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Understanding fracture mechanism and behaviour of ultra-high strength

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Article in Engineering Fracture Mechanics · May 2020

DOI: 10.1016/j.engfracmech.2020.107080
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Understanding fracture mechanism and behaviour of ultra-high strength con-

crete using mesoscale modelling
P.S.M. Thilakarathna, K.S. Kristombu Baduge, P. Mendis, E.R.K

Chandrathilaka, V. Vimonsatit, H. Lee
PII: S0013-7944(20)30180-6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2020.107080
Reference: EFM 107080
To appear in: Engineering Fracture Mechanics
Received Date: 10 February 2020

Revised Date: 27 April 2020
Accepted Date: 28 April 2020
Please cite this article as: Thilakarathna, P.S.M., Kristombu Baduge, K.S., Mendis, P., Chandrathilaka, E.R.K,
Vimonsatit, V., Lee, H., Understanding fracture mechanism and behaviour of ultra-high strength concrete using
mesoscale modelling, Engineering Fracture Mechanics (2020), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.
2020.107080
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UNDERSTANDING FRACTURE MECHANISM AND BEHAVIOUR OF
ULTRA-HIGH STRENGTH CONCRETE USING MESOSCALE
MODELLING
P.S.M. Thilakarathna1, K.S. Kristombu Baduge1*, P. Mendis1, E.R.K Chandrathilaka1, V.
Vimonsatit2, H. Lee2
1Department of Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2Department of Civil Engineering, Curtin University, Western Australia, Australia
* - corresponding author email – kasun.kristombu@unimelb.edu.au
ABSTRACT
Ultra High Strength Concrete (UHSC) is a composite material of which the fracture and damage
behavior is highly dependent on its constituent phases. Damage and fracture behavior of UHSC
is markedly different from the Normal Strength Concrete (NSC) due to its brittle behavior and
crushing through the aggregate. This complex behaviour and influence of properties of
constituent phases to the mechanical properties of UHSC cannot be understood using
conventional testing on materials. To better understand this complex fracture behavior and
influence of the phases, a different approach is required. Mesoscale modelling where concrete is
modelled as a three-phase material which consists of aggregates, mortar and Interfacial
Transition Zone (ITZ), can be considered as a potential method to address these issues.
In this paper, development of mesoscale models of concrete using various shapes of aggregates
and methods of intersection checks and placing algorithms are presented. Accurate material
model selection for the constituent phases and efficient meshing methods are also discussed.
Fracture and damage behavior of UHSC under uniaxial compression is investigated using the
developed mesoscale models. Transgranular fracture of UHSC under uniaxial compression was
modelled successfully and found that the damage initiation can occur in any of the three phases
in mesoscale. Effect of various parameters on the damage behavior of UHSC is discussed and the
feasibility of using this powerful tool of mesoscale modelling is discussed with the challenges.
KEYWORDS: Mesoscale Modelling; Ultra High Strength Concrete; Interfacial Transition Zone;
Concrete Damage Plasticity Model; Cohesive elements

𝜎𝑡 Tensile stress
Nomenclature 𝜎𝑐0 Yield stress under uniaxial
compression
a Semi major axis length 𝜎𝑐𝑢 Ultimate compressive stress
b Semi-intermediate axis length 𝜎𝑡0 Uniaxial tensile stress at failure
c Semi minor axis length Maximum principal effective
𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥
Compressive damage stress
dc
parameter Effective compressive cohesion
𝑐 )
𝜎𝑐(𝜀𝑝𝑙
dt Tensile damage parameter strength
dmax Largest sieve diameter 𝜓 Dilation angle
dmin Smallest sieve diameter
D Scalar damage variable
Dmax
Diameter of the largest Abbreviations
aggregate
Ds Sieve diameter CDPM Concrete Damage Plasticity
𝐸0 Undamaged elasticity Model
𝐹(𝑥,𝑦,𝑧) Quadratic ellipsoid function FEM Finite Element Method
G Plastic flow potential ITZ Interfacial Transition Zone
𝑲 Elasticity matrix NSC Normal Strength Concrete
Rotational matrix UHSC Very High Strength Concrete
𝑁(𝛽)
corresponding to angle 𝛽
𝑝 Hydrostatic pressure stress
Mises equivalent effective
𝑞
stress
𝑟𝐴 Radius of sphere A
𝑟𝐵 Radius of sphere B
R Combined rotation matrix
𝒕 Traction vector
𝑡𝑛 Normal bond stress
𝑡𝑠, 𝑡𝑡 Tangential bond stresses
0 0 0
𝑡𝑛, 𝑡𝑠 , 𝑡𝑡 Peak bond stresses
𝑣𝑝 Volume fraction of aggregates
V Total volume of the concrete
𝑉𝑝[𝑑𝑠,𝑑𝑠 + 1] Volume of aggregate within the
grading segment
Coordinates of the ellipsoid
X1
before rotation
Coordinates of the ellipsoid
X2
after rotation
Rotational matrix
𝑧(𝛼)
corresponding to angle 𝛼
Rotational matrix
𝑍(𝛾)
corresponding to angle 𝛾
α, 𝛽, 𝛾 Eulerian angles
Γ𝑄 Surface of the ellipsoid
𝜹 Separation vector
Eccentricity of the plastic
𝜖
potential surface
Tensile and compressive total
𝜀𝑐,𝜀𝑡
strains
~𝑝𝑙 ~𝑝𝑙 Tensile and compressive plastic
𝜀𝑡 , 𝜀𝑐
strains
𝜎𝑐 Compressive stress
1 INTRODUCTION
UHSC has become an integral aspect in the construction industry due to its enhanced
performance characteristics [1]. Ultra-high compressive strength, higher stiffness, low porosity,
increased durability characteristics and reduced deformations are some of the vital
characteristics which increase the usage of UHSC in structures [2–4].
Mechanical behavior of the UHSC is significantly different from the behavior of the NSC. UHSC is
a remarkably brittle material compared with the NSC and hence the fracture behavior of the
UHSC is also comparatively different[5]. Even though these brittle fractures are visible in the
macro scale, fracture and damage behavior depends on the material composition and the
interactions of the constituent phases in mesoscale. It is very difficult to understand this complex
fracture behavior of UHSC and how the constituent phases affect this behavior considering all
the parameters using conventional macro/micro experimental testing methods. Hence, to
investigate the brittle fracture initiation, propagation and to investigate the contribution of the
consitutent phases to this process, a mesoscale model was developed and analyzed capturing all
these complex phenomena.
Mesoscale modelling of concrete consists of modelling the concrete as a three-phase material
including aggregates, mortar and the ITZ-thin weak boundary layer between mortar and
aggregate. 3D finite element analysis was used to simulate the composite behavior of the
material and step by step procedure was followed to create the mesoscale model, analyze it and
investigate the fracture behavior of the material. Damage initiation of UHSC due to the formation
of microcracks, coalescence of these microcracks to form macro crack networks and how
damage progresses through the concrete specimens due to the external loading were
investigated using the 3D mesoscale model developed in this study. This paper covers
comprehensive modelling of mesoscale UHSC with accurate mesoscale geometries, correct

material models including the behavior of ITZ which captures the accurate failure and damage
propagation as seen in the experimental observations and reasons for this complex behavior,
which have been not addressed properly in previous studies.
2 MESOSCALE MODELLING OF CONCRETE

Macroscale modelling of concrete is carried out assuming that concrete is a homogeneous
material. This assumption of homogeneity of concrete neglects some of the key aspects such as
particle size distribution, aggregate shape, interface in between aggregates etc. which
significantly affect the way in which concrete behaves in the macro scale. Hence, concrete needs
to be considered as a composite material as shown in Figure 1 to understand how
heterogeneities affects the macro properties. This heterogeneous nature of the material can be
simulated in mesoscale models and it is a powerful tool to understand the effects of
heterogeneities and select right proportions and suitable properties for material phases to
improve the performance and properties of UHSC.
Mesoscale models of concrete can be developed mainly using two methods. In the direct method,
true shape of the constituent phases of concrete will be modelled, suitable material properties
are assigned to consisting phases and the model is analyzed. In the indirect method, geometry of
the consisting phases is not generated explicitly[6]. In this method, equivalent material
properties are assigned to representative elements such as lattice beams, trusses, rigid bodies
and springs etc. Lattice element method [7–9], Discrete element method [10–12], rigid body
spring method [13,14] can be categorized under indirect mesoscale models.
In this study, mesostructure of UHSC was developed using the direct method where the
geometry of the models is accurately represented, and the analysis of the models was done using
Finite Element Method (FEM).

