Damage analysis of concrete structures using polynomial wavelets

C.M. Silva
1
, L.M.S.S. Castro

Departamento de Engenharia Civil e Arquitectura, Instituto Superior Tcnico, Avenida Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 7 January 2012
Accepted 13 February 2012
Available online 17 March 2012
Keywords:
Continuum damage mechanics
Non-local integral models
Polynomial wavelets
Hybrid-mixed stress models
Finite elements
Concrete structures
a b s t r a c t
This paper presents and discusses a hybrid-mixed stress nite element model based on the use of poly-
nomial wavelets for the physically non-linear analysis of concrete structures. The effective stress and the
displacement elds in the domain of each element and the displacements on the static boundary are
independently approximated. As none of the fundamental equations is locally enforced a priori, the
hybrid-mixed stress formulation enables the use of a wide range of functions. In the numerical model
reported here, all approximations are dened using complete sets of polynomial wavelets. These bases
present some important features. In one hand, the functions are orthogonal, which is an important issue
when implementing hybrid-mixed stress elements as it ensures high levels of sparsity. On the other hand,
the polynomial wavelet basis is dened through linear combinations of Legendre polynomials. This fact
enables the use of closed-form solutions for the computation of the integrations involved in the denition
of all linear structural operators. A simple isotropic damage model is adopted and a non-local integral for-
mulation where the strain energy release rate is taken as the non-local variable is considered. The numer-
ical model is both incremental and iterative and is solved with a modied NewtonRaphson method that
uses the secant matrix. Classical benchmark tests are chosen to illustrate the use of the model under dis-
cussion and to assess its numerical performance.
2012 Civil-Comp Ltd and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The main goal of this paper is to present and discuss a hybrid-
mixed stress nite element model based on the use of polynomial
wavelets for the physically non-linear analysis of concrete struc-
tures. The hybrid-mixed model used in this work was rst devel-
oped by Freitas et al. [1] during the 1990s. In recent years, this
non-conventional nite element formulation has been extended
to non-linear analysis using isotropic damage models [25].
In [2,6] the hybrid-mixed stress model based on the use of
orthonormal Legendre polynomials [7] is used. The stress and the
displacement elds in the domain of each element and the displace-
ments on the static boundary are independently approximated.
None of the fundamental relations is enforced a priori and all eld
equations are enforced in a weighted residual form, ensuring that
the discrete numerical model embodies all the relevant properties
of the continuum it represents. The Mazars isotropic model [8] is
adopted and a non-local integral formulation where the damage
variable is taken as the non-local variable is considered.
In [9,3] an improved hybrid-mixed stress model is presented
and discussed. The approximation of the stress eld in the domain
is here replaced by the approximation of the effective stress eld.
The isotropic damage models presented by Comi and Perego
[10,11] are now adopted using a non-local integral model. An alter-
native technique based on the denition of an explicit enhanced
gradient model has also been tested [4].
The objective of this paper is to use complete sets of polynomial
wavelets to dene the approximation bases for the effective stress
eld required by the hybrid-mixed stress model presented in [9,3].
This orthogonal wavelet basis, introduced by Frolich and Uhlmann
[12], is dened using a linear combination of Legendre polynomials
where the expansion coefcients are taken as roots of the
Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind. For the approximation
of the displacement elds, both in the domain and on the static
boundary, complete sets of orthonormal Legendre polynomials
are adopted.
This wavelet system has been selected due to the properties it
presents. In one hand, the functions are orthogonal, which is an
important issue when implementing hybrid-mixed stress elements
because it ensures high levels of sparsity in the global governing
system. On the other hand, the polynomial wavelet basis is dened
through linear combinations of Legendre polynomials. This fact en-
ables the use of closed-form solutions for the computation of the
integrations involved in the denition of all linear structural oper-
ators by following the techniques discussed in [13]. Numerical
integration schemes can be fully avoided, with clear advantages
both in terms of accuracy and numerical performance.
0965-9978/$ - see front matter 2012 Civil-Comp Ltd and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.advengsoft.2012.02.009

Corresponding author. Tel.: +351 218418253.

