Concrete is one of the most widely utilized materials on the planet and thus its study is important to a wide array of applications. Unfortunately, due to the heterogeneous structure of the material, damage and degradation in concrete is notoriously difficult to model. Moreover, even before degradation occurs, concrete exhibits many discontinuities which makes utilizing classical models a challenge.  The relatively recent nonlocal theory of peridynamics \[1\] provides an attractive alternative by utilizing integral operators rather than differential operators to avoid issues when discontinuities arise. Moreover, peridynamics is a mesh free method which permits computational implementations to circumvent many of the difficulties arising in finite element formulations.

The majority of existing research on environmental attack of structures comprised of cement has focused on corrosion of supporting rebar \[2,3,4\]; however, cement itself may also degrade \[5\], accelerating structure failure and instability. The work presented in this presentation focuses on a specific aspect of cement degradation, namely decalcification. Since decalcification occurs over years, it is crucial to integrate cement dissolution based on the physics and chemistry of the material into the model. We will discuss a recently developed chemo-mechanical model incorporating many of the main phenomenological effects of water induced degradation of ordinary Portland cement paste, such as softening, swelling, weakening, increased fluid transport, and increased reactivity. The proposed model couples reactive-diffusive transport with mechanical static equilibrium balance and introduces fracture and failure through the novel theory of peridynamics. In order to calibrate the model to available experimental data, a variety of boundary value problems are utilized. We will conclude with a discussion on global sensitivity and uncertainty of predicted failure times based on variation of multiple unique material properties.

\[1\] Silling, Stewart. Reformulation of Elasticity Theory for Discontinuities and Long-Range Forces. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids. (2000) 48:175-209.

\[2\] V. Kumar, Protection of steel reinforcement for concrete-a review, Corrosion reviews 16 (4) (1998) 317–358.

\[3\] S. Yang, X. Xi, K. Li, C.-Q. Li, Numerical modeling of nonuniform corrosion-induced concrete crack width, Journal of Structural Engineering 144 (8) (2018) 04018120.

\[4\] J. Zhao, Z. Chen, J. Mehrmashhadi, F. Bobaru, A stochastic multiscale peridynamic model for corrosion-induced fracture in reinforced concrete, Engineering Fracture Mechanics (2020) 106969.

\[5\] W. Kurdowski, The protective layer and decalcification of C-S-H in the mechanism of chloride corrosion of cement paste, Cement and Concrete Research 34 (9) (2004) 1555–1559.

SNL is managed and operated by NTESS under DOE NNSA contract DE-NA0003525.


Modeling Degradation in Concrete via Peridynamics

Division / Sponsors: 
Aerospace, Bioengineering, Applied Mechanics, Design Engineering Division, Advanced Energy Systems, Manufacturing Engineering Division, Noise Control and Acoustics, Nondestructive Evaluation, Diagnosis, and Prognosis (NDPD), Nuclear Engineering Division, Process Industries Division, Fluids Engineering, Heat Transfer, Materials, Microelectromechanical Systems, Safety Engineering and Risk Analysis, Computers & Information in Engineering


Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IMECE/IMECE2020/volume/84478

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