NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF DAMAGED CONCRETE MICROSTRUCTURES

Resumo

The numerical analysis of the mechanical behaviour of composite materials considering the specificity
of each of its phases requires complex models leading sometimes to unfeasible analyses. Thus, the present work
deals with the modelling of the mechanical behaviour of damaged heterogeneous materials within a multiscale
approach in order to overcome this problem. The modelling is based on the concept of Representative Volume
Element (RVE) representing the microstructure of the concrete, using the Finite Element Method (FEM) to
perform a computational homogenization within the multiscale approach. The matrix is considered as a damaged
material following the Mazars ́ damage model. Linear elastic behaviour is adopted to aggregates. To represent the
transition zone, contact and cohesive finite elements are considered. The main objective is to show that the damage
material can be represented by a formulation based on a computational homogenization technique considering a
multiscale approach. Results of representative microstructures of the concrete submitted to deformation states are
presented and the homogenized responses obtained show the expected behaviour of the concrete.