E-mail addresses: cmsilva@civil.ist.utl.pt (C.M. Silva), luis@civil.ist.utl.pt
(L.M.S.S. Castro).
1
Tel.: +351 218418356.
Advances in Engineering Software 50 (2012) 6981
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Because the hybrid-mixed stress model used here is built on a
naturally hierarchical basis, it can be implemented using coarse
meshes of macro-elements, where the renement is achieved by
increasing the degree of the approximation.
The nonlinear behavior of the structural material is modeled
assuming an isotropic continuum damage model. Continuum dam-
age mechanics is an important tool that describes the evolution of
the mechanical properties of the continuum as micro cracking
develops [1417]. In this present paper, the simple isotropic con-
tinuum damage model with only one damage variable introduced
by Comi and Perego [10,18] is considered.
Astrainsoftening material lawis considered in order to be able to
model a structural softening behavior. However, strain softening is
well known to produce strain localization with consequent depen-
dence on the data of the nite element model, as for instance the
mesh and the degree of the approximation functions adopted
[19,20]. To overcome this problem, several regularizationtechniques
are proposed in the literature, in particular nonlocal integral [21,22]
and gradient-enhanced damage formulations [23,24]. Following
[10], the present work adopts a nonlocal integral model where the
strain energy release rate is adopted as the nonlocal variable.
Only static and monotonic loads are considered and small
strains and rotations are assumed. The numerical models are both
incremental and iterative and are solved with a modied Newton
Raphson method that uses the secant matrix.
This paper is organized as follows: the formulation of the prob-
lem and the adopted damage model are presented in Sections 2
and 3. The non-conventional nite element formulation and the
approximation functions are described in Sections 4 and 5. The
numerical examples are shown in Section 6 and nally. Section 7
summarizes the main conclusions and indicates future research
work in this eld
2. Fundamental relations
Consider a domain V limited by the boundary C, referred to a
cartesian coordinate system. The static boundary C
r
(or Neumann
boundary) and the kinematic boundary C
u
(or Dirichlet boundary)
are complementary sub-regions of the boundary C, whereon trac-
tion-resultants and displacements are respectively prescribed.
The body under analysis is assumed to be homogeneous and
isotropic. The model is geometrically linear and only static and
monotonic loads are considered. No viscous, thermal or other
non-mechanical dissipative effects are taken into account.
The fundamental equilibrium equations may be written in a
matrix form as follows:
Dr b 0 in V; 1
Nr t
c
on C
r
;
where D is the differential equilibrium operator. The matrix N con-
tains the components of the unit outward normal vector to the sta-
tic boundary C
r
. The vector r lists the independent components of
the stress tensor. The vector b represents the body force vector in
the domain V and t
c
corresponds to the tractions vector on the static
boundary C
r
.
The compatibility equations may be written in the following
format:
e D

u in V; 2
u

u on C
u
;
where D

is the differential compatibility operator, adjoint of the

differential equilibrium operator D since the model is geometrically
linear. The vector e collects the independent components of the
strain tensor and the vector u lists the independent components
of the displacement eld. The vector

u denotes the prescribed dis-
placements on the boundary C
u
.
The constitutive relation depends on the damage model
adopted, as detailed in Section 3.
3. Non-local damage model
The mechanical behavior of quasi-brittle materials such as con-
crete, is characterised by the development of micro-cracks and
subsequent evolution to localized macro cracking. The Continuum
Damage Mechanics models describe the evolution of the mechan-
ical properties of the continuum as cracking develops. This type of
constitutive models are able to describe, with a continuum ap-
proach, some of the material properties observed in experiments,
such as global softening, stiffness degradation, anisotropy and
development of inelastic deformations [25,16,15,26,17].
In this paper, the simple isotropic continuum damage model
with only one damage variable used e.g. in the works of
[14,10,18] is considered. The main characteristics of this damage
model are summarized in Table 1.
The strain softening behavior is well known to produce strain
localization with consequent dependence on the data of the nite
element model, as for instance the dependence on the mesh and on
the degrees of the approximation functions [19,20]. To overcome
this problem, several regularisation techniques are proposed
in the literature, in particular non-local integral [21,22] and
gradient-enhanced damage formulations [23,24]. Following
Pijaudier-Cabot and Bazant [21], the present work assumes a
non-local approach, where strain energy release rate is adopted
as the non-local variable.
As dened by Pijaudier-Cabot and Bazant in [21], a generic non-
local variable v is computed considering the following weighted
average over the whole domain:
vx
_
V
Wx; svs ds;
where v corresponds to the original local variable and W(x, s) is a
weight function taken here as the normalized Gauss function:
Wx; s
1
W
0
x
exp
kx sk
2
2l
2
_ _
;
W
0
x
_
V
exp
kx sk
2
2l
2
_ _
ds:
The length l in the previous equation is a geometric length, usually
denoted as characteristic length. It works as a localization limiter and
Table 1
Continuum damage model with one scalar variable.
Model 1 [14,10,18]
Damage variable d
Helmholtz free energy density
a
W
1
2
1 de
t
Ee W
in
n
with
W
in
n k1 n

