Nonlinear Mechanical Effect of Free Water on the Dynamic Compressive Strength and Fracture of High-Strength Concrete |
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Authors: | Evgeny V Shilko Igor S Konovalenko Ivan S Konovalenko |
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Institution: | 1.Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science of Siberian Branch Russian Academy of Sciences (ISPMS SB RAS), 2/4, pr. Akademicheskii, 634055 Tomsk, Russia;2.School of Core Engineering Education, National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, 30, Lenin Avenue, 634050 Tomsk, Russia; |
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Abstract: | It is well-known that the effect of interstitial fluid on the fracture pattern and strength of saturated high-strength concrete is determined by qualitatively different mechanisms at quasi-static and high strain rate loading. This paper shows that the intermediate range of strain rates (10−4 s−1 < < 100 s−1) is also characterized by the presence of a peculiar mechanism of interstitial water effect on the concrete fracture and compressive strength. Using computer simulations, we have shown that such a mechanism is the competition of two oppositely directed processes: deformation of the pore space, which leads to an increase in pore pressure; and pore fluid flow. The balance of these processes can be effectively characterized by the Darcy number, which generalizes the notion of strain rate to fluid-saturated material. We have found that the dependence of the compressive strength of high-strength concrete on the Darcy number is a decreasing sigmoid function. The parameters of this function are determined by both low-scale (capillary) and large-scale (microscopic) pore subsystems in a concrete matrix. The capillary pore network determines the phenomenon of strain-rate sensitivity of fluid-saturated concrete and logistic form of the dependence of compressive strength on strain rate. Microporosity controls the actual boundary of the quasi-static loading regime for fluid-saturated samples and determines localized fracture patterns. The results of the study are relevant to the design of special-purpose concretes, as well as the assessment of the limits of safe impacts on concrete structural elements. |
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Keywords: | water-saturated concrete two-scale porosity permeability fluid filtration dynamic loading fracture compressive strength computer simulation discrete element method coupled poroelastic model |
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