Continuum approach to computational multi-scale modeling of fracture

Abstract

This paper presents a FE2 multi-scale framework for numerical modeling of the structural failure of heterogeneous quasi-brittle materials. The model is assessed by application to cementitious materials. Using the Continuum Strong Discontinuity Approach (CSD), innovative numerical tools, such as strain injection and crack path field techniques, provide a robust, and mesh-size, mesh-bias and RVE-size objective, procedure to model crack onset and propagation at the macro-scale.