n
i0
n!
i!
ln
i c
1n
_ _
State equations
b
r
@W
@e
1 dEe
v
@W
@n
W
0
in
n
Y
@W
@d

1
2
e
t
Ee
Activation function f Y v Y v
1
2
e
t
Ee v
Evolution laws
c
_
d
@f
@Y
_ c _ c
_
n
@f
@v
_ c _ c
Kuhn Tucker conditions
f 6 0;
_
d P0;
_
df 0
Non-local variable Y
1
2
e
t
Ee
a
n is a scalar internal variable of kinematic nature and variables k, n and c are
material parameters.
b
e, n and d are the state variables and r, v and Y represent the corresponding
associated variables.
c
For this particular damage model, the internal variable n coincides with the
damage variable d.
70 C.M. Silva, L.M.S.S. Castro / Advances in Engineering Software 50 (2012) 6981
regularises the mathematical problem. According to [27], this
length may also be interpreted as a material-dependent parameter
related to the width of the fracture process zone. A normalized
weight function is chosen because the non-local model should be
able to reproduce correctly local uniform elds.
The damage model adopted in this work presents the limitation
of considering the same behavior for the material in prevailing ten-
sion and compression states, which is not realistic for most of the
materials. To overcome this limitation, it is assumed that damage
may only appear and develop if the strain tensor trace is positive,
tre > 0. The constitutive model with the referred assumption is
suitable for studying structures subjected mainly to tension stres-
ses and it is competitive due to its simplicity.
4. Hybrid-mixed stress formulation
The hybrid-mixed stress (HMS) formulation adopted in this
work was for the rst time described by Silva in [3]. Compared
to the original version of the hybrid-mixed stress formulation [1]
the particularity of the new model is that the approximation of
the stress eld r is replaced by the approximation of the effective
stress eld ~ r, dened e.g. by Lemaitre in [14]. The approximations
may be expressed as:
~ r S
v

X in V; 3
u U
v
q
v
in V;
u U
c
q
c
on C
r
;
where the matrices S
v
, U
v
and U
c
collect the approximation
functions and the vectors

X; q
v
and q
c
list the associated weights
(generalized variables). Since the three elds are approximated
independently, it is possible to adopt different degrees of approxi-
mation for each one.
Due to the properties presented by polynomial wavelets, it is
possible to increase the degree of the approximations without hav-
ing any problems in terms of numerical stability. This fact enables
the implementation of highly efcient p-renement procedures, as
it is possible to dene high degree approximations without deteri-
orating the condition number of the global governing system.
While the concrete is linear elastic, the model proposed coin-
cides with the one described by Freitas et al. in [1]. When damage
appears, the models are different since the effective stress and the
stress eld are no longer coincident. In the context of a non-linear
analysis with softening, the main advantage of the proposed ap-
proach when compared to the one described by Freitas et al. [1]
is that the effective stress eld is directly related to the evolution
of damage, since it is comparable to the strain eld, while the
stress eld is not.
The generalized strains, e, body forces, Q
v
, and tractions, Q
c
are
dened by
e
_
S
t
v
dV; Q
v

_
U
t
v
bdV; Q
c

_
U
t
c
t
c
dC
r
; 4
in order to ensure the inner product invariance between the pairs of
dual discrete variables

X; e; q
v
; Q
v
, and (q
c
, Q
c
) and the contin-
uum elds they represent.
1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
0.4
0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4

00
(x)

01
(x)
Scaling functions
1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
wavelet (j=0)

00
(x)
1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
wavelets (j=1)

10
(x)

11
(x)
1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1
2
wavelets (j=2)

