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Cyclic Deterioration of Concrete

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction and Building Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 24225

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Prof. Dr. Ludger Lohaus

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Guest Editor

Institut für Baustoffe, Fakultät für Bauingenieurwesen und Geodäsie, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover, Germany
Interests: high performance concrete; fatigue; load-bearing capacity; microstructure; durability; mix proportion

Dr. Nadja Oneschkow

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Guest Editor

Institut für Baustoffe, Fakultät für Bauingenieurwesen und Geodäsie, Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany
Interests: fatigue; high performance concrete; compressive cyclic loading; deterioration development; damage mechanisms and indicators; analysis and design methods; microstructure

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since its start in 2017, the DFG Priority Program “Cyclic Deterioration of High-Performance Concrete in an Experimental-Virtual Lab” with its 35 principal investigators has gained detailed new insight into the mechanisms and interrelationships of concrete deterioration due to fatigue loading. Furthermore, significant methodological developments in the numerical simulation of concrete behaviour have been and are currently being implemented and coupled with the experimental results gained in the programme.

The present Special Issue intends to provide a forum for all participants in the Priority Program to present the current state within the field of cyclic deterioration of concrete in the experimental-virtual lab to a broad international audience. The aim is to highlight the specific issues of the individual scientific investigations as well as the interdisciplinary cooperation between the fields of building materials and computational mechanics as practiced in the particular projects. Therefore, we invite you to submit an interdisciplinary paper together with your project partners.

With this Special Issue, we hope to present readers an interesting selection of papers highlighting the current state of research on concrete fatigue and its modelling.

Prof. Dr. Ludger Lohaus
Dr. Nadja Oneschkow
Guest Editors

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Keywords

cementitious materials
high performance concrete
fatigue
cyclic deterioration
insights into microstructure
effect of fibers
effects of moisture and temperature
phase field modeling
scale-independent modeling
cycle-jump techniques

Published Papers (12 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2748 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Compressive Fatigue Investigation on High-Strength and Ultra-High-Strength Concrete within the SPP 2020

by Marco Basaldella, Marvin Jentsch, Nadja Oneschkow, Martin Markert and Ludger Lohaus

Materials 2022, 15(11), 3793; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15113793 - 26 May 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1437

Abstract

The influence of the compressive strength of concrete on fatigue resistance has not been investigated thoroughly and contradictory results can be found in the literature. To date, the focus of concrete fatigue research has been on the determination of the numbers of cycles to failure. Concerning the fatigue behaviour of high-strength concrete (HPC) and, especially, ultra-high-strength concrete (UHPC), which is described by damage indicators such as strain and stiffness development, little knowledge is available, as well as with respect to the underlying damage mechanisms. This lack of knowledge has led to uncertainties concerning the treatment of high-strength and ultra-high-strength concretes in the fatigue design rules. This paper aims to decrease the lack of knowledge concerning the fatigue behaviour of concrete compositions characterised by a very high strength. Within the priority programme SPP 2020, one HPC and one UHPC subjected to monotonically increasing and cyclic loading were investigated comparatively in terms of their numbers of cycles to failure, as well as the damage indicators strain and stiffness. The results show that the UHPC reaches a higher stiffness and a higher ultimate strain and strength than the HPC. The fatigue investigations reveal that the UHPC can resist a higher number of cycles to failure than the HPC and the damage indicators show an improved fatigue behaviour of the UHPC compared to the HPC. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cyclic Deterioration of Concrete)

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18 pages, 15086 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Damage Evolution of Steel Fibre-Reinforced High-Performance Concrete in Low-Cycle Flexural Fatigue: Numerical Modeling and Experimental Validation

by Gregor Gebuhr, Mangesh Pise, Steffen Anders, Dominik Brands and Jörg Schröder

Materials 2022, 15(3), 1179; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15031179 - 03 Feb 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1720

