Simulation of Two-Dimensional Aggregate Distribution with Wall Effect

Abstract

In view of the importance of the aggregate density to mechanical properties of concrete, it is necessary to determine the aggregate density at any point in concrete. Once the aggregate density is known, some other mechanical properties of the concrete can be determined based on the theory of micromechanics. The intention of this paper is to numerically simulate the distribution of aggregate particles at a cross section of a concrete element, taking into account the effect of formwork walls. Based on the study of the characteristics of the simulated aggregate distributions, a model of aggregate density is developed and its statistics are derived. Simulation results show that the average aggregate density at any point at a cross section of the concrete element converges asymptotically to a certain value when the number of simulations tends to infinity. The validity of the proposed simulation algorithm is verified by experimental results.