20
(x)

21
(x)

22
(x)

23
(x)
Fig. 1. 1D Polynomial wavelets.
C.M. Silva, L.M.S.S. Castro / Advances in Engineering Software 50 (2012) 6981 71
As demonstrated in [9,3,4], using the denition of the effective
stress in the form r ~ r1 d [14] and enforcing the fundamental
equations (Section 2) on average, in the sense of Galerkin, one ob-
tains the following equilibrium equations for the discrete model:
A
t
v
M
v
_ _

X Q
v
in V; 5
A
t
c
M
c
_ _

X Q
c
on C
r
;
where the matrices M
v
, M
c
and A
v
, A
c
are dened as follows:
M
v

_
D

U
v

t
S
v
ddV
_
N

U
v

t
S
v
ddC; M
c

_
U
t
c
NS
v
ddC
r
;
A
v

_
DS
v

t
U
v
dV; A
c

_
NS
v

t
U
c
dC
r
:
6
The compatibility condition in the discrete model (Eq. (7)) may be
obtained integrating by parts the average enforcement of the com-
patibility equation in the domain and then replacing in the resulting
expression the approximations for the displacements (Eq. (3)) [9,3]:
e A
v
q
v
A
c
q
c


e; with

e
_
NS
v

udC
u
: 7
The relation between the independent components of the effective
stress tensor and the strain components can be expressed as [3]:
F~ r; 8
where F is the symmetric non-singular matrix of elastic constants
characterizing a linear reciprocal elastic law.
Introducing the constitutive relation (Section 3) and the gener-
alized strains (Eq. (4)) in Eq. (7), we obtain Eq. (9) that encom-
passes the compatibility and the constitutive relations of the
discrete model:
F

X A
v
q
v
A
c
q
c


e; with F
_
S
t
v
FS
v
dV: 9
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2

00
(x)
00
(y)
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2

00
(x)
01
(y)
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
3
2
1
0
1
2

00
(x)
00
(y)
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2

01
(x)
00
(y)
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2

01
(x)
01
(y)
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5

01
(x)
00
(y)
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
3
2
1
0
1
2

00
(x)
00
(y)
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5

00
(x)
01
(y)
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
2
1
0
1
2
3

00
(x)
00
(y)
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
Fig. 2. 2D Polynomial wavelets.
72 C.M. Silva, L.M.S.S. Castro / Advances in Engineering Software 50 (2012) 6981
Combining Eqs. (5) and (9), one obtains the following solving sys-
tem for each nite element:
F A
v
A
c
A
t
v
M
v
0 0
A
t
c
M
c
0 0
_

_
_

X
q
v
q
c
_

_
_

e
Q
v
Q
c
_

_
_

_
: 10
The governing system of the nite element mesh is assembled by
direct allocation of the contribution of the elementary systems [1].
Because the hybrid-mixed stress nite element model adopted
in this work use macro-element meshes, it is not possible to con-
trol the length of the nonlinear strain localization band through
the nite element mesh, as usually happens in a traditional dis-
placement formulation. Consequently, a more rened mesh must
be chosen to implement the nonlocal integral model. In this work,
the Lobatto points mesh is used for this purpose. Since the hybrid-
mixed stress model requires the knowledge of the damage evolu-
tion on the boundary, the Lobatto quadrature rule is used instead
of the usual Gauss quadrature rule. In order to capture the strain
localization band, it is necessary to ensure that a convenient num-
ber of Lobatto control points lie inside the process zone, so the
number of control points must be large.
The algorithm used in the solution of the non-linear governing
system follows a secant NewtonRaphson method. At load step j
the iterative algorithm can be described by the following steps:
(1) Initialize the variables by setting v
0
= v
(j1)
(2) Error = 10 tol and iter = 1
(3) while Error > tol
(a) iter = iter + 1
(b) computation of the non-local variable at each Lobatto
point;
(c) validation of the Kuhn-Tucker conditions (see Table 1) in
order to dene the new values for the damage variable;
(d) computation of the secant matrix, A;
(e) computation of the residual vector, R;
bar 20mm
500
250 250
110 250 230
pk No.4
b=100mm
210 20 20
0
0
5
0
5
2
0
5
2
0
0
2
0
8
2
pk No.1
22 226
100
pk No.3
i
f
u
g
A
e
r
0
2
pk No.2
dimensions in [mm]
figure A
Fig. 3. L-shaped plate: experimental device [28].
Fig. 4. L-shaped plate: nite element meshes.
Table 2
Discretizations used in the analysis of the L-shaped plate.
Disc. n
elem
j p
L
n
dof
A 3 1 3 389
B 3 2 7 1449
C 10 1 3 1262
D 10 2 7 4094
C.M. Silva, L.M.S.S. Castro / Advances in Engineering Software 50 (2012) 6981 73
(a) Discretization A (b) Discretization B
(c) Discretization C (d) Discretization D
Fig. 5. Damage distribution obtained for u 0:75 mm.
(a) Discretization A (b) Discretization B
(c) Discretization C (d) Discretization D
Fig. 6. ~ ryy effective stress distribution obtained for u 0:75 mm.
74 C.M. Silva, L.M.S.S. Castro / Advances in Engineering Software 50 (2012) 6981
(f) solution of the system ADsol = R;
(g) update the value for the generalized variables,
sol
iter
= sol
iter1
+ Dsol;
(h) computation of the new value for the controlling
parameter, Error;
(4) store the nal value for the generalized variables,
v
(j)
= v
iter
.
The secant operator A corresponds to the matrix presented in
Eq. (10). The solution vector v collects the generalized effective
stress parameters,

