Modelling of concrete behaviour with a non-local continuum damage approach

The paper presents FE-results on the behaviour of concrete under plane strain conditions. The material was modelled using a simple isotropic damage continuum model. The model was enriched by non-local terms to avoid a pathological mesh-sensitivity and to obtain a well-posed rate boundary value problem. The constitutive model was used to simulate localization of deformation in 3 benchmark problems: a double-edge notched specimen under uniaxial tension and a notched beam under three- and four-point bending. Attention was laid on the effect of a characteristic length on the load-displacement curves and strain localization. The FE-results were compared with experiments and other numerical studies.