Macroscale - Homogeneous Mesoscale - Heterogeneous
Figure 1 Macro and Mesoscales of concrete
Mesoscale models are used to understand the behavior of concrete in various aspects.
Investigation of concrete damage and fracture behavior [15–24], parametric analysis of concrete
[25–27], nonlinear behavior of concrete under uniaxial and multiaxial static and dynamic
loadings [28–35], diffusivity of concrete [36,37], alkali silica reaction of concrete [38] etc. are
some main focus areas investigated using the mesoscale modelling.
Mesoscale modelling presents considerable benefits of modelling the composite nature of the
material compared with the macroscale modelling. Homogenized response of the material will
be generated after assigning the constitutive material behavior of each consisting phases [39].
This is a useful method of understanding how the consisting phases of concrete affect the
composite properties of the material, fracture and damage of the material and also methods to
improve the material.
For UHSC, there is currently no proper mix design guideline and generally, UHSC mixes are
specified using trial and error method. Also, due to the difficulty of achieving these mixes, there
is a lack of understanding about the damage and fracture behavior and how the aggregates,
mortar and ITZ would affect this phenomenon. Mesoscale modelling can be used as a tool to
understand these complex nonlinear material behaviors and hence the number of experiments,
time and cost can be reduced [40].

Concrete fracture and damage behavior is an area where mesoscale modelling is widely used.
Concrete fracture behavior has been investigated for NSC using mesoscale models previously.
However, there is a lack of investigation about the fracture and damage behavior of UHSC using
mesoscale modelling.
Mesoscale models can be generated in 2D as well as in 3D. However, It has been found that the
2D mesoscale models do not represent the realistic micro cracking networks [16] and hence, in
this study, all the analyses were carried out in 3D to obtain a better representation of the micro
and macro cracking networks.
3 GEOMETRY GENERATION FOR THE MESOSCALE MODEL

Mesostructure of concrete consists of aggregates, ITZ and mortar. Aggregates were the first to
be generated and distributed uniformly in a cylinder and then the mortar geometry was
generated. In this paper, three aggregate shapes were used to represent the aggregates.
When placing these three types of aggregates inside the cylinder following criteria were
satisfied [41].
 Placed aggregates should be completely inside the cylinder
 There should not be any overlaps between aggregate particles
 There should be a minimum distance between two aggregate particles because there
should be a coating of mortar in between aggregate particles
It is essential to achieve a realistic volume fraction of aggregates, which is generally around 30-
40%. Particles are generated and distributed to follow a particle size distribution curve. In this
study, Fuller’s particle size distribution curve [42] was used. Fuller’s curve is widely accepted as
the grading curve, which gives the optimum compaction, density, strength in concrete and also
a good workability and a good segregation resistance [28].

According to the Fuller’s curve, aggregate percentage by weight passing through a sieve
diameter D is given by Equation (1).
1/2
𝑌 = 100 ( )
𝐷𝑠
𝐷𝑚𝑎𝑥
(1)
Where, Y is the percentage of aggregate by weight passing through a sieve with diameter Ds
aperture and Dmax is the diameter of the largest aggregate.
Volume of the aggregates within a grading segment between the sieve diameters ds and ds+1 is
given by Equation (2) [38],
𝑃(𝑑𝑠) ― 𝑃(𝑑𝑠 + 1)
𝑉𝑝[𝑑𝑠,𝑑𝑠 + 1] = ((
𝑃 𝑑𝑚𝑎𝑥) ― 𝑃(𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑛) ) × 𝑣𝑝 × 𝑉 (2)
In the above equation, 𝑉𝑝[𝑑𝑠,𝑑𝑠 + 1] is the volume of aggregate within the grading segment
[𝑑𝑠,𝑑𝑠 + 1], d is the sieve diameter, dmax and dmin are the largest and smallest sieve diameter 𝑣𝑝 is
the volume fraction of aggregates and V is the total volume of the concrete.
Sieve sizes of 16mm, 12mm, 9mm and 5mm was used when generating the aggregates and
aggregates less than 5mm was assumed to be contained in the mortar matrix for reduce the
computational demand.
Particle generation and placing algorithms used in this study are discussed in the following
section.
3.1 Spherical Aggregates Generation and Placement

Most of the researchers have used the spherical shape to represent the aggregates due to its
simplicity and better performance in numerical simulations [28,43,44]. Spherical particles can
be represented uniquely in the 3D space using four parameters. Those are the three center
coordinates and the radius of the sphere.
Various placing algorithms have been used by researchers to distribute the particles [45–50]. To
distribute the particles in the cylinder, take and place method [51] was used in this paper.
Procedure followed for this process is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 Flow chart for particle generation and placing
To prevent the overlapping of the aggregates, the addition of the radii of the two aggregates
should be lesser than the distance between the centroids of the two aggregates. To make sure
that there is a sufficient gap between the aggregates to represent the coating of the mortar,
following condition was checked and satisfied.
(𝑥𝐴 ― 𝑥𝐵)2 + (𝑦𝐴 ― 𝑥𝐵)2 + (𝑧𝐴 ― 𝑧𝐵)2 ≥ 1.1 × [𝑟𝐴 + 𝑟𝐵] (3)
where 𝑥𝐴, 𝑦𝐴, 𝑧𝐴 and 𝑥𝐵, 𝑦𝐵, 𝑧𝐵 are the coordinates of the centers of the spheres A and B and 𝑟𝐴
and 𝑟𝐵 are the radii of the spheres A and B. A factor of 1.1 was used in this scenario to represent
the mortar coating.
3.2 Ellipsoidal Aggregates Generation and Placement

Ellipsoids can be uniquely represented in three-dimensional space using nine parameters
[52,53] . Those parameters are three center coordinates, lengths of the three semi axes and the
three Eulerian angles. However, in the field of computational geometry, an ellipsoid is
represented by XTQX = 0 where X = (x, y, z,1) and
[
𝐴 𝐷 𝐹 𝐺
𝐷
𝑄= 𝐹
𝐺
𝐵
𝐸
𝐻
𝐸 𝐻
𝐶 𝐼
𝐼 𝐽
]
where A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I and J are the coefficients in the quadratic ellipsoid equation given by
Equation (4).
𝐹(𝑥,𝑦,𝑧) = 𝐴𝑥2 + 𝐵𝑦2 + 𝐶𝑧2 + 𝐷𝑥𝑦 + 𝐸𝑥𝑧 + 𝐹𝑦𝑧 + 𝐺𝑥 + 𝐻𝑦 + 𝐼𝑧 + 𝐽 ≤ 0 (4)
There is a relationship between coefficients of the quadratic ellipsoid equation and the nine
parameters for an ellipsoid as given in Appendix 1.
Particle distribution of the ellipsoidal aggregates is done similar to the spherical aggregates.
When placing the ellipsoidal aggregates inside the cylinder, a random location inside the
cylinder was selected, the lengths of the three semi axes were calculated randomly and the
ellipsoid was rotated randomly.

