Study of the fracture behavior of concrete by the development and application of the nonlinear finite element code incorporating the composite damage mechanics theory for brittle materials

Concrete is strong in compression, but weak in tension. Its tensile strength varies typically from 8 to 10 percent of its compressive strength. Due to such a low tensile capacity, the flexural cracks develop at early stages of loading. The cracks that develop in the concrete are similar to the family of the materials exhibiting a typical brittle behavior. The trend of the crack propagation, fracture and the fracture process zone needs to be observed carefully. Now with the advent of the era in which nearly every thing in structural engineering needs to be modeled on the computer in order to have the numerical results, the choice of the properly formulated theory and its application in the form of the finite element analysis program that uses it is the primary concern of this thesis report.; The newly developed and formulated composite damage mechanics theory has been used to model the concrete with the intent that it simulates the concrete more accurately than the conventional damage mechanics theory already formulated by the researchers.; Another primary objective of this thesis work is to develop a computer program that can be calibrated by the laboratory tests findings. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...