Experimental and numerical study on mechanical properties of Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC)

- A series of compression and tensile tests for UHPC and Normal strength concrete was carried out.
- The module elasticity and average compression and tensile strength of the materials were evaluated.
- A calibrated Finite Element model using Concrete Damage Plasticity (CDP) was developed to predict the behavior of the UHPC.
- Experimental and numerical results were compared and the effects of the mesh sizes were discussed.

Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) is an advanced technology in concrete industry with superior characteristics such as high strength in compression and tension, ductility, and durability. This paper determines the tensile and compressive behavior of UHPC and a comparison is made with Normal Strength Concrete (NC) for the development of a numerical model to simulate the behavior of UHPC using the Finite Element (FE). The experimental tests including a cylinder and cube compressive test, flexural, briquette and splitting tension tests to evaluate the ultimate capacity of the material in compression and tension and its modulus of elasticity. The primary focus of this research, however, was to simulate material properties of UHPC through commercial FE software allowing the study of the structures including UHPC. The numerical analysis provides the mechanical properties of UHPC that can be used in FE software using Concrete Damage Plasticity model (CDP) to define ductal UHPC in the absence of sufficient experimental data. The numerical and the experimental results were generally in good agreement.