Simulation of fracture behavior in seawater and sea-sand mixed recycled coarse aggregate concrete under three-point bending

This paper presents a comprehensive fracture analysis of seawater-mixed concrete containing seasand and recycled concrete coarse aggregate based on the eXtended finite element method. Capable of simulating fracture problems without the need for a conforming mesh, the model was validated using a set of literature experimental results for specimens containing different compositions of the sustainable materials (seawater, seasand, and recycled concrete aggregate) under three-point bending test configurations. A series of parametric studies was then conducted to invesitgate the effects of beam size and notch-to-depth ratio for seawater-mixed specimens containing natural aggregates, followed by another parametric study on the effects of modulus of rupture, total fracture energy, concrete elastic modulus, and Poisson's ratio of the material. The exercise resulted in a total of 32 simulation runs based on which the model presents unique attributes on the fracture behavior of this nonconventional sustainable material whose response has not been simulated previously although its fracture behavior could differ from that of normal concrete.