In this scenario, it is assumed that the ellipsoidal aggregate passes through the sieve if the semi
intermediate axis of the particle is smaller than the aperture of the sieve. This semi-intermediate
axis length was calculated randomly using a random number between 0 and 1 according to
Equation (5) proposed by Unger et al. [39].
𝑏=
1
2 ( 𝑑𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝑃𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑛 + (1 ― 𝑃)𝑑𝑚𝑎𝑥3
3 ) (5)
In the above equation dmax and dmin are the upper and lower sieve diameters within the grading
segments respectively and P is a random number within 0 and 1.
Semi major axis length and the semi minor axis length were calculated according to Equations
(6) and (7).
[ 𝑟𝑟 ―+ 11] 𝑏
𝑎= 1+𝑃 (6)
𝑐 = [1 ― 𝑃
𝑟―1
𝑟 + 1]
𝑏 (7)
Where, P is a random number within 0 and 1 and r is a constant which represents the flatness of
the ellipsoid.
Eulerian angles were also given as random inputs. To generate a random ellipsoid in 3D space,
all the nodes in the ellipsoid were transformed using a transformation matrix which consists of
a rotational matrix and a translational matrix. An ellipsoid at the origin whose lengths of its semi-
major axis, semi-intermediate axis and semi-minor axis are a, b, and c respectively, can be
represented using the Equation (8).
[ ]
1
0 0 0
𝑎2
1
0 0 0
𝑋1𝑇 𝑏2 𝑋1 ≤ 0 (8)
1
0 0 0
𝑐2
0 0 0 ―1
Where X1 = {x, y, z, 1}T is the coordinates of the any node on the ellipsoidal surface.
Random rotation was applied to each node of the ellipsoidal surface using three rotational
matrices. According to Euler, any rotation of the ellipsoid can be specified using the three angles
α, β and γ. Angle α is the first rotation around the z axis. Angle β is the second rotation around
the axis N and angle γ is the third rotation around the axis Z. The rotation matrices
corresponding to these three rotations can be specified as following.
[
𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝛼 ― 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛼 0 0
𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛼
𝑧(𝛼) = 0
0
𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝛼
0
0
0
1
0
]
0
0
1
(9)
[
1 0 0 0
0 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝛽
𝑁(𝛽) = 0 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛽
0 0
―𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛽
𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝛽
0
]
0
0
1
(10)
[
𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝛾 ― 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛾 0 0
𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛾
𝑍(𝛾) = 0
0
𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝛾
0
0
0
1
0
]
0
0
1
(11)
Hence, the combined rotation matrix can be specified as,
𝑅 = 𝑧(𝛼)𝑁(𝛽)𝑍(𝛾) (12)
The coordinates of the nodes after rotating the ellipsoid can be obtained by the following
equation.
X2 = RX1 (13)
Where X2 is the coordinates after rotation, R is the rotation matrix and X1 is the coordinated
before the rotation.
When placing the ellipsoidal aggregates inside the cylinder, intersection check was done to avoid
the overlapping of the aggregates. In this case, the overlapping check is slightly complex than in
the spherical aggregate scenario.
A three-step procedure is proposed in this study to check the overlapping to reduce the
computational time.
 Step 1 – If the sum of the two semi-minor axes is greater than the distance between the
two centroids of the ellipsoids, then those two ellipsoids are definitely overlapping.
 Step 2 – If the sum of the two semi-major axes are less than the distance between the two
centroids of the ellipsoids, then those two ellipsoids are not overlapping
 Step 3 – If the distance between the two centroids of the ellipsoids are less than the sum
of the two semi-major axes and greater than the sum of two semi-minor axes, then further
checking is done to check the overlapping.
This further check was done using the quadratic ellipsoid equation.
𝑋𝑇𝑄𝑋 ≤ 0 (14)
[
𝐴 𝐷 𝐹 𝐺
𝐷
Where, X= (x, y, z, 1) and 𝑄 = 𝐹
𝐺
𝐵
𝐸
𝐻
𝐸 𝐻
𝐶 𝐼
𝐼 𝐽
]
If P and Q are two ellipsoids and coordinates of any node in the surface of ellipsoid P are 𝑃(𝑥,𝑦,
𝑧)and the quadratic ellipsoid function of Q is 𝐹(𝑥,𝑦,𝑧) , then
𝑃 ∈ 𝑄 𝑖𝑓 𝐹(𝑥,𝑦, 𝑧) < 0
𝑃 ∈ Γ𝑄 𝑖𝑓 𝐹(𝑥,𝑦, 𝑧) = 0
𝑃 ∉ 𝑄 𝑖𝑓 𝐹(𝑥,𝑦, 𝑧) > 0
Where Γ𝑄 is the surface of the ellipsoid.
Hence, if the first two steps of the intersection check conditions do not satisfy, then the nodes of
the particle to be placed is checked with the nodes of the surrounding particles to check whether
there is an intersection and a sufficient gap for the mortar coating. In simple terms, at a time
intersection check is carried out between two ellipsoids and if any surface node of one ellipsoid
is inside or on the surface of the other ellipsoid those two ellipsoids are intersecting. If there is
an intersection, a new particle is generated in another random point and the process is repeated
until the required volume fraction is achieved.

3.3 Polyhedral Aggregates Generation and Placement
Circular and ellipsoid aggregate shapes do not represent the actual angular shape of the crushed
aggregates and to represent the geometry of the crushed aggregates, convex polyhedrons can be
used [54,55]. Fuller’s curve was used in this scenario as well. It was assumed that an aggregate
belongs to the grading segment [ds , ds+1] if the bounding sphere of the aggregate is less than the
aperture of the sieve with diameter ds and larger than the aperture of the sieve with diameter
ds+1. Spheres were generated according to the particle size distribution curve and 20 nodes were
randomly picked from that generated sphere to be the vertices of the convex polyhedron so that
the center of the sphere is inside the polyhedron. In that case, the generated sphere will
automatically be the bounding sphere of the convex polyhedron. In other words, polyhedron
would be circumscribed by the sphere. Using these random points as vertices, a convex
polyhedron was generated.
To check the intersection of the polyhedron aggregates, three step procedure was followed.
 First, the bounding spheres were checked for the intersection as in the spherical
aggregates case by checking whether the sum of the two radii of the bounding spheres is
less than the distance between the two centroids of the bounding spheres. If that is
satisfied there will not be any intersect between the aggregates and if that criterion is
not satisfied, then a further check is done to investigate the intersection of the aggregates.
Figure 3 (a) represents a case where the sum of the radii of the bounding sphere is less
than the distance between centroids of the bounding spheres and Figure 3 (b) shows an
instance where the bounding spheres can intersect with each other and still aggregates
are not intersecting with each other. Step

(a) (b)
Figure 3 First step of the intersection check
 In this further check, first it was checked whether the distance between the centres of
the two bounding spheres is greater than the radius of the largest sphere and if this is
satisfied, further intersection check was done using the coefficients of the equation of
planes to the faces of the two convex polyhedrons. Using the randomly picked 20 points,
a convex polyhedron was defined, and this polyhedron consists of n triangular faces. For
all the planes in the polyhedron, coefficients of the plane equations were calculated. The
equation of a plane can be denoted using the following equation.
𝐴𝑥 + 𝐵𝑦 + 𝐶𝑧 + 𝐷 = 0 (15)
Where A, B, C and D are the constant coefficients of the plane depending on the location and the
orientation of the plane and x, y, z are the coordinates of any point lying in the plane.
If the above equation is not satisfied by a point in the space, then that point is either inside or
outside depending on the sign of the distance to the point. In this scenario, nodes of one
polyhedron is checked against the other polyhedron to check whether those points are inside
the polyhedron and to check whether there is sufficient space for mortar coating. This check was
repeated again by interchanging the nodes to the polyhedron and polyhedron to the nodes as
shown in Figure 4. In simple terms, at a time intersection check is carried out between two
polyhedrons and if any surface node of one poyhedron is inside or on the surface of the other
polyhedron those two polyhedrons are intersecting.
Figure 4 Intersection check for polyhedral particles
After the intersection check was done, aggregates were generated until the required volume
fraction is achieved.
Generated spherical, ellipsoidal and polyhedral particles using the described methods are shown
in Figure 5.
Figure 5 Generated aggregate geometries (40% volume fraction) : a) spherical, b) polyhedral
and c) ellipsoidal particles
3.4 Transferring the Developed Aggregate Geometry to the Finite Element Analysis
Program
Above shown geometries were created in MATLAB and those are purely in mathematical form.
To analyze the mesoscale model, created geometry must be transferred to a finite element
software. This can be done using several ways. One method is to save the information about the
created geometry in MATLAB and create the geometry again using a built-in function in the finite
element program. For example, to create the spherical shaped aggregates, center coordinates
and the radii of the spheres were saved and then a script was written in the finite element
software to create the geometry from the saved information.
Another method is to mesh the geometry in MATLAB itself and then transfer that mesh as an
orphan mesh to ABAQUS. For example, to transfer the polyhedral aggregates which were created
in MATLAB, face vertex information were saved in a 3D file format such as .stl or .ply and then
those files were imported in to the finite element software. .stl and .ply files represent a surface
mesh and for this study, a volume mesh is required. Hence, the surface mesh needs to be
converted in to a volume mesh. If the mesh quality of the imported mesh which is done using
MATLAB is not sufficient, the orphan mesh can be converted into a geometry and then this
geometry can be remeshed within ABAQUS for a superior mesh quality. When converting he
orphan mesh to the geometry in ABAQUS, some errors may incur due to the defects of the
imported orphan mesh. Alternatively, surface meshes exported using MATLAB can be converted
in to volume mesh and then remeshed using a third-party meshing software such as Hypermesh
and this mesh can be used for the simulations in the ABAQUS.
In this paper, nodes were written to .ply surface meshes and after volumizing the surface meshes
tetrahedral meshing was used and this solid tetrahedral meshing was done using Hypermesh
and Abaqus.
3.5 Mortar and ITZ Modelling

