Dimensional analysis approach to study snap back-to-softening-to-ductile transitions in lightly reinforced quasi-brittle materials

摘要

The analysis of lightly reinforced concrete beams taking into account the nonlinear behavior of concrete in tension is typically addressed by numerical approaches based on the Cohesive Crack Model. In the present paper, Dimensional Analysis is applied to this context, in order to obtain a synthetic description of the phenomenon by reducing the number of the governing parameters. It will be analytically demonstrated that the structural response is more complex than that obtained by the Bridged Crack Model and based on Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics. In this case, in fact, two dimensionless parameters, N _P and s, are responsible for the brittle-to-softening-to-ductile transitions in the mechanical response. The results of a parametric analysis and of an experimental campaign available in the literature are interpreted in this new light.