Abstract

This contribution aims to analyze the deterioration behaviour of steel fibre-reinforced high-performance concrete (HPC) in both experiments as well as numerical simulations. For this purpose, flexural tensile tests are carried out on beams with different fibre contents and suitable damage indicators are established to describe and calibrate the damage behaviour numerically using a phase-field model approach. In addition to conventional measurement methods, the tests are equipped with acoustic emission sensors in order to obtain a more precise picture of crack evolution by observing acoustic events. It is shown that, in addition to classical damage indicators, such as stiffness degradation and absorbed energy, various acoustic indicators, such as the acoustic energy of individual crack events, can also provide information about the damage progress. For the efficient numerical analysis of the overall material behaviour of fibre-reinforced HPC, a phenomenological material model is developed. The data obtained in the experiments are used to calibrate and validate the numerical model for the simulation of three-point bending beam tests. To verify the efficiency of the presented numerical model, the numerical results are compared with the experimental data, e.g., load-CMOD curves and the degradation of residual stiffness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cyclic Deterioration of Concrete)

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17 pages, 3571 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Moisture Content and Wet Environment on the Fatigue Behaviour of High-Strength Concrete

by Mohamed Abubakar Ali, Christoph Tomann, Fadi Aldakheel, Markus Mahlbacher, Nima Noii, Nadja Oneschkow, Karl-Heinz Drake, Ludger Lohaus, Peter Wriggers and Michael Haist

Materials 2022, 15(3), 1025; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15031025 - 28 Jan 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2239

Abstract

The influence of a wet environment on the fatigue behaviour of high-strength concrete has become more important in recent years with the expansion of offshore wind energy systems. According to the few investigations documented in the literature, the fatigue resistance of specimens submerged in water is significantly lower compared to that of specimens in dry conditions. However, it is still not clear how the wet environment and the moisture content in concrete influence its fatigue behaviour and which damage mechanisms are involved in the deterioration process. Here the results of a joint project are reported, in which the impact of moisture content in concrete on fatigue deterioration are investigated experimentally and numerically. Aside from the number of cycles to failure, the development of stiffness and acoustic emission (AE) hits are analysed as damage inductors and discussed along with results of microstructural investigations to provide insights into the degradation mechanisms. Subsequently, an efficient numeric modelling approach to water-induced fatigue damage is presented. The results of the fatigue tests show an accelerated degradation behaviour with increasing moisture content of the concrete. Further, it was found that the AE hits of specimens submerged in water occur exclusively close to the minimum stress level in contrast to specimens subjected to dry conditions, which means that additional damage mechanisms are acting with increasing moisture content in the concrete. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cyclic Deterioration of Concrete)

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15 pages, 2901 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of Damage Evolution in Concrete under Fatigue Loading by Acoustic Emission and Ultrasonic Testing

by Marc Thiele and Stephan Pirskawetz

Materials 2022, 15(1), 341; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15010341 - 04 Jan 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1748

Abstract

The fatigue process of concrete under compressive cyclic loading is still not completely explored. The corresponding damage processes within the material structure are especially not entirely investigated. The application of acoustic measurement methods enables a better insight into the processes of the fatigue in concrete. Normal strength concrete was investigated under compressive cyclic loading with regard to the fatigue process by using acoustic methods in combination with other nondestructive measurement methods. Acoustic emission and ultrasonic signal measurements were applied together with measurements of strains, elastic modulus, and static strength. It was possible to determine the anisotropic character of the fatigue damage caused by uniaxial loading based on the ultrasonic measurements. Furthermore, it was observed that the fatigue damage seems to consist not exclusively of load parallel oriented crack structures. Rather, crack structures perpendicular to the load as well as local compacting are likely components of the fatigue damage. Additionally, the ultrasonic velocity appears to be a good indicator for fatigue damage beside the elastic modulus. It can be concluded that acoustic methods allow an observation of the fatigue process in concrete and a better understanding, especially in combination with further measurement methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cyclic Deterioration of Concrete)

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15 pages, 4525 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Compressive Fatigue Behaviour of High-Strength Concrete and Mortar: Experimental Investigations and Computational Modelling

by Nadja Oneschkow, Tim Timmermann and Stefan Löhnert

Materials 2022, 15(1), 319; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15010319 - 03 Jan 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1485

