Numerical Simulations of Reinforced Concrete Behaviors Using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

Abstract

In this study, the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code for solid mechanics is extended to simulate the three-dimensional (3-D) behaviors of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. The reinforcing bar is discretized and modeled as a 3-D truss element. To save the total degrees of freedom in the system domain, an implicit representation of the reinforcement is introduced, where the displacements in the reinforcement are interpolated using the displacements of adjacent SPH particles representing the matrix material. An isotropic damage model is introduced to reproduce the concrete damage behaviors. Thereafter, these numerical methods of the SPH, reinforcement model, and the damage model are integrated and validated through simulations of tension stiffening behaviors of a RC member. It is demonstrated that the proposed approach effectively predicts the longitudinal force and strain curve, as well as the multiple cracking behaviors of the RC specimen.