Introducing fracturing through aggregates in LDPM

We describe simple and practical innovative developments of the Lattice Discrete Particle Model (LDPM) that capture fracturing (failure) through aggregates in concrete. While the original LDPM treats aggregates as rigid bodies that do not fail, for realistic modeling of cracking observed in High Strength Concrete (HSC), the aggregate cracking must be included. We compared the results of our method with the scans of actual cracking and could obtain matching fracturing patterns. Moreover, good fits were found for HSC brittleness when comparing the simulation results with the experimental for models of a three-point bending beam with a notch.