Study of fracture energy for plain concrete by the use of the finite element method

Abstract EN

Failure of plain concrete in tension is characterized by softening, which is accompanied by the development of regions of highly localized strains.

The main objective of this research is to study the fracture energy (the value of tensile strain) in the concrete and its effects on the load for plain concrete beams.

Beams were tested by Bosco and analysis by the use of computer program ANSYS.

The three dimensional brick element was used to represent the concrete element.

The results confirmed that the plain concrete beams do not fail when the first crack is obtain, but depends on the value of the tensile strain (fracture energy), where the increase in the value of the tensile strain due to increases in the load applied on the beam.