FE MODELING OF EXPANSIVE OXIDE-INDUCED FRACTURE OF REBAR REINFORCED-CONCRETE

This paper develops a finite element based simulation strategy which c an model the time dependent expansive oxide induced fracturing of corr oding rebar reinforced concrete. The oxide growth history is modeled b y empirical relations which can be correlated to represent the expansi ve process for a given in situ condition. Due to the generality of the procedure developed, problems with multiple long progressively growin g cracks can be handled in an entirely automated manner. To ascertain crack tip physics, moving templates are attached to each crack. These individually move with the cracks as they progress under a given expan sive oxide growth history. To quantify the procedure several benchmark example problems are presented. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.