Computational applications of a coupled plasticity-damage constitutive model for simulating plain concrete fracture

A coupled plasticity-damage model for plain concrete is presented in this paper. Based on continuum damage mechanics (CDM), an isotropic and anisotropic damage model coupled with a plasticity model is proposed in order to effectively predict and simulate plain concrete fracture. Two different damage evolution laws for both tension and compression are formulated for a more accurate prediction of the plain concrete behavior. In order to derive the constitutive equations and for the easiness in the numerical implementation, in the CDM framework the strain equivalence hypothesis is adopted such that the strain in the effective (undamaged) configuration is equivalent to the strain in the nominal (damaged) configuration. The proposed constitutive model has been shown to satisfy the thermodynamics requirements. Detailed numerical algorithms are developed for the finite element implementation of the proposed coupled plasticity-damage model. The numerical algorithm is coded using the user subroutine UMAT and then implemented in the commercial finite element analysis program Abaqus. Special emphasis is placed on identifying the plasticity and damage model material parameters from loading–unloading uniaxial test results. The overall performance of the proposed model is verified by comparing the model predictions to various experimental data, such as monotonic uniaxial tension and compression tests, monotonic biaxial compression test, loading–unloading uniaxial tensile and compressive tests, and mixed-mode fracture tests.