A STRAIN-BASED PLASTIC VISCOUS-DAMAGE MODEL FOR MASSIVE CONCRETE STRUCTURES

Within the framework of continuum damage mechanics, a new constitutive damage model for massive concrete is presented, mainly intended for t he seismic analysis of gravity and arch dams. Consistent with thermody namic requirements, a strain-driven formalism is adopted, improving th e algorithmic efficiency as much as required for the analysis of large scale problems to become feasible. Two scalar damage variables are in troduced as internal variables, as well as a plastic-strain tenser. An extension to account for the concrete strain-rate dependency, suitabl e for seismic analysis, is presented at the end. The efficiency of num erical predictions from the constitutive model is illustrated through numerical applications and algorithmic implementation is also detailed . (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.