A strain-based plastic viscous-damage model for massive concrete structures

Abstract

Within the framework of continuum damage mechanics, a new constitutive damage model for massive concrete is presented, mainly intended for the seismic analysis of gravity and arch dams. Consistent with thermodynamic requirements, a straindriven formalism is adopted, improving the algorithmic efficiency as much as required for the analysis of large scale problems to become feasible. Two scalar damage variables are introduced as internal variables, as well as a plastic-strain tensor. An extension to account for the concrete strain-rate dependency, suitable for seismic analysis, is presented at the end. The efficiency of numerical predictions from the constitutive model is illustrated through numerical applications and algorithmic implementation is also detailed.