After generating the aggregate geometry and transferring that geometry in to ABAQUS, mortar
geometry was generated. In this scenario a solid cylinder was generated with the desired
dimensions and then the aggregates and the cylinder were aligned. A cut was made in the solid
mortar cylinder using the aggregates to generate the mortar geometry.
ITZ can be modelled using several methods. One method is to represent ITZ using solid finite
elements [56]. A solid finite element layer was generated in between aggregates and the mortar
and the properties of the ITZ were directly assigned to these solid finite elements. Generation
of the solid finite element layer was done by shrinking the existing aggregate particles.
Generated model cross section using this method is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6 ITZ represented by solid finite element layer
However, in reality the thickness of the ITZ layer is around 10-50 μm [57,58] . It is very difficult
to create a 3D finite element layer with such a small thickness. Some researchers [29] have used
a finite thickness value which can be modelled using 3D finite elements to represent the ITZ.
Even in this scenario, a very fine mesh is needed for the ITZ layer and this will result in a larger
simulation time.
Another method is to use zero thickness cohesive elements in between the aggregates and the
mortar phases to represent the ITZ. Compared with the size of the aggregates and the simulated
concrete specimen, the thickness of the ITZ can be neglected and hence zero thickness cohesive
elements can be used to simulate the behavior of ITZ. Cohesive elements can be embedded in
the model via the shared nodes or using the tie constraints. If the mesh of the cohesive element
layer is matching to the mesh of the adjacent components, node sharing can be used to connect
the cohesive elements to the other components. However, in most instances when the mesh of
the cohesive element layer and the adjacent components don’t match, tie constraint can be used
to connect those.
Alternatively, cohesive contact between the aggregates and the mortar phase can be used to
represent the ITZ behavior. Cohesive contacts are mainly used when the interface layer
thickness is negligible. However, in contrast to the cohesive elements, contact definition does
not require any element definitions. This is defined as a surface interaction property in contrast
to the cohesive elements where the constitutive relations and the damage behavior is modelled
as a material property definition. Schematic comparison between the cohesive elements and
the cohesive contact is shown in Figure 7.
Cohesive element approach Cohesive contact approach
Cohesive elements modelling the Adhesive behaviour part of the

adhesion contact
Adhered parts
Figure 7 Schematic comparison between cohesive elements and cohesive contacts
Constitutive models for the zero thickness cohesive elements and cohesive contacts are quite
similar and these constitutive relationships are discussed in the next section.
In this paper, ITZ was modelled using all the three methods mentioned above and the results
are compared to investigate the most suitable method to model the ITZ in mesoscale modelling.
4 CONSTITUTIVE MODELS FOR CONSISTING PHASES

4.1 Material Models and Parameters for Mortar
For UHSC mixes, a very low water/binder ratio is used. Hence, the resulting mortar has a very
high strength (>100MPa). Very high strength mortar is significantly brittle compared with the
normal strength mortar and hence it is difficult to obtain the complete stress strain behavior
with softening under uniaxial compression. In this study the compressive stress strain model
proposed by Cusson and Paultre [59] was used.

Concrete Damage Plasticity Model (CDPM) was used as the constitutive law for the mortar phase.
This model is suitable to represent the behavior of quasi-brittle materials like concrete, mortar
and rock.
CDPM represents the inelastic behavior of the material using a combination of isotropic
damaged elasticity and isotropic plasticity. According to CDPM, as Figure 8 depicts, material
behaves elastically under uniaxial tension until the failure stress 𝜎𝑡0. After the failure stress,
strain softening starts to occur due to the micro cracking. As shown in Figure 9, material behaves
elastically until the initial yield stress 𝜎𝑐0 under uniaxial compression and then starts stress
hardening until ultimate stress 𝜎𝑐𝑢. After the ultimate stress, strain softening occurs.
It should be also noted that when the material is unloaded from a point in the strain softening
branch, the unloading stiffness is less than the initial stiffness due to the damage in the material.
This degradation is represented using compression and tension damage parameters dc and dt.
These damage parameters take the value in between 0 and 1. Value 0 represents the undamaged
material and value 1 represents totally damaged material. Damage parameters proposed by
Jankowiak and Łodygowski [60] were adjusted and used in this study.
Figure 8 Concrete response in uniaxial Figure 9 Concrete response in uniaxial

tension compression
After incorporating the damage parameters, concrete stress strain relationship can be expressed
by Equations (16) and (17)Error! Reference source not found.

𝜎𝑡 = (1 ― 𝑑𝑡)𝐸0(𝜀𝑡 ― 𝜀~𝑝𝑙
𝑡 ) (16)
𝜎𝑐 = (1 ― 𝑑𝑐)𝐸0(𝜀𝑐 ― 𝜀~𝑝𝑙
𝑐 )
(17)
In the above equations, 𝜎𝑡 and 𝜎𝑐 are the tensile and compressive stresses, dc and dt are
compressive and tensile damage parameters, 𝜀~𝑝𝑙

𝑡 and 𝜀~𝑝𝑙
𝑐 are tensile and compressive plastic
strains, 𝜀𝑡 and 𝜀𝑐 are tensile and compressive total strains and 𝐸0 is the undamaged elasticity of
concrete.
This model uses the yield criterion developed by Lubliner et al. [61] and modified by Lee and
Fenves [62] as given in Equation (18). Change in the yield surface is governed by the hardening
variables 𝜀~𝑝𝑙
𝑡 and 𝜀𝑐 .
~𝑝𝑙
1
𝐹=
1―𝛼
(𝑞 ― 3.𝛼. 𝑝 + 𝛽(𝜀𝑝𝑙) < 𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥 > ― 𝛾 < ― 𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥 > ) ― 𝜎𝑐(𝜀𝑝𝑙𝑐) = 0 (18)
In the above equation, 𝛾 determines shape of loading surface in the deviatoric plane, α is
determined based on the ratio of initial equibiaxial compressive yield stress to initial uniaxial
compressive yield stress, 𝛽(𝜀𝑝𝑙) is calculated based on the ratio between the effective
compressive cohesion strength and the effective tensile cohesion strength, 𝜎𝑚𝑎𝑥 is the maximum
principal effective stress, 𝑝 is the hydrostatic pressure stress and 𝜎𝑐(𝜀𝑝𝑙

𝑐 ) is the effective
compressive cohesion strength.
CDPM uses a nonassociated plastic flow potential. This is based on the Drucker-Prager
hyperbolic function. Flow potential G is calculated using Equation (19).
𝐺= (𝜖𝜎𝑡0tan 𝜓)2 + 𝑞2 ― 𝑝tan 𝜓 (19)
where, 𝜓 is the dilation angle measured in the p-q plane at high confining pressure, 𝜖 is the
eccentricity of the plastic potential surface, 𝑝 is the effective hydrostatic stress and 𝑞 is the Mises
equivalent effective stress and 𝜎𝑡0 is the uniaxial tensile stress at failure.
Fracture energy cracking criterion was used instead of normal stress-strain relation to define
the post failure behavior under tension. This would alleviate the unreasonable mesh sensitivity
issues in the model. Concrete fracture energy was given as a material property and depending
on the tensile yield stress, the cracking displacement where complete loss of strength takes place
is calculated.
It is difficult to calculate all the parameters needed for the material models using experiments
and hence the material parameters recommended were used and some material parameters
were used by trial and error in the mesoscale model.
4.2 Material Models and Parameters for ITZ

