Damage Investigation in Concrete Under Fatigue Loading through Experimental Results and Comparison with Continuous Damage Mechanics

Pouria Zare¹ Ahmad Fahimifar²

1) Master of Science, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
2) Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran,

Publication : International Congress of Science and Engineering - TOKYO UNIVERSITY - JAPAN(tuicet.com)
Abstract :
Brittle materials such as concrete are sometimes subjected to cyclic loads in construction projects. The response of these materials to this type of loading is not the same as monotonic loading. an important parameter in fracture discussions is the estimation of the life of structures under cyclic loads. This research is an experimental study of concrete fatigue damage and compares the results with the classical damage mechanics equations. In order to investigate the model, a series of strain-control cyclic compressive tests with specific amplitude is applied to the specimens, then taking into account the compressive loading conditions in the brittle material, a relation is presented to estimate the concrete life under periodic loading considering the continuous damage mechanics (CDM) equations. The proposed relationship is in good agreement with the experimental results and considers the effects of factors such as the closure of the micro-cracks under pressure as well as the process of damage changes in the brittle material.
Keywords : Damage in Concrete Concrete Life Estimation Damage Mechanics Fatigue Cyclic loading Brittle Material.