brick aggregate has a lower elastic modulus and strength than the surrounding mortar.As a result,cracks always propagate through the brick aggregate,which is the primary reason for the low strength of the corresponding concrete.

Damage Detection in Reinforced Concrete Berthing Jetty Using a Plasticity Model Approach

A conventional method of damage modeling by a reduction in stiffness is insufficient to model the complex non-linear damage characteristics of concrete material accurately.In this research,the concrete damage plasticity constitutive model is used to develop the numerical model of a deck beam on a berthing jetty in the Abaqus finite element package.The model constitutes a solid section of 3D hexahedral brick elements for concrete material embedded with 2D quadrilateral surface elements as reinforcements.The model was validated against experimental results of a beam of comparable dimensions in a cited literature.The validated beam model is then used in a three-point load test configuration to demonstrate its applicability for preliminary numerical evaluation of damage detection strategy in marine concrete structural health monitoring.The natural frequency was identified to detect the presence of damage and mode shape curvature was found sensitive to the location of damage.

Modeling the Synergetic Effect of Various Factors on Chloride Transport in Nonsaturated Concrete

Diffusion has been systematically described as the main mechanism of chloride transport in reinforced concrete（RC） structure, especially when the concrete is in a saturated state. However, the single mechanism of diffusion is not able to describe the actual chloride ingress in the nonsaturated concrete. Instead, it is dominated by the interaction of diffusion and convection. With the synergetic effects of various factors taken into account, this study aimed to modify and develop an analytical convection- diffusion coupling model for chloride transport in nonsaturated concrete. The model was verified by simulation of laboratory tests and field measurement. The results of comparison study demonstrate that the analytical model developed in this study is efficient and accurate in predicting the chloride profiles in the nonsaturated concrete.

A unified stochastic damage model for concrete based on multi-scale energy dissipation analysis

This work proposes a unified damage model for concrete within the framework of stochastic damage mechanics. Based on the micro-meso stochastic fracture model(MMSF), the nonlinear energy dissipation process of the microspring from nanoscale to microscale is investigated. In nanoscale, the rate process theory is adopted to describe the crack growth rate;therefore, the corresponding energy dissipation caused by a representative crack propagation can be obtained. The scale gap from nanoscale to microscale is bridged by a crack hierarchy model. Thus, the total energy dissipated by all cracks from the nanoscale to the microscale is gained. It is found that the fracture strain of the microspring can be derived from the above multi-scale energy dissipation analysis. When energy dissipation is regarded as some microdamage to the microspring, the constitutive law of the microspring is no longer linearly elastic, as previously assumed. By changing the expression of the damage evolution law from fracture strain to energy dissipation threshold, the new damage evolution model is derived. The proposed model can not only replicate the original static model but also extend to cases of rate dependence. By deriving the fracture strain under different strain rates, the rate sensitivity of concrete materials can be reflected. The model parameters can be conveniently obtained by identifying them with experimental data. Finally, several numerical examples are presented to verify the proposed model.

Effect of Recycled Coarse Aggregate on Concrete Compressive Strength

The effect of recycled coarse aggregate on concrete compressive strength was investigated based on the concrete skeleton theory. For this purpose, 30 mix proportions of concrete with target cube compressive strength ranging from 20 to 60 MPa were cast with normal coarse aggregate and recycled coarse aggregate from different strength parent concretes. Results of 28-d test show that the strength of different types of recycled aggregate affects the concrete strength obviously. The coarse aggregate added to mortar matrix plays a skeleton role and improves its compressive strength. The skeleton effect of coarse aggregate increases with the increasing strength of coarse aggregate, and normal coarse aggregate plays the highest, whereas the lowest concrete strength occurs when using the weak recycled coarse aggregate. There is a linear relationship between the concrete strength and the corresponding mortar matrix strength. Coarse aggregate skeleton formula is established, and values from experimental tests match the derived expressions.

Durability of sea-sand containing concrete:Effects of chloride ion penetration

This paper describes an orthogonal experiment on the effect of water/cement ratio,water consumption per cubic meter,curing time,and type of sand on the response＂resistance to chloride ion penetration＂.A sea-sand containing concrete was used for the trials.An analysis of chloride ion diffusion coefficients at different factor levels was performed.A predictive model of chloride ion diffusion in concrete is developed through regression analysis.The experimental results show that when the water/cement ratio varies from 0.45 to 0.60,and the water consumption per cubic meter varies from 185 to 215 kg,and the curing time varies from 30 to 180 d then the size of the effects fall in the order（most significant first）： curing time,type of sand,water consumption per cubic meter,and water/cement ratio.Chloride ion penetration is reduced,and better durability of the concrete is observed,with longer curing times,less water consumption per cubic meter,and a smaller water/cement ratio.

Development of a nonlinear 3D solid finite element model for the calculation of bending moments of flexural members

A numerical model is developed in this paper to calculate the bending moments of flexural members through integration in 3D solid finite element analyses according to the nonlinear constitutive model of concrete and the elastoplastic constitutive model of steel,utilizing the stress condition of the cross-section,considering the destruction characteristic of reinforced concrete members,and based on the plane cross-section assumption.The results of this model give good agreement with those of the classical method.Consequently,we can also deduce the corresponding numerical expression for eccentrically loaded members according to the analysis method.

