Localized Failure Assessment in Recycled Aggregate Concrete

Abstract

In this work, the discontinuous bifurcation condition is evaluated for Recycled Aggregate Concretes (RAC) in limit states by means of the description of the localization indicator, based on the acoustic or localization tensor. This is performed in the framework of a thermodynamically consistent non-local plasticity for quasi-brittle materials like concrete, based on gradient plasticity and fracture energy homogenization. Explicit solutions for brittle failure conditions are proposed in the form of discontinuous bifurcation and they provide relevant information regarding the variation of the transition point of brittle-ductile failure modes with the recycled aggregate content and confining pressure. Finally, numerical results demonstrate the performance of the localization indicator for different confinement pressures and recycled aggregate contents.