A variational model for determining fracture modes in FRCM Systems

This work aims to propose a variational model to reproduce the behavior and possible failure modes of multifilament carbon yarns embedded in a cementitious matrix. Smeared crack terms are incorporated into the energy functional of the model to account for possible fracture in the yarn and in the matrix, and for debonding at the yarn-matrix interface. The evolution problem is formulated as an incremental energy minimization problem, and discretized by finite elements. Numerical simulations are able to accurately describe the composite behaviours and to reproduce experimental results.