From local to global probabilistic modeling of concrete cracking
Résumé
The description of cracks in concrete is crucial when dealing with life expectancy of structures such as dams, nuclear power plants vessels, waste (nuclear or not) storage structures, tunnels, etc. The main objective is not only to describe the growth of a preexisting flaw, but also to predict the genesis and formation of cracks in an initially flaw-free structure (at least at the macroscopic level) subjected to tension. The presented paper provides a macroscopic model for tensile cracking (i.e., a model adequate for describing the behavior at the structure level), capable at the same time of providing information on the local response (i.e., cracks). The model takes into account scale effects as well as the heterogeneous nature of concrete via appropriate, experimentally validated, size effect laws and via a statistical distribution of mechanical properties. Results are provided and validated via a 2D comparison with an original experimental test.