The Bridged Crack Model for the Analysis of Brittle Matrix Fibrous Composites Under Repeated Bending Loading

In this paper, we present a fracture-mechanics based model, the so-called bridged crack model (Carpinteri, A., 1981, “A Fracture Mechanics Model for Reinforced Concrete Collapse,” Proc. of IABSE Colloquium on Advanced Mechanics of Reinforced Concrete, Delft, I.A.B.S.E., Zürich, pp. 17–30; Carpinteri, A., 1984, “Stability of Fracturing Process in R.C. Beams,” J. Struct. Engng. (A.S.C.E.), 110, pp. 544–558) for the analysis of brittle matrix composites with discontinuous ductile reinforcements under the condition of repeated bending loading. In particular, we address the case of composites with very high number of reinforcements (i.e., fiber-reinforced composites, rather than conventionally reinforced concrete). With this aim, we propose a new iterative procedure and compare it to the algorithm recently proposed by Carpinteri, Spagnoli, and Vantadori (2004, “A Fracture Mechanics Model for a Composite Beam with Multiple Reinforcements Under Cyclic Bending,” Int. J. Solids Struct., 41, pp. 5499–5515), showing the advantages in terms of computational efficiency. Furthermore, we analyze the combined effects of crack length, brittleness number, and fiber number on the cyclic behavior of the composite beam, showing the conditions enhancing the energy dissipation in the composite system. Eventually, we analyze crack propagation and propose, consistently with the model premises, a fracture-mechanics-based crack propagation criterion that allows one to simulate cyclic bending tests under the fixed grip condition.