ABSTRACT

Concrete is one of the most widely applied materials in civil engineering structures, e.g. houses, bridges and tunnels. The detailed analysis of the complex nonlinear behaviour of this construction material – beyond the simplifications of linear elasticity and a negligible tensile strength – established a wide field of research. It is aimed at a robust and thoroughly defined numerical model to enable efficient designs and a reliable evaluation of the load bearing capacity of existing concrete structures. Furthermore, the realistic simulation of the failure of structural components and the development of effective reinforcements is a challenging task that requires detailed information on the interaction between the material and the structural behaviour.

The microplane model with a gradient enhanced coupling of damage and plasticity is a powerful representative of the so-called phenomenological models, that enables the realistic simulation of reinforced concrete structures for various kinds of loading (tension, compression, fast loading). The phase-field model for crack approximation is an emerging technique for the thermodynamically consistent and numerically objective modelling of cracks – one of the most severe mechanisms of structural failure.