A numerical investigation on the size effect of fiber-reinforced concrete specimens in crack propagation

摘要

The paper addresses a numerical investigation on the size effect in fiber-reinforced concrete specimens that is based on an alternative approach for cohesive crack propagation. A discrete version of the Hellinger–Reissner variational principle manages mode I crack growth in the case of piece-wise linear cohesive softening equations. A three-point bending test is investigated according to the mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced mixtures that have been characterized in the experimental literature. The achieved results point out that each segment of the considered cohesive laws plays an important role in the control of the size effect, depending on the dimension of the specimen.