As mentioned previously, ITZ was modelled using three different methods in this study. Zero
thickness cohesive elements and cohesive contact between aggregates and mortar use a traction
separation constitutive law and the CDPM was used as the constitutive relation when the ITZ is
modelled using a finite element layer with a small thickness.
Mechanical properties of ITZ is not yet understood completely. ITZ is considered to be formed
mainly due to the wall effect where the packing of smaller cement grains near the larger
aggregate particles resulting in considerable porosity near transition zone[63].
For UHSC, stiffness of ITZ as a fraction of stiffness of mortar matrix is higher compared to the
NSC due to the low water/binder ratio and enhanced usage of supplementary cementitious
materials such as silica fume, nano silica to improve the packing density in UHSC.
It is logical to use CDPM to represent the constitutive behavior of the ITZ because ITZ can be
considered as a mortar fraction with an increased porosity. However, it is a challenging task to
determine the parameters for ITZ due to the difficulty of testing ITZ in macro scale. In general, it
is considered that the ITZ is the weak link in the mesoscale model where fracture initiate [64–
66] and hence researchers have used fractions of material parameters of mortar for the ITZ [29].
For the stiffness value of ITZ, it has been found through nanoindentation testing that this fraction
is approximately 0.7 to 0.85 [67,68]. Li et al. [69] used 0.8 as the fraction for the fracture energy
of ITZ with respect to the fracture energy of mortar and Kim and Al-Rub [25] used a fraction of
0.5. Chen et al. [70] used 0.8 as the fraction for the compressive strength of ITZ compared with
the mortar. It is clear that different researchers have used various fractions to represent the
behavior of ITZ and trial and error method was used to identify the optimum values of these
parameters by comparing the response of the model with the experimental results.
Cohesive contact and cohesive elements were also used to model the ITZ in this study. Cohesive
elements can represent the fracture surfaces using cohesive law [71]. ITZ is a potential cracking
zone where the failure initiate and hence zero thickness cohesive elements are inserted between
the mortar phase and the aggregates. Cohesive element can be considered as an element with
bottom and top face sandwiching a cohesive zone in-between. In this model, triangular mesh
faces of the aggregates are copied and expanded outwards and cohesive zone will be inbetween
these two elements as shown in Figure 10. After expanding the aggregate mesh to define the
cohesive elements, the top surface of the cohesive elements was tied to the mortar part using
surface based tie constraint and the bottom face is sharing the nodes with the aggregate
elements. This contact was defined using the general contact algorithm in Abaqus/Explicit which
uses a penalty contact algorithm as the contact constraint enforcement method. When the tie
constraint was specified mortar surface was assigned a master surface and the cohesive element
surface was assigned as the slave surface. This is due to the fact that the cohesive element
represent the ITZ which is the material with the lower stiffness.
Top Face
Cohesive zone
Bottom Face
Figure 10 Concrete response in uniaxial tension
Penalty contact algorithm is used by default in General contact in Abaqus as the contact
enforcement method. Here, the contact algorithm searches for slave node penetration and
resistant forces are applied to the slave nodes to oppose the penetration. However, in this
contact algorithm, master nodes can penetrate in to slave nodes and this issue can be reduced
by using a sufficiently refined mesh in the slave surface.
In the cohesive contact, regular contact behavior such as normal direction behavior and friction
between surfaces will be activated once the cohesive bond becomes damaged. In the normal
direction, noncohesive pressure-overclosure relationship is in operation when the contact
pressure is positive. Friction between the surfaces will be governed only by the cohesive model
if the cohesive bonding is not damaged in the tangential direction. When the cohesive bonding
starts to damage, the resistance to the tangential motion will be governed by both the cohesive
model and the friction model. When the cohesive bond is fully damaged, resistance to the
tangential motion will be governed by only the friction model. This transition from the damage
of the cohesive bond to the friction is an important dissipative mechanism in cohesive zone
approach [72].
Cohesive elements and cohesive contacts will model the initial loading, the initiation of the
damage and progression of the damage resulting in the failure of the bonded interface.
Constitutive behavior for both the cohesive contact and zero thickness cohesive elements is
based on a traction-separation law as shown in Figure 11. Constitutive behavior represented by
Figure 11 mainly consists of three parts. Those are linear elastic ascending part, peak traction
where the damage initiation occurs and interfacial softening due to damage progression.
This traction-separation law assumes a linear elastic behavior until the peak followed by damage
initiation and damage progression [73]. Elastic behavior is specified using an elasticity matrix
which relates the normal and shear stresses to the separations as given in Equation (20).
{} [
𝑡𝑛 𝐾𝑛𝑛 𝐾𝑛𝑠 𝐾𝑛𝑡 𝛿𝑛
𝒕 = 𝑠 = 𝐾𝑛𝑠 𝐾𝑠𝑠 𝐾𝑠𝑡 𝛿𝑠 = 𝑲𝜹
𝑡
𝑡𝑡 𝐾𝑛𝑡 𝐾𝑠𝑡 𝐾𝑡𝑡 𝛿𝑡 ]{ } (20)
where, 𝒕 is the traction vector containing normal (𝑡𝑛) and shear tractions (𝑡𝑠, 𝑡𝑡), 𝜹 is the
separation vector containing normal (𝛿𝑛) and shear separations (𝛿𝑠, 𝛿𝑡) and 𝑲 is the elasticity
matrix.
Degradation of the cohesive bond can be specified using the damage initiation criteria and the
damage evolution law [74]. Onset of damage is characterized by the damage initiation criterion.
There are several damage initiation criteria and, in this scenario, maximum stress criterion as
specified in Equation (21) was used.
〈𝑡𝑛〉 𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑡
𝑚𝑎𝑥 { 𝑡0𝑛
, , }
𝑡0𝑠 𝑡0𝑡
=1 (21)
In the above equation, 𝑡0𝑛 , and 𝑡0𝑠 , 𝑡0𝑡 represents the peak bond stresses in normal and transverse
directions, respectively and 𝑡𝑛, 𝑡𝑠, 𝑡𝑡 are bond stresses and 〈〉 represents the Macaulay bracket where 〈𝑥〉
{
0 𝑥<0
= 𝑥 𝑥 ≥ 0.
After the damage initiation, damage evolution law will specify the progression of the damage. This will
state how the material/contact stiffness is degraded. A scalar damage variable, D is used to specify the
overall damage of the bond. Damage variable evolves from 0 to 1 where 0 signifies no damage in the
material/contact and 1 signifies complete damage in the material/contact. Stress components are
influenced by the damage variable according to the following equations [75].

𝑡𝑛 = {(1𝑡 ―, 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒
𝑛
𝐷)𝑡 , 𝑡 ≥ 0
𝑛 𝑛
(22)
𝑡𝑠 = (1 ― 𝐷)𝑡𝑠 (23)
𝑡𝑡 = (1 ― 𝐷)𝑡𝑡 (24)
Damage evolution law can be specified using two components. In the first component, fracture
energy due to the failure or separation at the complete failure relative to the separation at the
damage initiation should be specified. Then as the second component, variation of the damage
variable from the initiation of damage to the complete failure should be specified. In this study,
fracture energy was specified as the first component and a linear damage softening was
assumed. Fracture energy is equivalent to the area under the traction-separation plot. When the
damage softening behavior is specified, curve is adjusted so that the area of the curve is equal to
the fracture energy [76].
Figure 11 Traction-Separation behaviour of the cohesive elements/contact
In this scenario, a triangular-traction separation law was used as shown in Figure 11. Some
researchers [77] have used a trapezoidal traction separation behavior in shear to represent the
interface fracture assuming once the peak traction is reached a plateau region will be followed
maintaining the same traction before the interface softening is started. However, it has been
found that interfacial adhesive behavior is mainly dependent on the maximum traction and
dissipation energy [77–79]. Hence, the simplified interfacial traction-separation behavior can
capture the prominent features realistically. When the cohesive law is more complicated, more
parameters and more complex calculations are generally required [78].
4.3 Material Models and Parameters for Aggregates

