Discrete fracture in high performance fibre reinforced concrete materials

Abstract

In this paper a simple, but effective methodology to simulate opening mode fracture in high performance fibre reinforced concrete is presented. To obtain the specific fracture energy of the material, load-deflection curves from three point bending (TPB) experiments are extrapolated. The proposed extrapolation technique is an adaptation of an approach originally developed for plain concrete. The experimental part of the paper includes a size effect study on TPB specimens. The post crack behaviour of the material is modelled using a cohesive softening function with crack tip singularity. Numerical simulation of the experiments is performed by means of an embedded discontinuity method. The simulation provides satisfactory predictions of the fracture behaviour of the material and the size-effect observed in the experiments.