Abstract

A high-strength concrete and mortar subjected to compressive fatigue loading were comparatively investigated using experimental and computational techniques. The focus of the investigations was on the influence of the coarse aggregate in high-strength concrete. Accordingly, the fatigue behaviour was analysed experimentally using the macroscopic damage indicators strain, stiffness and acoustic emission hits. The results clearly show differences in the fatigue behaviour between the concrete and the mortar, especially at the lower stress level investigated. The basalt coarse aggregate here improves the fatigue behaviour of the concrete. Indication of a negative effect can be seen at the higher stress level. A finite element approach with a gradient-enhanced equivalent strain-based damage model combined with a fatigue model was used for the computational simulation of the fatigue behaviour. The damage model includes a differentiation between tension and compression. The fatigue model follows the assumption of the reduction in the material strength based on the accumulated gradient-enhanced equivalent strains. A random distribution of spherically shaped basalt aggregates following a given particle size distribution curve is used for the simulation of concrete. The comparison of the experimentally and computationally determined strain developments of the concrete and mortar shows very good agreement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cyclic Deterioration of Concrete)

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19 pages, 4697 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fundamental Investigations of Bond Behaviour of High-Strength Micro Steel Fibres in Ultra-High Performance Concrete under Cyclic Tensile Loading

by Jan-Paul Lanwer, Svenja Höper, Lena Gietz, Ursula Kowalsky, Martin Empelmann and Dieter Dinkler

Materials 2022, 15(1), 120; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15010120 - 24 Dec 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2381

Abstract

The objective of the contribution is to understand the fatigue bond behaviour of brass-coated high-strength micro steel fibres embedded in ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC). The study contains experimental pullout tests with variating parameters like load amplitude, fibre orientation, and fibre-embedded length. The test results show that fibres are generally pulled out of the concrete under monotonic loading and rupture partly under cyclic tensile loading. The maximum tensile stress per fibre is approximately 1176 N/mm², which is approximately one third of the fibre tensile strength (3576 N/mm²). The load-displacement curves under monotonic loading were transformed into a bond stress-slip relationship, which includes the effect of fibre orientation. The highest bond stress occurs for an orientation of 30° by approximately 10 N/mm². Under cyclic loading, no rupture occurs for fibres with an orientation of 90° within 100,000 load changes. Established S/N-curves of 30°- and 45°-inclined fibres do not show fatigue resistance of more than 1,000,000 load cycles for each tested load amplitude. For the simulation of fibre pullout tests with three-dimensional FEM, a model was developed that describes the local debonding between micro steel fibre and the UHPC-matrix and captures the elastic and inelastic stress-deformation behaviour of the interface using plasticity theory and a damage formulation. The model for the bond zone includes transverse pressure-independent composite mechanisms, such as adhesion and micro-interlocking and transverse pressure-induced static and sliding friction. This allows one to represent the interaction of the coupled structures with the bond zone. The progressive cracking in the contact zone and associated effects on the fibre load-bearing capacity are the decisive factors concerning the failure of the bond zone. With the developed model, it is possible to make detailed statements regarding the stress-deformation state along the fibre length. The fatigue process of the fibre-matrix bond with respect to cyclic loading is presented and analysed in the paper. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cyclic Deterioration of Concrete)

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15 pages, 3085 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investigation of the Influence of Moisture Content on Fatigue Behaviour of HPC by Using DMA and XRCT

by Martin Markert, Josef Katzmann, Veit Birtel, Harald Garrecht and Holger Steeb

Materials 2022, 15(1), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15010091 - 23 Dec 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2224

