Element-Free Galerkin Simulations of Concrete Failure in Dynamic Uniaxial Tension Test

Abstract

Dynamic tensile failure of concrete due to cracking is simulated using a new class of numerical methods, referred to as mesh-free methods, that are free of the traditional finite-element node-and-element data structure and are thus well suited to modeling the propagation of isolated tensile cracks. The results from a series of numerical simulations are compared with corresponding results from well-defined laboratory experiments involving the failure of concrete. Analysis of the numerical results, and their comparisons to the laboratory measurements, provide some insight into the subtleties in the experimental strain histories and improve understanding of the dynamic tensile failure of concrete.