Computational Modeling of FRC (2022-09)¶

Concrete is one of the most used materials with a significant environmental impact. Over the past years, numerous attempts have been made to reduce this impact by reducing cement consumption and by improving the performance (e.g., high strength concrete, steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC)). The increase in material performance must be accompanied by better models and design approaches to take full advantage of the potential benefits. This contribution covers various aspects of a model-based design of SFRC structures, aiming to analyze the effect of the fiber design on structural behavior. A discrete fiber and a multi-level model for the analysis of SFRC structures are used to assess the influence of the chosen fiber type, content, and orientation on the structural response. To investigate the influence of the casting process on the resulting fiber orientation and to use this information to predict the crack bridging behavior of the SFRC in the hardened state, a computational simulation of the flow process of fresh FRC, including applications to 3D printing, is performed. Finally, the prospects of applying a multi-level FRC model in conjunction with methods of optimization to design an SFRC tunnel lining segment are discussed. The objective is to reduced the material consumption by minimizing the segment thickness and the fiber content while a constraint ensures that the required failure probability is retained.