Abstract

Improving the design of reinforced concrete requires a good understanding of its failure process, which is complex because of the interplay of cracking and crushing of concrete, yielding and rupture of steel, and time dependent deterioration processes such as corrosion induced cracking. A virtual laboratory, in which computer models are used to simulate the failure process, plays an important role in elucidating the effects of material composition on structural response. This presentation discusses recent progress in developing lattice models for analysing detailed fracture and mass transport processes. The application of lattice models to the analysis of fracture process zones, corrosion induced cracking and microcracking induced increase of permeability in concrete are discussed.

Selected references

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