Aggregates have been modelled as a linear elastic material in NSC assuming that the aggregates
would not be damaged under the applied load [28,30,39,40,44,80–82]. However, this
assumption is not valid for UHSC because the mortar and the ITZ is comparatively strong in UHSC
and the cracks can propagate through the aggregates [83]. Aggregates can be considered as a
frictional material with a pressure dependent yield. CDPM was used as the constitutive law for
the aggregates in this study. Although, CDPM is developed primarily to describe the constitutive
behavior of concrete, it can also be used successfully to describe the behavior of aggregates [84].
Damage parameters proposed by Liu et al. [85] were used in this analysis.
A summary of critical material parameters of the three phases used in the analysis is given in the
Table 1. These parameters are based on experimental results of UHSC by Kristombu Baduge
[86][83].
Table 1 Material Parameters for the three phases
Elastic Compressive Tensile

Phase Poisson’s ratio
Modulus (GPa) strength (MPa) Strength (MPa)
Aggregates 90 0.25 250 13
Mortar 40 0.2 150 6
ITZ 32 0.2 120 4.8
5 NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
Tetrahedral meshing was used to mesh the constituent phases of the model. Proper meshing of
the model is very important to ensure the transfer of stresses between the constituent phases
through the contacts. Also, it is important to generate a good quality mesh to avoid numerical
problems after the post peak behavior of the concrete. In this scenario, Hypermesh was used to
preprocess the mesh before analyzing the model using Abaqus. This significantly enhanced the
quality of the mesh compared with mesh generated using the in-built mesher in Abaqus.
Cylindrical numerical models with a diameter of 50mm and a height of 100mm were created for
the analysis purposes. Analysis was carried out using Abaqus Explicit time integration scheme.
Analysis of the models were carried out using a workstation with 32 core processor and 128 GB
of RAM and the analysis took few hours to complete.
For the uniaxial compression test, a displacement loading was applied to the top surface of the
specimen. Displacement loading rate was controlled to ensure that the analysis was run quasi-
statically. For the simplicity, spherical aggregates are used to analyze the models for the
parametric study.
5.1 Verification of the Numerical Model

Verification of the numerical model was carried out by comparing the uniaxial compressive
behavior of the finite element model with the experimental uniaxial compressive strength stress
strain curve obtained by the authors of this paper, Kristombu Baduge et al. [83] and Wee et al.
[87] . As shown in Figure 12, the experimental uniaxial testing could not obtain the full softening
behaviour of stress-strain curve even though a very low rate of displacement loading was used.
Figure 12 shows the comparison of the numerical and experimental curves. Numerical results
of the model show a good fit with the experimental observations for a concrete with the peak
stress of 120-130 MPa. For this mesoscale model, the material properties and aggregate volume
fractions were used as the same as in the experiments by Kristombu Baduge [83]. Summary of
the critical material parameters used in the model for aggregates and mortar phase are given in
Table 1. However, ITZ was modelled using a cohesive contact for the verification process and a
traction separation law was used. For the peak tensile normal strength 4.8 MPa was used and
stiffness was based on an elastic modulus of 32 MPa as given in Table 1. Damage evolution was
given as a fracture energy criteria with a fracture energy of 120 N/m [88]. Hard pressure-
overclosure relationship was used and a coulomb friction coefficient of 0.7 was used. A concrete
mix design with some similarities to Kristombu Baduge [83] was used by Wee et al.[87] and
hence the stress strain response was used to verify the softening behavior of UHSC of mesoscale
model.
Figure 12 Experimental and Numerical stress strain behaviour for UHSC
The models size used in the simulation is 50mm x 100mm due to restrictions of simulation time
and it should be noted that the specimen size used in the experiments by Wee et al. [87] and
Kristombu Baduge [83] is 100mm x 200mm. However, according to many experimental [89] and
numerical mesoscale modelling simulations [90] carried out to investigate the size effect,
difference of peak load of the stress strain curve is less than 5% and also the ascending part
mainly depends on the elastic modulus which is a material constant and postpeak softening
branch does not have any significant changes due to size effects for cylinders [89]. Hence, these
test results can be used for the verification of the model. This model was verified for the uniaxial
compression by static loading because the analysis would be mainly carried out for uniaxial
compression.
6 Studies on the fracture behavior of UHSC

Typical stress strain curve of a cylindrical specimen under uniaxial loading obtained using the
numerical mesoscale model is shown in Figure 13. Ascending branch of the stress strain curve
is depended on the elastic modulus of the concrete. UHSC has a higher elastic modulus compared
with the NSC. From the stress strain curve, it is evident that UHSC behaves elastically to a great
degree up to the peak stress. Elastic portion can be up to 80-90% of the peak stress [91]. This
behavior differs from the NSC where the ascending part is found to be curvilinear and
approximately 30% of the ascending part is linear. This behavioral difference is a result of the
lower microcrack formation due to the lower porosity present in UHSC as a result of optimum
packing of particles with supplementary cementitious materials [92].

Uniaxial Compressive Strength (MPa)
140
B C
A
120
100
80
60
D
40
20
0
0 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006
Strain
Figure 13 Stress Strain Curve for UHSC – Uniaxial Compression

Elastic portion of the curve is followed by a small part of strain hardening from A to B due to the
formation of micro cracks in concrete. This formation of microcracks is much less compared to
the NSC resulting in comparatively small proportion of strain hardening response in the
ascending branch. Concrete damage under uniaxial compression corresponding to positions A,
B, C and D are shown in Figure 14. DAMAGEC parameter value 0 represents zero degradation
and parameter value 1 represents complete degradation of the material.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
Figure 14 Damage evolution of the concrete specimen under uniaxial compression

(Aggregate Volume fraction 30%, Compressive strength 120-130 MPa)
When the elastic part of the stress strain curve is concluded, the onset of damage will begin.
However, in the hardening part the damage is negligible and can be observed in ITZ. When the
peak is reached microcracks have been coalesced and macro cracks are formed. These macro
cracks can be seen in all the three phases. However, the damage in aggregates in this state is
lower compared with the other two phases. After the peak the fracture propagates very fast
contributing to a brittle failure. When the damage is propagated through the specimen, crack
networks are formed with complex crack bridging and this can be seen clearly using a 3D
mesoscale model. Some of the aggregates in the failure plane will get crushed since failure
surface or macro cracks propagate through aggregates. The failure is explosive in reality and the
gradient of the softening part is steeper for higher compressive strengths. After the brittle
failure, there will be a small residual stress in the model. This residual strength represents the
residual shear strength of the fractured planes of concrete as a result of internal friction.
6.1 Effect of Aggregate volume fraction on the fracture
Effect on aggregate volume fraction on the fracture behavior of UHSC under uniaxial
compression is studied. Cylindrical concrete specimens with coarse aggregate volume fractions
of 20%, 30% and 40% were analyzed using the same uniaxial compressive loading rate.
Aggregate gradation was done according to the Fuller’s curve and this gradation was kept
constant for all the scenarios.
Stress strain curves of the cylindrical specimens with different aggregate volume fractions are
shown in Figure 15. It was found using the simulations that when the aggregate volume fraction
increases, the strength of the specimen decreases. In NSC, uniaxial compressive strength will
increase when the aggregate content is increased. However, in UHSC, compressive strength will
decrease when the aggregate volume fraction is increased beyond the optimum value[93].
Figure 15 Stress-strain curves of specimens with different aggregate volume fractions
From the simulation, it can be seen that when the aggregate volume fraction was increased, peak
stress would reduce. Simulation results are coherent with the results obtained by Tasdemir and
Karihaloo [94]. Lie et al. [95] also found that when inclusion volume fraction was increased in
mortar, the overall strength reduces.

