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Structural Damage Zones Detection by Finite Elements

Conference Paper · September 2018

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Mohammed Lamine Moussaoui

University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene
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 The Fourth International Conference on Fracture Mechanics, FRACT'4
November 26 - 29, 2018, Chlef, Algeria

Structural Damage Zones Detection by Finite Elements

M.L. Moussaoui *
Department of Mechanical construction and Production, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering,
University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene,
B.P 32 El-Alia, Bab Ezzouar, Algiers 16111, Algeria

Abstract: In this study, a potential damaged structure has been analyzed using Ansys finite element
Software which reads in batch mode programming a detailed mesh data file, computes the
transient dynamic structural response and displays the results for each time step iteration for
a selected analysis time range. The material properties matrix of an existing reinforced
concrete specimen is considered in this analysis. This research work Introduces the
reinforced concrete strength for the specific case of an analyzed bridge structure. The
developed formula is a function of the composite volumes fractions. Ideal Von-Mises failure
criterion ellipsoid envelope has been applied to detect overstepped computed stresses values
corresponding to damage cracks zones.
Keywords: Damage zones, Dynamic detection, Finite element method, Mixture of materials,
Reinforced concrete properties

1. Introduction
Monitoring computations and damage detection became important processes in structural design.
An existing reinforced concrete damaged and repaired bridge structure which is subjected to periodic
cracks zones has been selected. The purpose of this analysis is to predict, avoid and detect damage
zones on a future conceived structure. A transient dynamic analysis which determines the dynamic
response of the structure has been performed under the action of general time dependent loads. Several
simulations are considered in this analysis including imposed displacements, earthquakes and / or
wind pressures, various loads, mobile foundations and temperature strain effects in order to quantify
the dynamic loads. The main finite element used in this work is the constant strain -nodes tetrahedron
with three translational degrees of freedom per node. A spring element with the same degrees of
freedom is used to model the Neoprene joint. A new method has been developed to consider the
reinforced concrete as a heterogeneous material in the meshing and solving stages after having
obtained its material properties with the composites mixtures laws , - from two basic materials: steel
and concrete. Because steel is arbitrary located in the concrete structure, an arbitrary mesh tetrahedron
has the same properties as a heterogeneous material like the entire modeled structure. Concrete paste is
also a mixture made of cement, gravels and sands which has known isotropic properties. An important
result in this study is the including of steel effects in the analyzed structure. An equivalent
approximation between these tetrahedral elements has been established as an incomparable method.
The stresses are cyclic and the structure is subjected to a fatigue process implying potential damage
zones. It is proven that greater applied loads can generate failure zones due to the failure probability of
the security margin referred to the Von Mises failure criterion and the material strength. We have used
the tetrahedral element with three translational degrees of freedom per node handling a volumic
deformation. The analysis is achieved on the cracked and repaired Oued Oumazer Bridge located at
Tipaza. However, the study can be applied to any other designed structure. This 3D analysis is
important because it shows the graphical evolution of displacements, strains and stresses which are the
principally results of the iterative structural dynamic response. The reinforcement information allows
getting the volumes proportions for the composite mixtures laws purposes. Structural damping has
been considered in this analysis because of its importance for construction works subjected to self-
damping after each vibrating motion such as dynamic loads or seismic earthquakes in the form of
horizontal and / or vertical vibrations. This work presents an efficient method to locate the damage
with the obtained results when the strength bounds are overstepped. Big data computations and
memory storage are the crucial problem in this analysis work.
____________________________

Corresponding author
E-mail address: mmoussaoui@usthb.dz
 The Fourth International Conference on Fracture Mechanics, FRACT'4
November 26 - 29, 2018, Chlef, Algeria

1. Theoretical developments and numerical computations

The concrete is reinforced with steel bars presented like fibers for the case in which composite
laminates include oriented fibers for each layer and / or some fibers are added to the concrete .
In this work, the steel bars are arbitrary located in the matrix. Furthermore, concrete is
considered by researchers like an isotropic paste. New simulation cases using a novel material
properties formulation have been established. The material properties matrix , -( ) for the
reinforced concrete heterogeneous material is given by the generalized Hooke’s law: * + , -* +.
For which the reinforced concrete data characteristics are calculated with the mixture laws’ equations.
Several failure criteria are available for composite laminates. As the analysis is performed with a
heterogeneous material, one has selected the Von Mises failure criterion using the equivalent stress in
the element and satisfying the condition on the reinforced concrete strength bound: . The
software computes the elastic Von Mises equivalent strain and the Von Mises equivalent stress within
the element for each time step in the transient dynamic process. We have introduced the composite
reinforced concrete strength for the specific constructed bridge structure with the composite mixtures
laws with: ( ) . This equation includes the steel effects in the concrete structure
and is originality in this work of a structural specific case.

Fig. 1. Mesh of bridge model

The computation of principal stresses by Ansys software allows to apply the Von Mises criterion and
to check the reinforced concrete strength. It is important to notice that this is a dynamic analysis which
requires several time steps calculations and the system of equations handles matrices of
degrees of freedom (d.o.f.). Twelve Ansys corresponding batch files for each simulation case have
been carried out. The results like in Fig. 2 shows the graphical evolution of the dynamic solution.

Fig. 2. Sum displacements of model 2.3 in the last set solution

2. Conclusions
In this paper, we have presented a new approach based on dynamic analyses for detecting damage
zones areas at exact locations which correspond to severe loads cases. This analysis has helped us to
master the damage detection concepts by locating the cracks zones at exact of the entire
analyzed structure. It is clearly shown in this analysis that earthquakes and cyclic stresses without
Neoprene can generate sensitive cracks zones.
References
[1] C. Bathias, ( ), Materiaux composites, Dunod.
[2] J.L. Chatelain, B. Guillier, P. Gueguen, J. Frechet, J. Sarrault, ( ), Ambient Vibration Recording
for Single-Station, Array and Building Studies Made Simple, CityShark II, Intern. Journal of
Geosciences , .

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