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Localised corrosion may considerably impair the load‐bearing and deformation capacity of reinforced concrete structures. The Corroded Tension Chord Model allows investigating the related effects. The model combines the effects of tension stiffening and strain localisation due to a local cross‐section loss to calculate the load‐deformation behaviour of tension members and entire structural elements containing locally corroded reinforcing bars on a sound mechanical basis. Based on simple equilibrium considerations, the critical loss of cross‐sectional area is introduced, beyond which most of a reinforcing bar's ductility or a structure's deformation capacity, respectively, is lost. For conventional European reinforcing steel, even small cross‐section losses may be sufficient to impair ductility drastically. Illustrative calculations on structural elements with various spatial corrosion distributions but identical mean cross‐section loss reveal that the load‐deformation behaviour strongly depends on the specific corrosion parameters: Structures with few heavily corroded reinforcing bars seem to be less critical regarding strength and deformation capacity than structures with many slightly corroded reinforcing bars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In this paper, a new approach to applying confining stress to flexible boundaries in the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method is developed to facilitate its applications in geomechanics. Unlike the conventional SPH methods that impose confining boundary conditions by creating extra boundary particles, the proposed approach makes use of kernel truncation properties of SPH approximations that occur naturally at free‐surface boundaries. Therefore, it does not require extra boundary particles and, as a consequence, can be utilised to apply confining stresses onto any boundary with arbitrary geometry without the need for tracking the curvature change during the computation. This enables more complicated problems that involve moving confining boundaries, such as confining triaxial tests, to be simulated in SPH without difficulties. To further enhance SPH applications in elasto‐plastic computations of geomaterials, a robust numerical procedure to implement Mohr‐Coulomb plasticity model in SPH is presented for the first time to avoid difficulties associated with corner singularities in Mohr‐Coulomb model. The proposed approach was first validated against two‐dimensional finite element (FE) solutions for confining biaxial compression tests to demonstrate its predictive capability at small deformation range when FE solutions are still valid. It is then further extended to three‐dimensional conditions and utilised to simulate triaxial compression experiments. Simulation results predicted by SPH show good agreement with experiments, FE solutions, and other numerical results available in the literature. This suggests that the proposed approach of imposing confining stress boundaries is promising and can handle complex problems that involve moving confining boundary conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the impact of preexisting weaknesses on fracture coalescence during volcanic edifice deformation, we triaxially compressed Mount Etna basalt while acquiring in situ dynamic X‐ray microtomograms and calculated the internal strain tensor fields using image correlation. Contraction localization preceded dilation and shear strain localization into the protofault zone. This onset of strain localization preceded macroscopic yielding and coincided with increases in the magnitude and volume of rock experiencing dilation, and spatial clustering of the strain populations. The exploitation of weaknesses by propagating fractures enabled the dominant shear strain to switch senses as propagating fractures lengthened along 30–60° from σ1. Scanning electron microscopy images reveal pore‐emanated fractures, and fractures linking pores. These experiments provide evidence of internal contraction preceding dilation and shear, consistent with inferences from field and laboratory observations. The transition from contraction to dilation may provide a precursory signal of volcanic flank eruption. Plain language summary: Directly observing how rocks break at seismogenic depths in natural settings is at present impossible. Here we used X‐ray imaging techniques to view deforming, and then breaking, basaltic rocks at stress conditions equivalent to the flanks of the upper part of the Mount Etna volcano. We tracked how preexisting weaknesses, including pores and fractures produced during the fast cooling of the lava, controlled the growth and coalescence of new fractures and faults. At 50% of the stress at failure, shear and dilative strains began to concentrate in the volume that eventually developed the largest connected fracture network. The localization of contractive strains preceded this shear and dilation localization. These data sets provide observations of fracture growth within Etna basalt that previous studies could only infer, and thus constraints on how the volcanic edifice deforms under magmatic and tectonic stresses and eventually ruptures in flank eruptions. Key Points: Failure in Etna basalt occurred through contraction localization, and then shear and dilation localization, consistent with geophysical observationsShear and volumetric strain localized into a protofault zone preceding 50% failure stress, and macroscopic yieldingThe precursors to volcanic flank eruptions may include a transition from contraction to dilation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper reappraises Perzyna‐type viscoplasticity for the constitutive modelling of granular geomaterials, with emphasis on the simulation of rate/time effects of different magnitude. An existing elasto‐plastic model for sands is first recast into a Perzyna viscoplastic formulation and then calibrated/validated against laboratory test results on Hostun sand from the literature. Notable model features include (1) enhanced definition of the viscous nucleus function and (2) void ratio dependence of stiffness and viscous parameters, to model the pycnotropic behaviour of granular materials with a single set of parameters, uniquely identified against standard creep and