Abstract

High-performance concrete (HPC) is a topic of current research and construction projects, due to its outstanding compressive strength and durability. In particular, its behaviour under high-cycle fatigue loading is the focus of current investigations, to further pave the way to highly challenging long-lasting constructions; e.g., bridges or offshore buildings. In order to investigate the behaviour of HPC with different moisture contents in more detail, a mixture of silica sand and basalt aggregate with a maximum grain size of 8 mm was investigated with three different moisture contents. For this purpose, cyclic compressive fatigue tests at a loading frequency of 10 Hz and different maximum stress levels were performed. The main focus was the moisture influence on the number of cycles to failure and the development of concrete temperature and strain. In a further step, only the mortar matrix was investigated. For this purpose, the mixture was produced without basalt, and the moisture influence was investigated on smaller-sized test specimens using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and X-ray computed tomography (XRCT). It was shown that the moisture content of HPC had a significant influence on the fatigue damage behaviour due to the number of cycles to failure decreasing significantly with increased moisture. In addition, there was also an influence on the temperature development, as well as on the strain development. It was shown that increasing moisture content was associated with an increase in strain development. XRCT scans, in the course of the damage phases, showed an increase in internal cracks, and made their size visible. With the help of DMA as a new research method in the field of concrete research, we were also able to measure damage development related to a decrease in sample stiffness. Both methods, XRCT and DMA, can be listed as nondestructive methods, and thus can complement the known destructive test methods, such as light microscopy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cyclic Deterioration of Concrete)

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17 pages, 9507 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mode II Behavior of High-Strength Concrete under Monotonic, Cyclic and Fatigue Loading

by Henrik Becks and Martin Classen

Materials 2021, 14(24), 7675; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14247675 - 13 Dec 2021

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2042

Abstract

An economically efficient yet safe design of concrete structures under high-cycle fatigue loading is a rather complex task. One of the main reasons is the insufficient understanding of the fatigue damage phenomenology of concrete. A promising hypothesis states that the evolution of fatigue damage in concrete at subcritical load levels is governed by a cumulative measure of shear sliding. To evaluate this hypothesis, an experimental program was developed which systematically investigates the fatigue behavior of high-strength concrete under mode II loading using newly adapted punch through shear tests (PTST). This paper presents the results of monotonic, cyclic, and fatigue shear tests and discusses the effect of shear-compression-interaction and load level with regard to displacement and damage evolution, fracture behavior, and fatigue life. Both, monotonic shear strength and fatigue life under mode II loading strongly depend on the concurrent confinement (compressive) stress in the ligament. However, it appears that the fatigue life is more sensitive to a variation of shear stress range than to a variation of compressive stress in the ligament. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cyclic Deterioration of Concrete)

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19 pages, 5937 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental and Numerical Investigations on High Performance SFRC: Cyclic Tensile Loading and Fatigue

by Niklas Schäfer, Vladislav Gudžulić, Rolf Breitenbücher and Günther Meschke

Materials 2021, 14(24), 7593; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14247593 - 10 Dec 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1854

Abstract

In the present study, the capability of high-strength short steel fibers to control the degradation in high-performance concrete was experimentally examined and numerically simulated. To this end, notched prismatic high-performance concrete specimens with (HPSFRC) and without (HPC) short steel fibers were subjected to static and cyclic tensile tests up to 100,000 cycles. The cyclic tests showed that the rate of strain increase was lower for HPSFRC specimens and that the strain stagnated after around 10,000 cycles, which was not the case with HPC specimens. The microscopic examinations showed that in HPSFRC, a larger number of microcracks developed, but they had a smaller total surface area than the microcracks in the HPC. To further investigate the influence of fibers on the behavior of HPSFRC in the cracked state, displacement-controlled crack opening tests, as well as numerical simulations thereof, were carried out. Experiments have shown, and the numerical simulations have confirmed, that the inclusion of short steel fibers did not significantly affect the ultimate strength; however, it notably increased the post-cracking ductility of the material. Finally, the unloading/reloading behavior was examined, and it was observed that the unloading stiffness was stable even for significant crack openings; however, the hysteresis loops due to unloading/reloading were very small. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cyclic Deterioration of Concrete)

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19 pages, 6182 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of the Behavior of Carbon Short Fiber Reinforced Concrete (CSFRC) Based on a Multi-Sensory Experimental Investigation and a Numerical Multiscale Approach

by Philipp Lauff, Polina Pugacheva, Matthias Rutzen, Ursula Weiß, Oliver Fischer, Dirk Volkmer, Malte A. Peter and Christian U. Grosse