This behavior might be due to the increase of volume fraction of ITZ with the increase of the
aggregate volume fraction. Since, the failure starts from the ITZ, there are higher number of
locations where the failure can start, and the cracks can coalesce comparatively quickly when
the aggregate volume fraction is higher.
a) b) c)
Figure 16
Figure 16 shows the damage behavior of the specimens with different aggregate volume
fractions at peak. It can be seen that in 40% aggregate volume fraction specimen, number of
locations where damage can initiate is higher compared with other two specimens. Also, a higher
residual strength can be seen when the specimen has a higher aggregate volume due to high
internal friction.
Isometric view
Section view
a) b) c)
Figure 16 Damage behaviour of concrete specimens with different aggregate volume
fractions; a) 20 %, b) 30 % c) 40 %
It can be seen from Figure 15 that the elastic modulus at the start is higher for the specimen with
the higher aggregate volume fraction. This is due to the fact that the aggregates have a higher
elastic modulus compared with the mortar and when the volume fraction of the phase with
higher elastic modulus increases, the overall elastic modulus of the composite will increase.
6.2 Effect of Aggregate Shape on Fracture

Three different aggregate types were used to observe the effect of aggregate shape on the
damage behavior of concrete. Meshed aggregate shapes are shown in Figure 17.
Figure 17 Spherical, Ellipsoidal and Polyhedral aggregate meshes
Cross sections of damaged concrete specimens with different aggregate shapes at peak are
shown in Figure 18.
(a) (b) (c)
Figure 18 Cross sections of damaged concrete specimens with different aggregate shapes (a)
Spherical (b) Ellipsoidal (c) Polyhedral
Damage behavior of the specimen with different shape aggregates was found to be similar
overall with the main damage is through an inclined plane. However, there are dissimilarities
between the local damage behavior with polyhedral particles being angular. Due to the angular
nature of the polyhedral particles, stress concentration effects might affect the true local damage
behavior of the finite element model. Also, for a given volume fraction of aggregates, the number
of particles for a polyhedral aggregate shape are higher compared with the spherical aggregate
shapes and also the number of faces of the aggregates are significantly higher compared with the
spherical shaped particles. Hence, there can be instabilities in the contact between the
aggregates and the mortar affecting the simulation. Hence, the use of spherical aggregate shape
for the mesoscale models is giving higher results.
6.3 Effect of ITZ modeling methods on Fracture

ITZ is an important phase which will contribute to the failure significantly. In this study ITZ was
modelled using three methods for the comparison and to identify what could be the best method
to model ITZ in mesoscale numerical models.
Damage behavior of the specimens at peak is shown in Figure 19 with different methods of ITZ
modelling. When ITZ was modelled using a solid finite element layer, ITZ properties as listed in
Table 1 was used. Similar material parameters were used for cohesive elements and cohesive
contacts. In this scenario, material parameters as listed in section 5.1 were used.
a) b) c)
Figure 19 Damage behaviour at peak for different ITZ modelling techniques (a) Solid Finite
Elements (b) Cohesive Contact (c) Cohesive Elements
Damage initiation of all the three methods were observed to be similar. In all three scenarios,
the damage was initiated after yield in the ITZ. However, damage progression was not similar in
the three scenarios. In the specimen where the ITZ was modelled using a finite element layer
with a finite thickness, damage propagation was mainly through the ITZ layer. This is due to the
fact that the finite thickness assigned to the ITZ is not realistic wherein the actual thickness of
the ITZ is 10-50 μm. Also, it was observed that the damage tends to pass around the aggregates
mainly through the finite thickness of the ITZ layer and the damage of the aggregates in this
scenario is minimum as shown in Figure 20. This does not represent the actual behavior of UHSC
fracture where the fracture through the aggregates occur as discussed in the next section.
Figure 20 Damage propagation when ITZ is modelled using finite element layer
Cohesive contacts and the cohesive elements gave similar damage initiation and progression
behavior with the failure plane passing through the aggregates. Aggregate damage for these two
scenarios is shown in Figure 21 .

(a) (b)
Figure 21 Aggregate damage when ITZ is modelled using (a) Cohesive elements (b) Cohesive
contact
Stress-strain curves for these three scenarios are presented in Figure 22. It can be observed that
when ITZ is modelled with cohesive elements, peak stress of the concrete specimen is lower
compared to the other two scenarios even though fracture pattern obtained was realistic
compared with the experimental results. This might be due to the poor-quality cohesive
elements near the boundary of aggregates due to its very small thickness. It could be seen from
the analysis results that some of the inserted cohesive elements have deformed notably
compared with the initial thickness. When the ITZ is represented using solid finite elements, a
higher value for peak stress was observed and a lower value for the residual strength was
observed. When the damage progression of this scenario is observed, it could be seen that the
damage is mainly propagated through the ITZ and mortar as discussed earlier and the
propagated damage in the mortar phase is significantly higher in this scenario compared with
the other two scenarios at a particular time and this might have resulted in the lower residual
strength in this scenario.
When the ITZ is represented using the cohesive contacts, a realistic stress strain curve was
observed, and the fracture behavior of concrete was more similar to the actual fracture
behaviour observed from the experiments. Hence, the representation of ITZ using cohesive
contacts can yield more realistic results compared with cohesive elements and solid finite
elements.
Figure 22 Stress-strain curves for different ITZ modelling techniques
6.4 Fracture through Aggregates

It was clear from the experiments that in high strength concrete, cracks tend to pass through the
aggregates. This phenomenon has been reported in many instances [96–99]. When a crack meets
an aggregate, it can either pass through the aggregates or it can traverse around the aggregates.
Generally, in NSC, when the loading is applied, cracks normally propagate through the weaker
ITZ where the porosity of ITZ is higher. However, in UHSC, the ITZ much thinner and has a higher
strength due to the lower porosity. Due to the thin ITZ present in UHSC, it has a higher bond
strength compared to the NSC and also coalescence of microcracks through ITZ is difficult. In
this scenario, the load transfer between the mortar and aggregates through the ITZ is efficiently
done.
When a crack meets the aggregates, it will propagate through the weakest material which is ITZ
in NSC. Since the strength of the ITZ is higher in UHSC compared with the NSC, a transgranular
fracture can potentially occur if the aggregate has a lower strength than the ITZ [93]. However,
in most instances, very high strength aggregates are used in UHSC mixtures to obtain the
maximum contribution to the composite strength of concrete and to achieve higher elastic
modulus. It has been found that when high strength aggregates like basalt are used, there might
be instances where fracture propagates through the aggregates [83,86,100]. In this scenario, the
strength of the aggregates is much higher than the strength of the mortar and ITZ and fracture
might still propagate through the aggregates. This phenomenon can occur when the stresses
present in aggregates exceed the yield strength of the aggregates while the stress in ITZ has not
exceeded the yield criterion of ITZ. Due to the high strength of the ITZ in UHSC, the cohesive
bond strength between the aggregate and mortar is comparatively higher. When the
displacement loading is applied on to the concrete specimen, there should be a strain
compatibility at the interface between the aggregates and the mortar where no slip is occurred
at the ITZ due to its high strength. In this scenario, the aggregates will attract higher stresses due
to the higher elastic modulus compared with the mortar. Hence, the stresses at different phases
at the same time will determine the failure plane of UHSC and hence the fracture can propagate
through the aggregates even if the strength of the aggregates are much higher than the strength
of the ITZ. This phenomenon was observed as shown in Figure 23 by Kristombu Baduge[83]
where high strength basalt aggregates were used in the UHSC mix. No cracks were visible around
the ITZ.
Figure 23 Aggregate Crushing under Uniaxial Compression [83]

This will contribute to the overall brittle behavior of the UHSC. Since the cracks do not need to
traverse around the aggregates, the fracture energy of UHSC is relatively lower when a
transgranular fracture occurs. Due to these trangranular fractures in UHSC, cracks tend to be
comparatively less tortuous in UHSC.
7 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

3D mesoscale modelling is a powerful tool which can be used to understand the nonlinear
behavior of UHSC concrete under various loading conditions. In this study 3d mesoscale models
were developed with the aim of investigating the fracture and damage behavior of UHSC under
uniaxial compression. For future research, fracture and failure studies of UHSC by inserting
cohesive elements between all the mesh lines using a simple cohesive law [74,76,101] are
recommended.
Following are some of the main conclusions from this study.
 Different aggregate shapes were generated for the mesoscale models and the spherical
particles are simple to generate and using the take and place method realistic aggregate
volume fraction can be achieved.
 More complex intersection checks are needed to generate the ellipsoidal aggregate
shapes and polyhedral aggregate shapes for the analysis and the it takes more time to
generate the required volume fraction of these two aggregate types compared with the
spherical aggregates.
 Transferring geometry to Abaqus from MATLAB can be done using several methods.
Issues could incur due to the imprecise generation of 3D volumes and then the geometry
needs to be repaired before importing in to Abaqus.

