Non planar crack propagation in concrete specimens

This paper presents numerical results related to the fracture of concrete specimens loaded in mode I and mixed mode conditions (eccentrically notched beams). The cohesive crack model is used within the framework of the finite element method. The fictitious crack is assumed to grow perpendicularly to the principal tensile stress. The cracking process is controlled through the mode I fracture energy, which is assumed as a material property. No other energy dissipation phenomena are considered. In this case the crack trajectory is not known a priori and a remeshing technique has to be used (see Carpinteri et al. (1993)). Theoretical results are in good agreement with the experimental data by Garcia-Alvarez et al. (1998).