Adaptive Crack Modeling with Interface Solid Elements for Plain and Fiber Reinforced Concrete Structures

The effective analysis of the nonlinear behavior of cement-based engineering structures not only demands physically-reliable models, but also computationally-efficient algorithms. Based on a continuum interface element formulation that is suitable to capture complex cracking phenomena in concrete ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yijian Zhan, Günther Meschke
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2017-07-01
Series:Materials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/10/7/771
Description
Summary:The effective analysis of the nonlinear behavior of cement-based engineering structures not only demands physically-reliable models, but also computationally-efficient algorithms. Based on a continuum interface element formulation that is suitable to capture complex cracking phenomena in concrete materials and structures, an adaptive mesh processing technique is proposed for computational simulations of plain and fiber-reinforced concrete structures to progressively disintegrate the initial finite element mesh and to add degenerated solid elements into the interfacial gaps. In comparison with the implementation where the entire mesh is processed prior to the computation, the proposed adaptive cracking model allows simulating the failure behavior of plain and fiber-reinforced concrete structures with remarkably reduced computational expense.
ISSN:1996-1944