An XFEM multiscale approach for fracture analysis of carbon nanotube reinforced concrete

M Eftekhari and SH Ardakani and S Mohammadi, THEORETICAL AND APPLIED FRACTURE MECHANICS, 72, 64-75 (2014).

DOI: 10.1016/j.tafmec.2014.06.005

An XFEM multiscale approach is adopted in order to investigate the mechanical properties and fracture behavior of carbon nanotube reinforced concrete specimen. At the nanoscale, molecular dynamics simulation is used to find the mechanical properties of carbon nanotube (CNTs). Afterwards, a hydration model is adopted to find the chemical composition of cement paste. The hydrated model and CNTs are then converted into a finite element mesh for further analysis. Finally, at the meso scale the fracture behavior of the CNT reinforced concrete is simulated by the XFEM approach. The results indicate that the fracture energy of samples with similar volume fractions but reinforced by longer CNTs increase significantly, but addition of CNTs has little influence on the elastic modulus. In addition, the extent of crack propagation under a similar load level becomes considerably lower for the concrete samples reinforce by longer CNTs. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Return to Publications page