A two-surface plastic model for concrete behaviour

ABSTRACT The quality of a mechanical law is generally based on the evaluation of three parameters: its ability to reproduce elementary or structural characteristic behaviours (tension, compression, bending…), the efficiency of the numerical implementation (resolution algorithm or convergence) and the physical significance of its parameters. A plastic model is presented in this contribution. Based on eight coefficients which are physically representative, it is driven by two softening yield surfaces, one for tension (Rankine) and one for compression (Drucker-Prager). After a brief description of the constitutive equations, the model is tested on elementary and structural applications to validate its numerical implementation. It represents a good compromise for classical concrete behaviours, compared to other more refined, but also more complex, approaches.