Analysis of Fracture Parameters in Concrete by Using ABAQUS Software

It is commonly accepted that there is a size effect on the nominal resistances of quasi-brittle materials such as cementitious materials. This effect must be taken into account in the design of the ultimate behavior of concrete structures in order to avoid damage and crack openings. These parameters are frequently used to study the behavior of concrete and to characterize the durability of structures. Different theories exist in the literature to describe the size effect. Among them, we find the deterministic theory of Bazant where fracture energy is considered independent of the size and it is assumed that at peak load, the crack length is proportional to the size of the specimen. In this work, attention is paid to investigate numerically, the relationship between crack openings and length, and the size of the specimens. Various fracture parameters have also been studied by validating with the existing work for a concrete of grade M35 grade of concrete based on the RILEM standards. The present study shows the determination of fracture parameters of beams size-ranging from 100-400 mm using ABAQUS. Then analyzed the size-effect behavior of various fracture parameters obtained from different sizes of the beam.