Search

This paper presents a stochastic analysis of the size effect on the nominal strength of quasibrittle structures with a large preexisting notch. This type of scaling behavior has been extensively studied within a deterministic framework. Little attention is paid to stochastic analysis, which is essential for reliability-based analysis and design of engineering structures. Stochastic finite element simulations are performed to study the failure of geometrically similar beams of different sizes. The numerical analysis uses a continuum damage model, in which the tensile strength and fracture energy are modeled by homogeneous random fields. Different correlation lengths are considered as a parametric study. The analysis yields the size effects on the mean and coefficient of variation (CoV) of the nominal structural strength. It is shown that the size effect on the mean strength agrees well with the Bazant size effect model. The simulation predicts a strong size effect on the CoV of the nominal strength. Small-, intermediate-, and large-size asymptotes are derived analytically for the scaling behavior of the strength CoV. Based on these asymptotes, an approximate scaling equation is proposed for the CoV of nominal strength. The effect of the correlation length on the simulated failure behavior is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rolling resistance is an artificial moment arising on the contact of two discrete elements which mimics resistance of two grains of complex shape in contact rolling relatively to each other. The paper investigates the influence of rolling resistance on behaviour of an assembly of spherical discrete elements. Besides the resistance to rolling, the contacts between spherical particles obey the Hertzian law in normal straining and Coulomb model of friction in shear.

The contribution presents simulations on concrete specimens. The discrete meso-scale particle model with random geometry based on Voronoi tessellation is used. The model was enhanced with dynamic solver based on implicit Newmark method. Model is tested on cantilever beam loaded by a force at the free end to verify the ability of the model to simulate the dynamic behavior of a simple linear elastic material. Results computed with different time discretization and model settings are compared. The behavior of the model in nonlinear regime is investigated on concrete specimens loaded at different displacement rates. The constitutive law used within this contribution is insensitive to strain rate.