Materials 2021, 14(22), 7005; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14227005 - 19 Nov 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2192

Abstract

Carbon fiber reinforcement used in concrete has become a remarkable alternative to steel fibers. Admixing short fibers to fresh concrete and processing the material with a 3D printer leads to an orientation of fibers and a material with high uniaxial strength properties, which offers an economic use of fibers. To investigate its mechanical behavior, the material is subjected to flexural and tensional tests, combining several measuring techniques. Numerical analysis complements this research. Computed tomography is used with several post-processing algorithms for separating matrix and fibers. This helps to validate fiber alignment and serves as input data for numerical analysis with representative volume elements concatenating real fiber position and orientation with the three-dimensional stress tensor. Flexural and uniaxial tensional tests are performed combining multiple measuring techniques. Next to conventional displacement and strain measuring methods, sound emission analysis, in terms of quantitative event analysis and amplitude appraisal, and also high-resolution digital image correlation accompany the tests. Due to the electrical conductibility of carbon fibers, the material’s resistivity could be measured during testing. All sensors detect the material’s degradation behavior comparably, showing a strain-hardening effect, which results from multiple, yet locally restricted and distributed, microcracks arising in combination with plastic deformation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cyclic Deterioration of Concrete)

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17 pages, 7218 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Discrete Element Modeling and Electron Microscopy Investigation of Fatigue-Induced Microstructural Changes in Ultra-High-Performance Concrete

by Sebastian Rybczynski, Gunnar Schaan, Maksym Dosta, Martin Ritter and Frank Schmidt-Döhl

Materials 2021, 14(21), 6337; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14216337 - 23 Oct 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2013

Abstract

In view of the growing demand for sustainable and lightweight concrete structures, the use of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) is becoming increasingly important. However, fatigue loads occur more frequently in nature than static loads. Despite the impressive mechanical properties of UHPC, a reduced tolerance for cyclic loading is known. For this reason, our paper deals with experimental and numerical investigations regarding the main causes for crack initiation on the meso, micro, and nanoscale. After mechanical fatigue tests, we use both scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to characterize microstructural changes. A new rheological model was developed to apply those changes to the mesoscopic scale. The origins of fatigue damaging can be traced back to a transformation of nanoscale ettringite, resulting in a densification of the surrounding binder matrix. Additionally, a higher content of unhydrated cement clinker in the matrix benefits fatigue resistance. On the mesoscale, stress peaks around aggregate grains expand into the surrounding binder with increasing load cycles and lead to higher degradation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cyclic Deterioration of Concrete)

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17 pages, 6986 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Increasing the Fatigue Resistance of Strain-Hardening Cement-Based Composites (SHCC) by Experimental-Virtual Multi-Scale Material Design

by Dominik Junger, Johannes Storm, Steffen Müller, Michael Kaliske and Viktor Mechtcherine

Materials 2021, 14(19), 5634; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14195634 - 28 Sep 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1413

Abstract

Strain-hardening cement-based composites are a promising class of materials for a wide variety of applications due to their considerable tensile strength and pronounced ductility caused by the development of multiple fine cracks. Nevertheless, the safe use of such composites requires sound knowledge of their mechanical behaviour under different types of loading, particularly under fatigue loading, while considering distinct influences like initial crack width and fibre orientation. To deepen this knowledge, single-fibre pull-out tests on PVA-fibres from a cementitious matrix were carried out to gain information about the micro-mechanical and degradation processes of the fibre. It could be shown that the fibres tend to rupture instead of being pulled out under quasi-static loading. When changing the loading regime to alternating loading, this failure mechanism shifts to pull-out. By varying the experimental parameters such as initial crack width, inclination angle or compressive-force level a clear influence on the fibre’s crack bridging capacity could be observed associated with effects on the degradation processes. Based on the data obtained, a micro-mechanical numerical model was developed to support the assumptions and observations from single-fibre pull-out tests and to enable predictions of the performance of the material on the microscale under cyclic loading. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cyclic Deterioration of Concrete)

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