Tensile failure of micro-concrete: from mechanical tests to FE meso-model with the help of X-ray tomography

In this work, concrete is studied at meso-scale (aggregates, macro-pores and mortar matrix), where the local failure mechanisms are known to drive the macroscopic behaviour of the material. In order to highlight the impact of the mechanical and morphological properties of each phase (along with their interfaces), micro-concrete specimens are prepared with rather small dimensions compared to the size of the heterogeneities. X-ray tomography is used to reliably obtain the morphology of the heterogeneous meso-structure, which is then given as an input to a 3D FE meso-model with enhanced discontinuities. A uniaxial tensile numerical simulation is performed as a first application. To validate the numerical model, a uniaxial tensile test of the same micro-concrete specimen is performed inside the X-ray scanner and the in-situ evolution of the micro-structure is followed. Thus, both a direct validation of the model and a valuable insight of the 3D fracture mechanisms while the load progresses are obtained. After identification of the numerical parameters, comparison of experimental and numerical results reveals the capability of the meso-model to reproduce the actual material response (in terms of macroscopic strength, Young’s modulus and fracture patterns), with the explicit representation of the meso-scale heterogeneities being its key feature. To further challenge the meso-model, a new morphology coming from an X-ray scan of another characteristic micro-concrete specimen is introduced and its macroscopic behaviour is computed without a priori numerical identification. Starting from an X-ray scan in meso-scale, it is shown that the 3D meso-model is capable to predict the macroscopic behaviour and the failure patterns of the material.