Effect of relative humidity on drying-induced damage in concrete

A comparative study of digital image correlation and lattice modelling

Journal article (2020)

Authors

Peng Gao South China University of Technology
Yang Chen South China University of Technology, Guangdong Provincial Academy of Building Research Group Co., Ltd.
Haoliang Huang South China University of Technology, Guangdong Low Carbon Technologies Engineering Center for Building Materials
Zhiwei Qian FEMRIS
E. Schlangen Materials and Environment - CEG
Jiangxiong Wei South China University of Technology, Guangdong Low Carbon Technologies Engineering Center for Building Materials
Qijun Yu Guangdong Low Carbon Technologies Engineering Center for Building Materials, South China University of Technology
Research Group
Materials and Environment (CEG) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2020 Peng Gao, Yang Chen, Haoliang Huang, Zhiwei Qian, E. Schlangen, Jiangxiong Wei, Qijun Yu
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2020.109128
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Published Date

2020

Language

English

Faculty

Civil Engineering & Geosciences

Department

Materials- Mechanics- Management & Design

Research Group

Materials and Environment

Abstract

To assess the effect of relative humidity (RH) on drying-induced damage in concrete, the non-uniform strains and microcracks in concrete under different RH conditions were obtained using the digital image correlation (DIC) technique and lattice fracture model. The simulated non-uniform displacements were consistent with those captured using DIC. A new damage index was proposed by considering all the subsets with equivalent strain larger than the threshold tensile strength. The calculated damage index showed good correlation with the microcracks' total area and indicated that RH equal or lower than 55% could cause relatively high cracking risk. This work provides an attractive method for quantifying drying-induced damage in concrete using the DIC technique.