Concrete Model Descriptions and Summary of Benchmark Studies for Blast Effects Simulations

Concrete is perhaps one of the most widely used construction materials in the world. Engineers use it to build massive concrete dams, concrete waterways, highways, bridges, and even nuclear reactors. The advantages of using concrete is that it can be cast into any desired shape, it is durable, and very economical compared to structural steel. The disadvantages are its low tensile strength, low ductility, and low strength-to-weight ratio. Concrete is a composite material that consists of a coarse granular material, or aggregate, embedded in a hard matrix of material, or cement, which fills the gaps between the aggregates and binds them together. Concrete properties, however, vary widely. The properties depend on the choice of materials used and the proportions for a particular application, as well as differences in fabrication techniques. Table 1 provides a listing of typical engineering properties for structural concrete. Properties also depend on the level of concrete confinement, or hydrostatic pressure, the material is being subjected to. In general, concrete is rarely subjected to a single axial stress. The material may experience a combination of stresses all acting simultaneously. The behavior of concrete under these combined stresses are, however, extremely difficult to characterize. In addition to the type of loading, one must also consider the stress history of the material. Failure is determined not only by the ultimate stresses, but also by the rate of loading and the order in which these stresses were applied. The concrete model described herein accounts for this complex behavior of concrete. It was developed by Javier Malvar, Jim Wesevich, and John Crawford of Karagozian and Case, and Don Simon of Logicon RDA in support of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's programs. The model is an enhanced version of the Concrete/Geological Material Model 16 in the Lagrangian finite element code DYNA3D. The modifications that were made to the original model ensured that the material response followed experimental observations for standard uniaxial, biaxial, and triaxial tests for both tension and compression type loading. A disadvantage of using this material model, however, is the overwhelming amount of input that is required from the user. Therefore, the goal of this report is to provide future users with the tools necessary for successfully using this model