3D visualization of crack propagation in reinforced concrete by means of 3D-printing

Abstract

This paper proposes a new method for visualizing 3D crack propagation in reinforced concrete by means of 3D-printing. Cracks in reinforced concrete are formed from not only external surfaces but also steel surfaces inside the concrete, and propagate intricately in 3D. 3D printing which is suitable for forming 3D geometries is used to visualize 3D crack propagation in reinforced concrete. The propagation of 3D cracks visualized in this study is simulated by using the finite element analysis with a damage model based on fracture mechanics for concrete. First, the formulation is presented for finite element analysis of cracks with the damage model. Then, we present several examples of 3D-printed cracks in reinforced concrete to demonstrate the availability of the proposed visualization method with 3D-printing. These results obtained in this paper offer new insights into the study of fracture behavior of reinforced concrete.