Modeling and computational homogenization of chloride diffusion in three-phase meso-scale concrete

Journal article, 2021

A computational homogenization technique for modeling diffusion in concrete is introduced with emphasis on the influence of the aggregate content and variability. The highly heterogeneous material is investigated on different scales by combining Variationally Consistent Homogenization on numerical microstructures with analytical techniques accounting for lower, unresolved, length scales. The concrete structure consists of the cement paste, the embedded aggregates, and the Interfacial Transition Zone (ITZ) in between the two. Diffusion takes place in the cement phase, as well as in the ITZ. Since the thickness of the ITZ is, typically, much smaller than the diameter of the aggregates, the effect of the ITZ can be modelled as a surface transport around the aggregates. The occurrence of different aggregate sizes is described via the Particle Size Distribution for given sieve curves, as described in design codes. The Particle Size Distribution curve is split into two parts. The effect of smaller aggregates is homogenized analytically using a mixture rule. This results in an effective matrix material consisting of cement paste and the smaller aggregates. Synthetic structures are then generated numerically to account for the larger aggregates. At first, a dense sphere packing is created based on the Particle Size Distribution. This information is used to generate a weighted Voronoi diagram, which is modified by a shrinking process. This procedure allows us to create periodic Representative Volume Elements for numerical investigations. The overall diffusivity of the concrete mixture is evaluated upon using Variationally Consistent Homogenization, in the context of Finite Element analysis, for the generated RVEs and compared with analytical homogenization results and experimental data. It is found that, depending on the Particle Size Distribution, the ITZ has a large effect on the effective properties.