A micropolar damage model for size-dependent concrete fracture problems and crack propagation simulated by PDDO method

Lots of experiments observe the size-dependent phenomena of concrete mechanical behaviors. In this paper, the micropolar theory is adopted to describe the size effects by introducing two size-related parameters into their constitutive equations, named coupling number N and characteristic length l. A micropolar damage model is built for size-dependent concrete fracture problems utilizing the bond-based peridynamic (PD) idea. That is, the material damage and fracture behaviors are determined by the local damage factors of the PD bonds. Then, the tensile strength of a concrete specimen is numerically estimated by the PD differential operator (PDDO) method. The influences of the size parameters N and l on the tensile strength are studied. By comparing with the transformed Bažant size-effect law and the fitting error analysis, the reasonable values of N and l are determined for a certain reinforced concrete composite. Finally, by using the determined micropolar damage model, the crack propagation paths in concrete members are numerically simulated.