triaxial test results. The comparison between experimental data and numerical simulations points out the predicative capability of the developed model and the complexity of defining a unique viscous nucleus function to capture sand behaviour under different loading/initial/boundary and drainage conditions. It is concluded that the unified viscoplastic simulation of both drained and undrained response is particularly challenging within Perzyna's framework and opens to future research in the area. The discussion presented is relevant, for instance, to the simulation of multiphase strain localisation phenomena, such as those associated to slope stability problems in variably saturated soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: High‐strain zones are potential pathways of melt migration through the crust. However, the identification of melt‐present high‐strain deformation is commonly limited to cases where the interpreted volume of melt “frozen” within the high‐strain zone is high (>10%). In this contribution, we examine high‐strain zones in the Pembroke Granulite, an otherwise low‐strain outcrop of volcanic arc lower crust exposed in Fiordland, New Zealand. These high‐strain zones display compositional layering, flaser‐shaped mineral grains, and closely spaced foliation planes indicative of high‐strain deformation. Asymmetric leucosome surrounding peritectic garnet grains suggest deformation was synchronous with minor amounts of in situ partial melting. High‐strain zones lack typical mylonite microstructures and instead display typical equilibrium microstructures, such as straight grain boundaries, 120° triple junctions, and subhedral grain shapes. We identify five key microstructures indicative of the former presence of melt within the high‐strain zones: (a) small dihedral angles of interstitial phases; (b) elongate interstitial grains; (c) small aggregates of quartz grains with xenomorphic plagioclase grains connected in three dimensions; (d) fine‐grained, K‐feldspar bearing, multiphase aggregates with or without augite rims; and (e) mm‐ to cm‐scale felsic dykelets. Preservation of key microstructures indicates that deformation ceased as conditions crossed the solidus, breaking the positive feedback loop between deformation and the presence of melt. We propose that microstructures indicative of the former presence of melt, such as the five identified above, may be used as a tool for recognising rocks formed during melt‐present high‐strain deformation where low (<5%) volumes of leucosome are “frozen” within the high‐strain zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We pay a revisit to some classical geomechanics problems using a novel computational multiscale modelling approach. The multiscale approach employs a hierarchical coupling of the finite element method (FEM) and the discrete element method. It solves a boundary value problem at the continuum scale by FEM and derives the material point response from the discrete element method simulation attached to each Gauss point of the FEM mesh. The multiscale modelling framework not only helps successfully bypass phenomenological constitutive assumptions as required in conventional modelling approaches but also facilitates effective cross-scale interpretation and understanding of soil behaviour. We examine the classical retaining wall and footing problems by this method and demonstrate that the simulating results can be well validated and verified by their analytical solutions. Furthermore, the study sheds novel multiscale insights into these classical problems and offers a new tool for geotechnical engineers to design and analyse geotechnical applications based directly upon particle-level information of soils. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes investigation results on fracture in notched concrete beams under quasi-static three-point bending by the X-ray micro-computed tomography. The two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional image procedures were used. Attention was paid to width, length, height and shape of cracks along beam depth. In addition, the displacements on the surface of concrete beams during the deformation process were measured with the 2D digital image correlation technique in order to detect strain localisation before a discrete crack occurred. The 2D fracture patterns in beams were numerically simulated with the finite-element method using an isotropic damage constitutive model enhanced by a characteristic length of micro-structure. Concrete was modelled as a random heterogeneous four-phase material composed of aggregate, cement matrix, interfacial transitional zones and air voids. The advantages of the X-ray micro-computed tomography were outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY A hierarchical multiscale framework is proposed to model the mechanical behaviour of granular media. The framework employs a rigorous hierarchical coupling between the FEM and the discrete element method (DEM). To solve a BVP, the FEM is used to discretise the macroscopic geometric domain into an FEM mesh. A DEM assembly with memory of its loading history is embedded at each Gauss integration point of the mesh to serve as the representative volume element (RVE). The DEM assembly receives the global deformation at its Gauss point from the FEM as input boundary conditions and is solved to derive the required constitutive relation at the specific material point to advance the FEM computation. The DEM computation employs simple physically based contact laws in conjunction with Coulomb's friction for interparticle contacts to capture the loading-history dependence and highly nonlinear dissipative response of a granular material. The hierarchical scheme helps to avoid the phenomenological assumptions on constitutive relation in conventional continuum modelling and retains the computational efficiency of FEM in solving large-scale BVPs. The hierarchical structure also makes it ideal for distributed parallel computing to fully unleash its predictive power. Importantly, the framework offers rich information on the particle level with direct link to the macroscopic material response, which helps to shed lights on cross-scale understanding of granular media. The developed framework is first benchmarked by a simulation of single-element drained test and is then applied to the predictions of strain localisation for sand subject to monotonic biaxial compression, as well as the liquefaction and cyclic mobility of sand in cyclic simple shear tests. It is demonstrated that the proposed method may reproduce interesting experimental observations that are otherwise difficult to be captured by conventional FEM or pure DEM simulations, such as the inception of shear band under smooth symmetric boundary conditions, non-coaxial granular response, large dilation and rotation at the edges of shear band and critical state reached within the shear band. