Why is it necessary to use a damage model to simulate the mechanical behavior of concrete under drying and leaching?
Résumé
Short and long-term behaviors of concrete structures are of importance when dealing with durability aspects. One particular interesting aspect is the change in microstructure of concrete submitted to drying or leaching processes, and a potentially induced cracking pattern. Experimental investigations which focus on the effect of the dimensions of aggregates over cracks are proposed in this paper. The samples are submitted to accelerated leaching or to drying, and the evolution of their microstructure is regularly recorded by means of X-ray microtomography. A method is then proposed to study the cracking pattern, which appears to be greatly dependant of the size of inclusions. In particular, it appears that a larger diameter of inclusions tends to increase the crack opening.