A Method of Assessing Parameters of Air-Void Structure in Air-Entrained Concretes

The air-void size distribution and number of air voids are crucial characteristics of air-entrainment. The standard spacing factor L is based on the Powers model, in which considerable simplifications are assumed. A better solution is provided by the Philleo factor, which determines the percentage content of protected paste located at a distance S from the edge of the nearest air void. Developing the concept put forward by Philleo, a method of determining the volume of protected paste on the basis of images generated from the numerical model of concrete grain structure including layout of aggregate-paste-air, is proposed. It is the ratio of the volume of the paste protected by air voids to the total paste volume. The PPV （protected paste volume） index accounts not only for sizes and number of air voids, but also for the role of aggregate particles in the placement of these pores, which is often disregarded in analyses. The PPV results obtained from image analysis were compared with standard spacing factor L and with the parameter developed by Philleo. The analyses conducted by the authors shows that accounting for aggregate grains in calculations substantially affects the assessment of the quality of the air-pore structure.

Numerical Simulation of Response of SRC Columns Subjected to Blast Loading

The dynamic characteristics and failure modes of steel reinforced concrete (SRC) columns subjected to blast loading are complicated because of the transient stress wave in the SRC columns and the interaction between steel and concrete. This paper presents a numerical simulation of the response of SRC columns subjected to blast loading using hydrocode LS-DYNA. In the numerical model, a sophisticate concrete material model (the Concrete Damage Model) is employed with consideration of the strain rate effect and the damage accumulation. An erosion technique is adopted to model the spalling process of concrete. The possible failure modes of SRC columns are evaluated. It is observed that the failure of SRC columns subjected to blast load can generally be classified into three modes, namely, a direct failure in concrete body due to the stress wave, a transverse shear failure near the support sections due to the high shear force, and a flexural failure pertaining to large local and global deformation of the reinforcing steel.

Simulation algorithm for spiral case structure in hydropower station

In this study, the damage-plasticity model for concrete that was verified by the model experiment was used to calculate the damage to a spiral case structure based on the damage mechanics theory. The concrete structure surrounding the spiral case was simulated with a three-dimensional finite element model. Then, the distribution and evolution of the structural damage were studied. Based on investigation of the change of gap openings between the steel liner and concrete structure, the impact of the non-uniform variation of gaps on the load-beating ratio between the steel liner and concrete structure was analyzed. The comparison of calculated results of the simplified and simulation algorithms shows that the simulation algorithm is a feasible option for the calculation of spiral case structures. In addition, the shell-spring model was introduced for optimization analysis, and the results were reasonable.

New Unified Failure Model on Evenly Distributed Reinforced Concrete Members with Box Section

It is urgently needed to describe the structural collapse process under extreme conditions to survive people.For reinforced concrete structures it is still a difficulty to describe the failure of reinforced concrete members under complex internal force combination,such as under axial forces,bending moment,shear forces, and torsion working together.In this paper,based on the traditional Nielsen model,a new unified failure model on reinforcement evenly distributed concrete members with box section under combined forces is introduced.The advantages of the proposed new model are to consider the dowel actions of reinforcements and reasonably to consider of the shear carrying capacity of concrete,especially when compression stress of concrete is in a high value.Finally,the theoretical results of the new model are compared with a series of experimental results of box section members.The comparison has verified that the new model is more accurate and feasible for the design and calculation of box section members.

Two-Level Hierarchical PCG Methods for the Quadratic FEM Discretizations of 2D Concrete Aggregate Models

The concrete aggregate model is considered as a type of weakly discontinuous problem consisting of three phases:aggregates which randomly distributed in different shapes,cement paste and internal transition zone(ITZ).Because of different shapes of aggregate and thin ITZs,a huge number of elements are often used in the finite element(FEM)analysis.In order to ensure the accuracy of the numerical solutions near the interfaces,we need to use higher-order elements.The widely used FEM softwares such as ANSYS and ABAQUS all provide the option of quadratic elements.However,they have much higher computational complexity than the linear elements.The corresponding coefficient matrix of the system of equations is a highly ill-conditioned matrix due to the large difference between three phase materials,and the convergence rate of the commonly used solving methods will deteriorate.In this paper,two types of simple and efficient preconditioners are proposed for the system of equations of the concrete aggregate models on unstructured triangle meshes by using the resulting hierarchical structure and the properties of the diagonal block matrices.The main computational cost of these preconditioners is how to efficiently solve the system of equations by using linear elements,and thus we can provide some efficient and robust solvers by calling the existing geometric-based algebraic multigrid(GAMG)methods.Since the hierarchical basis functions are used,we need not present those algebraic criterions to judge the relationships between the unknown variables and the geometric node types,and the grid transfer operators are also trivial.This makes it easy to find the linear element matrix derived directly from the fine level matrix,and thus the overall efficiency is greatly improved.The numerical results have verified the efficiency of the resulting preconditioned conjugate gradient(PCG)methods which are applied to the solution of several typical aggregate models.