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY This article presents the developments of an ongoing research aimed at modelling the influence of fissuring on the behaviour of clays. In particular, it recalls the main results of an extensive laboratory investigation on a fissured bentonite clay from the south of Italy and presents the data of a new investigation on the evolution with shearing of the strain fields developing within the clay, resulting from Digital Image Correlation (DIC). Element test results are analysed in the framework of continuum mechanics and linked to the clay fissuring features, once characterised using the Fissuring IDentity (F-ID) chart. This article compares the bentonite behaviour with that of other fissured clays of different F-IDs, highlighting the common behavioural features. Thereafter, the soil response at the macro level is related to the DIC-derived strain fields evolving within the clay with loading. For this purpose, DIC was successfully used to investigate the deformation processes active in the fissured clay and the sources of the localisation phenomena. DIC is shown to provide indications of the extent to which highly to medium fissured clays element test results can be of use to model the clay behaviour according to continuum mechanics. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work is to analyse the strain fields that take place in several asphalt mixture specimens subjected to compression tests. The grid technique is used for this purpose. The main features of this strain measurement technique are first described. The obtained results are then discussed. They show that very strong heterogeneities take place in the strain fields. They are due to the very different mechanical properties of the constituents. Various testing conditions are also investigated because they directly influence the quality of the measurements and the ability of the grid technique to detect small strain amplitudes with a good spatial resolution, this last feature being crucial here because of the very nature of the material under test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an analytical model based on the concept of strain localisation is proposed for the analysis and prediction of the response of quasi-brittle materials in uniaxial compression tests, such as mortar, plain concrete with different compression strengths, as well as fibre-reinforced concrete. The proposed approach, referred to as Overlapping Crack Model, relies only on a pair of material constitutive laws, in close analogy with the Cohesive Crack Model: a stress-strain relationship describing the pre-peak behaviour of the material and a stress-interpenetration relationship for the description of the post-peak response. In the paper it will be shown how the stress-interpenetration relationship can be deduced from experimental data and how it depends on the compression strength and on the crushing energy of the tested materials. A wide comparison between the stress-displacement curves predicted by the proposed model and those experimentally found in the literature will show the effectiveness of the present approach to capture both stable softening or sharp snap-back post-peak branches by varying the slenderness or the size-scale of thetested samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to propose a method for measuring damage in ductile materials, from its inception to rupture. In the first stage of damage, which occurs before localisation, the usual method for determining damage through the measurement of stiffness variation is used. A damageable elastic-plastic model of the modified Lemaitre/Chaboche type is identified from these tests. An original method is proposed for measuring damage following the initiation of strain localisation. This method is based on a full 3D image correlation analysis using four cameras. The principle of the method consists in identifying the damage through tensile experiments on thin, flat-notched specimens subjected to tensile loading. Speckles are applied on both faces of each specimen in order to follow the strain fields on the two faces at the same time. These two strain fields are digitised simultaneously by two synchronised sets of two digital cameras. This paper shows how this method enables one to identify strain localisation and deduce the evolution of damage directly. Here, the method is developed for 15-5 PH stainless steel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to highlight the advantages of using data supplied by digital image correlation (DIC) and infrared thermography (IRT) to study the thermomechanical behaviour of materials. It describes an experimental procedure for the determination of mechanical energy and heat sources involved locally during a heterogeneous tensile test. This procedure involves two complementary imaging techniques: DIC provides in-plane displacement fields, while IRT enables the temperature distribution at the specimen surface to be monitored. Numerous different application examples are successively proposed to underline the promising potential of this experimental approach. Kinematical assessments can reveal the extent of homogeneity of the deformation state for a given gauge length. They can also help to determine the relevance of the variables and/or material parameters introduced in the behavioural description at the length scale imposed by the spatial resolution of optical systems (typically 0.1 mm). Moreover, infrared and kinematical data can be used to derive heat source fields induced by the specimen loading and then to generate information on the dissipative or coupled nature of the deformation mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]