Diffusion behaviors of heterogeneous materials are of paramount importance in many engineering problems. Numerical models that take into account the internal structure of such materials are robust but computationally very expensive. This burden can be partially decreased by using discrete models, however even then the practical application is limited to relatively small material volumes. This paper formulates a homogenization scheme for discrete diffusion models. Asymptotic expansion homogenization is applied to distinguish between (i) the continuous macroscale description approximated by the standard finite element method and (ii) the fully resolved discrete mesoscale description in a local representative volume element (RVE) of material. Both transient and steady‐state variants with nonlinear constitutive relations are discussed. In all the cases, the resulting discrete RVE problem becomes a simple linear steady‐state problem that can be easily pre‐computed. The scale separation provides a significant reduction of computational time allowing the solution of practical problems with a negligible error introduced mainly by the finite element discretization at the macroscale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quasibrittle materials are featured by a strain-softening constitutive behavior under many loading scenarios, which could eventually lead to localization instability. It has long been known that strain localization would result in spurious mesh sensitivity in finite element (FE) simulations. Previous studies have shown that, for the case of fully localized damage, the mesh sensitivity can be mitigated through energy regularization of the material constitutive law. However, depending on the loading configuration and structural geometry, quasibrittle structures could exhibit a complex damage process, which involves both localized and diffused damage patterns at different stages of loading. This study presents a generalized energy regularization method that considers the spatial and temporal evolution of damage pattern. The method introduces a localization parameter, which describes the local damage pattern. The localization parameter governs the energy regularization of the constitutive model, which captures the transition from diffused to localized damage during the failure process. The method is cast into an isotropic damage model, and is further extended to rate-dependent behavior. The energy regularization scheme is directly incorporated into the kinetics of damage growth. The model is applied to simulate static and dynamic failures of ceramic specimens. It is shown that the present model is able to effectively mitigate the spurious mesh sensitivity in FE simulations of both types of failure. The present analysis demonstrates the essential role of mechanism-based energy regularization of constitutive relation in FE simulations of quasibrittle fracture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a sampling technique that delivers robust designs, that is, point sets selected from a design domain in the shape of a unit hypercube. The designs are guaranteed to provide a statistically uniform point distribution, meaning that every location has the same probability of being selected. Moreover, the designs are sample uniform, meaning that each individual design has its points spread evenly throughout the domain. The sample uniformity (often measured via a discrepancy criterion) is achieved using distance-based criteria ( ϕ p or Maximin), that is, criteria normally used in space-filling designs. We show that the standard intersite metrics employed in distance-based criteria (Maximin and ϕ p (phi)) do not deliver statistically uniform designs. Similarly, designs optimized via centered L2 discrepancy or support points are also not statistically uniform. When these designs (after optimization based on intersite distances) are used for Monte Carlo type of integration, their statistical nonuniformity is a serious problem as it may lead to a systematic bias. This article proposes using a periodic metric to guarantee the statistical uniformity of the family of distance-based designs. The presented designs used as benchmarks in the article are only taken from the class of Latin hypercube designs, which forces univariate projections to be uniform and improves accuracy in Monte Carlo integration of some functions. for this article are available online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anchored by the theory of extreme value statistics, Weibull distribution is the most widely used mathematical model for strength distribution of brittle structures. In a series of recent studies, a finite weakest-link model was developed for strength distribution of quasi-brittle structures, and the classical Weibull distribution was shown to represent the large-size asymptote of the model. By employing a length scale, the finite weakest-link model is capable of capturing correctly the size effects on both the probability distribution and the mean value of structural strength. However, the connection of this length scale with the basic material properties is still missing. This study investigates the relationship between the length scale of the finite weakest-link model and the material length scales by analyzing the size effect on the mean structural strength. The mathematical form of this relationship is derived through dimensional analysis. To validate the model, a set of mean size effect curves is obtained through stochastic simulations, which use a nonlinear constitutive model involving both the Irwin characteristic length and the crack band width. The internal length scale of the weakest-link model is determined by optimum fitting of the benchmark size effect curves in the small-size range. Furthermore, the effect of stress field on this internal length scale is studied by considering three different loading configurations. The present analysis reveals the importance of the mean size effect analysis for the calibration of finite weakest-link model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effect of strain rate on the scaling behavior of dynamic tensile strength of quasibrittle structures. The theoretical framework is anchored by a rate-dependent finite weakest link model. The model involves a rate-dependent length scale, which captures the transition from localized damage to diffused damage with an increasing strain rate. As a result, the model predicts a rate- and size-dependent probability distribution function of the nominal tensile strength. The transitional behavior of the strength distribution directly leads to the rate and size effects on the mean and standard deviation of the tensile strength. The model is verified by a series of stochastic discrete element simulations of dynamic fracture of aluminum nitride specimens. The simulations involve a set of geometrically similar specimens of various sizes subjected to a number of different strain rates. Both random microstructure geometry and fracture properties are considered in these simulations. The simulated damage pattern indicates that an increase in the strain rate results in a more diffusive cracking pattern, which supports the theoretical formulation. The simulated rate and size effects on the mean and standard deviation of the nominal tensile strength agree well with the predictions by the rate-dependent finite weakest link model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies systems of rigid bodies with randomly generated geometry interconnected by normal and tangential bonds. The stiffness of these bonds determines themacroscopic elastic modulus while the macroscopic Poisson's ratio of the system is determined solely by the normal/tangential stiffness ratio. Discrete models with no directional bias have the same probability of element orientation for any direction and therefore the same mechanical properties in a statistical sense at any point and direction. However, the layers of elements in the vicinity of the boundary exhibit biased orientation, preferring elements parallel with the boundary. As a consequence, when strain occurs in this direction, the boundary layer becomes stiffer than the interior for the normal/tangential stiffness ratio larger than one, and vice versa. Nonlinear constitutive laws are typically such that the straining of an element in shear results in higher strength and ductility than straining in tension. Since the boundary layer tends, due to the bias in the elemental orientation, to involve more tension than shear at the contacts, it also becomes weaker and less ductile. The paper documents these observations and compares them to the results of theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rolling resistance is an artificial moment arising on the contact of two discrete elements which mimics resistance of two grains of complex shape in contact rolling relatively to each other. The paper investigates the influence of rolling resistance on behaviour of an assembly of spherical discrete elements. Besides the resistance to rolling, the contacts between spherical particles obey the Hertzian law in normal straining and Coulomb model of friction in shear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contribution presents simulations on concrete specimens. The discrete meso-scale particle model with random geometry based on Voronoi tessellation is used. The model was enhanced with dynamic solver based on implicit Newmark method. Model is tested on cantilever beam loaded by a force at the free end to verify the ability of the model to simulate the dynamic behavior of a simple linear elastic material. Results computed with different time discretization and model settings are compared. The behavior of the model in nonlinear regime is investigated on concrete specimens loaded at different displacement rates. The constitutive law used within this contribution is insensitive to strain rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new crack band model (CBM) for probabilistic analysis of quasibrittle fracture. The model is anchored by a probabilistic treatment of damage initiation, localization, and propagation. This model regularizes the energy dissipation of a single material element for the transition between damage initiation and localization. Meanwhile, the model also takes into account the probabilistic onset of damage localization inside the finite element (FE)for the case where the element size is larger than the crack band width. The random location of the localization band is related to the random material strength, whose statistics is described by a finite weakest link model. The present model is applied to simulate the probability distributions of the nominal strength of different quasibrittle structures. It is shown that for quasibrittle structures direct application of the conventional CBM for stochastic FE simulations would lead to mesh-sensitive results. To mitigate such mesh dependence, it is essential to incorporate the strain localization mechanism into the formulation of the sampling distribution functions of material constitutive parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]