Coupled damage and plasticity modelling in transient dynamic analysis of concrete

TLDR

Concrete exposed to explosions experiences a sequence of stress states—from strong hydrostatic compression and irreversible compaction near the blast, through slightly triaxial compression farther away, to reflected tensile waves that cause scabbing—leading to multiple rupture modes. The paper proposes a model to capture these three distinct failure modes in concrete subjected to explosive loading. The model couples visco‑plasticity with rate‑dependent damage and incorporates porosity changes via homogenization, and its predictions are validated against split Hopkinson, scabbing tensile, and slab‑explosion experiments. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract

Abstract In a concrete structure subjected to an explosion, for example a concrete slab, the material is subjected to various states of stress which lead to many modes of rupture. Closer to the explosive, a state of strong hydrostatic compression is observed. This state of stress produces an irreversible compaction of the material. Away from the zone of explosion, confinement decreases and the material undergoes compression with a state of stress, which is slightly triaxial. Finally, the compression wave can be reflected on a free surface and becomes a tensile wave, which by interaction with the compression wave, produces scabbing. We present, in this paper, a model aimed at describing these three failure modes. It is based on visco‐plasticity and rate dependent damage in which a homogenization method is used in order to include the variation of the material porosity due to compaction. The model predictions are compared with several experiments performed on the same concrete. Computations of split Hopkinson tests on confined concrete, a tensile test with scabbing, and an explosion on a concrete slab are presented. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.