TY  - JOUR
A1  - Wang, X
A1  - Zhang, M
A1  - Jivkov, AP
KW  - Concrete
KW  -  Particle packing
KW  -  Voids
KW  -  Meso-scale model
KW  -  Cohesive zones
KW  -  Monte Carlo simulation
JF  - International Journal of Solids and Structures
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2015.11.018
SN  - 0020-7683
N2  - Methodology for analysis of meso-structure effects on longer-scale mechanical response of concrete is developed. Efficient algorithms for particle generation and packing are proposed to represent 3D meso-structures as collections of discrete features distributed randomly in a continuous phase. Specialised to concrete, the continuous phase represents mortar, while the features are aggregates and voids. Intra- and inter-phase cohesive zones are used for failure initiation and crack propagation. A Monte Carlo approach is proposed to analyse the effects of meso-structure geometrical (volume density, size distribution and shape of features) and physical (strength and energy of cohesive zones) properties, whereas a number of model realisations with identical properties are used for statistical analysis. The results present the relative significance of each meso-structure parameter for the emergent load capacity (tensile strength), damage evolution via micro-crack coalescence and macro-crack patterns, and failure energy density (toughness) of concrete. The proposed methodology is an effective tool for meso-structure optimisation in the design of concrete structures with prescribed requirements for strength and toughness.
ID  - discovery1474656
N1  - © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Y1  - 2016/02//
AV  - public
VL  - 80
SP  - 310
EP  - 333
TI  - Computational technology for analysis of 3D meso-structure effects on damage and failure of concrete
ER  -