Numerical simulation of fracture of concrete at different loading rates by using the cohesive crack model

This paper presents an implementation of the Cohesive Crack Model using the Strong Discontinuity Approach technique to simulate the fracture of the concrete and other quasi-brittle materials at different strain rates. Since one of the principal applications of this model is to simulate the fracture at high strain rates, it has been programmed as a user subroutine in the commercial explicit finite element solver LS-DYNA. For the validation of the model, in addition to studying the sensitivity to element size, it has been compared with a collection of experimental results, both in quasi-static and dynamic regimes. The results prove the ability of the model to accurately reproduce different parameters, such as load-displacement curves, crack trajectories or fracture mechanisms.