YIELD CRITERION IN PLASTIC-DAMAGE MODELS FOR CONCRETE

A class of plastic-damage models for concrete require an unambiguous definition of cohesion in the yield criteria. For this reason, the Lubliner yield criterion has been adopted by many investigators and the commercial FE program Abaqus. As is well known, this criterion has achieved great success especially in plane stress states. In this paper, we are trying to extend it to triaxial compression stress states. First, a major limitation of the Lubliner criterion is analyzed. Then, a revised version of the Lubliner criterion is proposed, which shows appropriate properties over a wide range of stress states often encountered in engineering structures, and the predicted failure envelopes fit well with experimental data. For the concrete damaged plasticity model in Abaqus, a calibration strategy is suggested for uniformly confined concrete.

Seismic stability analysis of concrete gravity dams with penetrated cracks

The seismic stability of a cracked dam was examined in this study. Geometric nonlinearity and large deformations, as well as the contact condition at the crack site, were taken into consideration. The location of penetrated cracks was first identified using the concrete plastic-damage model based on the nonlinear finite element method （FEM）. Then, the hard contact algorithm was used to simulate the crack interaction in the normal direction, and the Coloumb friction model was used to simulate the crack interaction in the tangential direction. After verification of numerical models through a case study, the seismic stability of the Koyna Dam with two types of penetrated cracks is discussed in detail with different seismic peak accelerations, and the collapse processes of the cracked dam are also presented. The results show that the stability of the dam with two types of penetrated cracks can be ensured in an earthquake with a magnitude of the original Koyna earthquake, and the cracked dam has a large earthquake-resistant margin. The failure processes of the cracked dam in strong earthquakes can be divided into two stages： the sliding stage and the overturning stage. The sliding stage ends near the peak acceleration, and the top block slides a long distance along the crack before the collapse occurs. The maximum sliding displacement of the top block will decrease with an increasing friction coefficient at the crack site.

The Effect of Initial Defects on Overall Mechanical Properties of Concrete Material

Considering the fact that the initial defects,like the imperfect interfacial transition zones(ITZ)and the micro voids in mortar matrix,weaken the mechanical properties of concrete,this study develops corresponding constitutive models for ITZ and matrix,and simulates the concrete failure with finite element methods.Specifically,an elastic-damage traction-separation model for ITZ is constructed,and an anisotropic plastic-damage model distinguishing the strength-difference under tension and compression for mortar matrix is proposed as well.In this anisotropic plastic-damage model,the weakening effect of micro voids is reflected by introducing initial isotropic damage,the distinct characteristic of tension and compression which described by decomposing damage tensor into tensile and compressive components,and the plastic yield surface which established on the effective stress space.Furthermore,by tracking the damage evolution of concrete specimens suffering uniaxial tension and compression,the effects of imperfect status of ITZ and volume fraction of initial voids on the concrete mechanical properties are investigated.