 Representative material models need to be selected for the consisting phases and it is
challenging to find precise material parameters and hence some of the parameters need
to be selected using previously reported values in literature.
 ITZ can be modelled using several methods. It was found that the cohesive contacts give
the best representation of ITZ in terms of fracture initiation, propagation and stress strain
behavior compared with zero thickness cohesive elements which gives unrealistic stress-
strain behavior and solid finite elements which gives unrealistic damage progression
 Mesh needs to have a good quality and distorted elements can cause numerical
implications during analysis. To enhance the mesh quality, separate mesh generator can
be used.
 Behavior of UHSC under uniaxial compression can be modelled realistically using the
mesoscale numerical model and the damage behavior can be monitored with the stress
strain curve at different times
 Fracture through aggregates could be seen in the numerical model which is due to the
higher stresses present in aggregates at the same time compared with the ITZ and mortar.
 Damage can initiate in any of the three phases in UHSC in contrast to the normal strength
concrete where the damage initiation is considered to be in ITZ
8 APPENDIX
If the three center coordinates of the ellipsoid are xc, yc, zc lengths of three semi axes are a, b, c
and the three Eulerian angles are α, β, γ, the relationship between coefficients of the geometric
model and nine parameters for an ellipsoid can be specified as following.
Quadratic ellipsoid equation is given by,
𝐹(𝑥,𝑦,𝑧) = 𝐴𝑥2 + 𝐵𝑦2 + 𝐶𝑧2 + 𝐷𝑥𝑦 + 𝐸𝑥𝑧 + 𝐹𝑦𝑧 + 𝐺𝑥 + 𝐻𝑦 + 𝐼𝑧 + 𝐽 ≤ 0
Let
1
𝑑1 = cos 𝛽cos 𝛾
𝑎
1
𝑑2 = cos 𝛽sin 𝛾
𝑎
1
𝑑3 = sin 𝛽
𝑎
𝑑4 = ― 𝑥𝑐𝑑1 ― 𝑦𝑐𝑑2 ― 𝑧𝑐𝑑3
1
𝑒1 = ( ― cos 𝛼sin 𝛾 ― sin 𝛼sin 𝛽cos 𝛾)
𝑏
1
𝑒2 = (cos 𝛼cos 𝛾 ― sin 𝛼sin 𝛽sin 𝛾)
𝑏
1
𝑒3 = (sin 𝛼cos 𝛽)
𝑏
𝑒4 = ― 𝑥𝑐𝑒1 ― 𝑦𝑐𝑒2 ― 𝑧𝑐𝑒3
1
𝑓1 = (sin 𝛼sin 𝛾 ― cos 𝛼sin 𝛽cos 𝛾)
𝑐
1
𝑓2 = ( ― sin 𝛼cos 𝛾 ― cos 𝛼sin 𝛽sin 𝛾)
𝑐
1
𝑓3 = (cos 𝛼cos 𝛽)
𝑐
𝑓4 = ― 𝑥𝑐𝑓1 ― 𝑦𝑐𝑓2 ― 𝑧𝑐𝑓3
Then,
𝐴 = 𝑑12 + 𝑒12 + 𝑓12

𝐵 = 𝑑22 + 𝑒22 + 𝑓22
𝐶 = 𝑑32 + 𝑒32 + 𝑓32
𝐷 = 𝑑1𝑑2 + 𝑒1𝑒2 + 𝑓1𝑓2
𝐸 = 𝑑2𝑑3 + 𝑒2𝑒3 + 𝑓2𝑓3
𝐹 = 𝑑1𝑑3 + 𝑒1𝑒3 + 𝑓1𝑓3
𝐺 = 𝑑1𝑑4 + 𝑒1𝑒4 + 𝑓1𝑓4
𝐻 = 𝑑2𝑑4 + 𝑒2𝑒4 + 𝑓2𝑓4
𝐼 = 𝑑3𝑑4 + 𝑒3𝑒4 + 𝑓3𝑓4
𝐽 = 𝑑42 + 𝑒42 + 𝑓42 ―1
9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
P.S.M Thilakarathna would like to thank The University of Melbourne, Australia for providing
Melbourne Graduate Research Scholarship Award.
10 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
None
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Highlights
 Development and analysis of 3D numerical mesoscale model is presented

 Realistic aggregate geometric shapes and placing algorithms are discussed
 Cohesive contact can be used successfully to model Interfacial Transition Zone
 Transgranular fracture in UHSC can be observed under static uniaxial compression
 Damage can initiate in any of the three phases and subsequently progress
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Understanding fracture mechanism and behaviour of ultra-high strength

Article in Engineering Fracture Mechanics · May 2020

Sadeep Thilakarathna Shanaka Kristombu Baduge

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Understanding fracture mechanism and behaviour of ultra-high strength con-

P.S.M. Thilakarathna, K.S. Kristombu Baduge, P. Mendis, E.R.K

To appear in: Engineering Fracture Mechanics

Received Date: 10 February 2020

© 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

2Department of Civil Engineering, Curtin University, Western Australia, Australia

* - corresponding author email – kasun.kristombu@unimelb.edu.au

constituent phases to the mechanical properties of UHSC cannot be understood using

modelled as a three-phase material which consists of aggregates, mortar and Interfacial

Concrete Damage Plasticity Model; Cohesive elements

characteristics which increase the usage of UHSC in structures [2–4].

the parameters using conventional macro/micro experimental testing methods. Hence, to

these complex phenomena.

Mesoscale modelling of concrete consists of modelling the concrete as a three-phase material

comprehensive modelling of mesoscale UHSC with accurate mesoscale geometries, correct

which have been not addressed properly in previous studies.

2 MESOSCALE MODELLING OF CONCRETE

to be considered as a composite material as shown in Figure 1 to understand how

simulated in mesoscale models and it is a powerful tool to understand the effects of

improve the performance and properties of UHSC.

spring method [13,14] can be categorized under indirect mesoscale models.

Finite Element Method (FEM).

Figure 1 Macro and Mesoscales of concrete

some main focus areas investigated using the mesoscale modelling.

improve the material.

time and cost can be reduced [40].

and macro cracking networks.

3 GEOMETRY GENERATION FOR THE MESOSCALE MODEL

 Placed aggregates should be completely inside the cylinder

 There should not be any overlaps between aggregate particles

should be a coating of mortar in between aggregate particles

a good workability and a good segregation resistance [28].

diameter D is given by Equation (1).

aperture and Dmax is the diameter of the largest aggregate.

given by Equation (2) [38],

3.1 Spherical Aggregates Generation and Placement

coordinates and the radius of the sphere.

Procedure followed for this process is shown in Figure 2.

following condition was checked and satisfied.

the mortar coating.

3.2 Ellipsoidal Aggregates Generation and Placement

three Eulerian angles. However, in the field of computational geometry, an ellipsoid is

represented by XTQX = 0 where X = (x, y, z,1) and

𝐹(𝑥,𝑦,𝑧) = 𝐴𝑥2 + 𝐵𝑦2 + 𝐶𝑧2 + 𝐷𝑥𝑦 + 𝐸𝑥𝑧 + 𝐹𝑦𝑧 + 𝐺𝑥 + 𝐻𝑦 + 𝐼𝑧 + 𝐽 ≤ 0 (4)

parameters for an ellipsoid as given in Appendix 1.

ellipsoid was rotated randomly.

Equation (5) proposed by Unger et al. [39].

segments respectively and P is a random number within 0 and 1.

(6) and (7).

represented using the Equation (8).

corresponding to these three rotations can be specified as following.

Hence, the combined rotation matrix can be specified as,

before the rotation.

the spherical aggregate scenario.

checking is done to check the overlapping.

𝑧)and the quadratic ellipsoid function of Q is 𝐹(𝑥,𝑦,𝑧) , then