Peridynamic modeling of fracture in fiber-reinforced composites

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of fiber volume fraction and fiber length on fracture behaviour of reinforced concrete structures. Cementitious material is modeled using the non-ordinary state-based peridynamic theory. The nonlocal meshfree peridynamic method unifies mechanics of continuous and discontinuous media and thus is well-suited in simulating discontinuities such as cracks compared to the traditional mesh-based finite element method. In addition, the non-ordinary state-based peridynamics enables us to incorporate classical constitutive equations and damage criterion. Furthermore, in order to incorporate fiber within the cementitious composite, a modified semi-discrete model is introduced. A two-dimensional rectangular notched model is developed to study the effect of fiber amount and fiber length on mechanical response of cementitious composite and also on damage propagation pattern. Sufficient number of simulations are performed to statistically characterize the effect of fiber reinforcement on fracture behaviour of cementitious composite structures.