XFEM based fracture analysis of single notch reactive powder concrete specimen subjected to three point bending test

Abstract

An extended finite element method (XFEM) for fracture problem within the finite element software ABAQUS is adopted in order to investigate the mechanical properties and fracture behaviour of RPC material. The RPC materials observed are plain RPC of 0% and steel fiber RPC (SFRPC) of 2% volume fraction. Single edge notch three-point bending (TPB) tests of RPC materials are performed. The mechanical properties of RPC with respect to single edge notch TPB test, i.e. tensile stress, CMOD, and fracture energy obtained from experiment are then compared to those obtained from numerical analysis. A good agreement is observed between the experimental and numerical results.