A mathematical model of the strain-softening curve for crack extension

✍ Scribed by K. Fujii; K. Nakagawa; S.J. Duan

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 768 KB
• Volume: 48
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0013-7944
• DOI: 10.1016/0013-7944(94)90205-4

✦ Synopsis

Ab&raet-We show in this paper a method of simulating the load-displacement diagrams of notched four-point bending beams with crack extension and the corresponding relation between stress distribution and crack opening displacement (also called the tensile strain-softening curve). As is well-known, the whole fracture behavior of concrete structures as expressed by a complete load-displacement diagram is generally influenced by fracture energy Gr and the shape of the strain-softening curve, which has to be simulated by the FEM or other numerical methods. The present simulation is based on the superposition of the complex stress functions with the finite stress concentration at the crack tips derived from the authors' proposed weight integral method. The character of this model is such that it is possible to approach the material's strain-softening behavior and the fracture process by simply changing the fracture process zone length and the ligament length, although only the elastic solutions are used.