Damage Assessment of Geopolymer Aggregate Concrete Using Numerical Modeling

Production of alternative aggregates is an area of study that is contributing to achieve the goal of producing sustainable concrete. However, a thorough understanding of the material is required prior to its application in construction for sustainable practice. While laboratory experiments can facilitate the understanding of new material, it is always challenging to use lab tests for damaged response evaluation and in particular failure assessment of its applications. State-of-art numerical modeling approaches with advanced material modeling can facilitate minimizing those challenges when they are calibrated/benchmarked using measured data. This study investigates for a suitable modeling approach to capture the damage response of a new material (i.e. Geopolymer) based coarse aggregate (GPA) concrete. Modeling was conducted by adopting the standard continuum modelling method. Unconfined strength test was simulated by considering Concrete Damage Plasticity (CDP) model in an explicit platform. Laboratory experiments such as stress-strain tests and compressive strength tests were also performed to calibrate and benchmark the results from the numerical model. The effect of mesh sensitivity has been identified in the outcome of damage prediction for GPA concrete. Results from the verified numerical models have been related to assess the permeability degradation of GPA. Outcomes from the study are important to predict structural/damage response using the new Geopolymer based aggregate concrete and facilitate the evaluation of structural response under loading.