Title: A finite element model of fracture toughness of ultra-high performance concrete

Authors: Zhi-yong He; Ya-feng Zhang; Tian-you Chen

Addresses: College of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering, Changsha University of Science and Technology, 410076, Changsha, China ' College of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering, Changsha University of Science and Technology, 410076, Changsha, China ' Yongzhou Vocational Technical College, 425000, Yongzhou, China

Abstract: UHPC is the most promising building material. It is of great significance to establish a finite element model that is consistent with the actual situation for the study of the mechanical properties of UHPC. The paper presents a numerical method for modelling the fracture toughness of UHPC. The finite element model adopts separated modelling, considering UHPC as a two-phase material, and establishes a concrete matrix model and a steel-fibre model respectively. The concrete matrix adopts the concrete damaged plasticity (CDP) model. A large number of disjoint and randomly distributed cylinders are generated in Abaqus through Python to simulate steel fibres and are embedded in the concrete matrix. The bond-slip relationship between steel fibres and concrete is indirectly simulated through the tensile stress-strain relationship of steel fibres. The finite element model is used to simulate the uniaxial tensile experiment and the three-point bending experiment of UHPC. The established finite element model is of higher accuracy than the line-element steel-fibre model used in previous studies, and is more consistent with experimental data, which verifies the effectiveness of the numerical method.

Keywords: ultra-high performance concrete; UHPC; concrete damaged plastic; CDP; finite element model; fracture toughness; Abaqus.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2024.143241

International Journal of Materials and Product Technology, 2024 Vol.68 No.3/4, pp.294 - 315

Received: 09 Mar 2023
Accepted: 19 Dec 2023
Published online: 11 Dec 2024 *

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