A simple two-dimensional Unit cell (UC) with three different mesoscopic phases may be geometrically modeled as a combination of two concentric circles or squares embedded in a square. In this paper, a two-dimensional three-phase UC with a similar design is developed and utilized for modeling the full deformation and failure response of cement based quasi-brittle cementitious composites under compression. It was identified from the numerical investigation that the three-phase design greatly improved the prediction capability of the UC in suitably capturing the material nonlinearity observed experimentally. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

C. Lakshmana Rao

Department of Applied Mechanics

K. Ganesh Babu

Brittle fracture

INTERFACIAL TRANSITION ZONE

material non-linearity

Mechanical response

MESO-SCALE MODELING

Numerical investigations

UNIT CELL APPROACH

Brittleness

IIT Madras is a public technical and research university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Founded in 1959, it is recognised as an Institute of National Importance.

IIT Madras has been ranked as the top engineering institute in India for four years in a row by the National Institutional Ranking Framework of the MHRD

It currently offers undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees across 16 disciplines in Engineering, Sciences, Humanities and Management. About 596 faculty belonging to science and engineering departments and centres of the Institute are engaged in teaching, research and industrial consultancy.

IIT Madras

Finite Elements in Analysis and Design

This paper discusses the conceptual development of unit cell (UC) approach in modeling the total deformation and failure response of quasi-brittle composites. The UCs were modeled with only two distinct phases, namely the volume fractions of the matrix phase and that of the inclusion phase, for the mechanical characterization of the materials under consideration. A study has been carried out to determine the minimum size of the UC, above which the predicted response may be size independent, making it a representative unit of the four quasi-brittle composites considered. The minimum size required was observed to be higher than that of a pure deformation model, and the results varied with the total volume fraction of the constituent phases. The failure strength predicted by the UC of a particular volume fraction was also compared with that of the corresponding experimental results, resulting in a good correlation between the two. © 2014, Springer-Verlag Wien.

Acta Mechanica

Development of two-phase unit cell: for modeling the deformation and failure response of quasi-brittle composites

Modeling concrete at lower length scale is useful to predict the failure processes taking place in the material. In the present work, the deformation and failure of concrete is studied using the unit cell model. A unit cell simulates the deformation and failure in a representative volume element and postulates the material response curve based the response of a unit cell. A parametric study has been conducted to study the effect of aggregate size on the overall behavior of concrete. Uniaxial compression tests were simulated numerically. Interfacial transition zone (ITZ) was modeled using plane strain elements with brittle cracking model. Nonlinear stress-strain curves for various aggregate sizes were obtained using current unit cell approach. Simulation results indicate that the ITZ does not play a major role in determining the overall failure strength of concrete. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Structures

Numerical simulation of fracture process in cement concrete using unit cell approach

Volume 3: Design and Manufacturing

Unit Cell Approach as a Multi Scale Modeling Technique for Predicting the Behaviour of Fiber Reinforced High Strength Concrete Under Compression

Acta Materialia

Electromechanical response of 1–3 piezoelectric composites: A numerical model to assess the effects of fiber distribution

Journal of Applied Physics

Electromechanical response of 1-3 piezoelectric composites: Effect of poling characteristics

A unit cell based three-phase approach for the mechanical characterization of quasi-brittle cementitious composites

Journal	Data powered by TypesetFinite Elements in Analysis and Design
Publisher	Data powered by TypesetElsevier
ISSN	0168874X
Open Access	No