X, and the generalized domain and static
boundary displacement variables, q
v
and q
c
. The residual vector
R is dened according to Eq. (10).
5. Polynomial wavelets
The orthogonal polynomial wavelet systems are based on the
denition of linear combinations of Legendre polynomials and
were introduced by Frolich and Uhlmann [12]. The roots of the
Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind are used to obtain
the corresponding expansion coefcients. The details concerning
(a) Comparison with experimental data
(b) Comparison with other numerical tools
(c) Solutions obtained with all tested discretizations
Fig. 7. Reaction (N)prescribed displacement (mm) diagrams.
(a) Comparison with experimental data
(b) Comparison with other numerical tools
(c) Solutions obtained with all tested discretizations
Fig. 8. Reaction (N)horizontal displacement (mm) diagrams.
C.M. Silva, L.M.S.S. Castro / Advances in Engineering Software 50 (2012) 6981 75
Fig. 9. Damage evolution.
Fig. 10. ~ ryy Effective stress distribution evolution.
76 C.M. Silva, L.M.S.S. Castro / Advances in Engineering Software 50 (2012) 6981
the construction of these systems of wavelets are presented in
[12].
The scaling functions, /
ji
(x), and the wavelets, w
ji
(x), are dened
by:
/
ji
x C
U
ji

2
j
k0
U
k
y
2
j
1
i
_ _

k
1
2
_
L
k
x; 11
with j = 0, 1, . . ., i = 0, . . . , 2
j
, and by:
w
ji
x C
W
ji

2
j1
k2
j
1
U
k
y
2
j

i
_ _

k
1
2
_
L
k
x; 12
with j = 0, 1, . . . , i = 0, . . . , 2
j1
.
In Eqs. (11) and (12), L
k
(x) and U
k
(x) represent the orthogonal
Legendre polynomials and the Chebyshev polynomials of the sec-
ond kind, respectively. The Legendre polynomials can be given by
the recursive expression:
L
k1
x
2k 1
k 1
xL
k
x
k
k 1
L
k1
x; 13
with L
0
(x) = 1 and L
1
(x) = x.
The Chebyshev polynomials of second kind are given by:
U
k1
x 2xU
k
x U
k1
x; 14
with U
0
(x) = 1 and U
1
(x) = 2x.
The support of both scaling functions and wavelets is given
by:
supp/
ji
x suppw
ji
x 1; 1: 15
The parameters y
n
i
used in Eqs. (11) and (12) correspond to the
zeros of the nth order Chebyshev polynomial of the second kind
and are given by:
y
n
i
cos
i 1p
n 1
_ _
; i 0; . . . ; n 1 16
(a) (b)
Fig. 11. Hassanzadehs test [30]: (a) geometry and (b) adopted nite element meshes.
Table 3
Discretizations used in the analysis of the Hassanzadeh test.
Disc. n
elem
j p
L
n
dof
A 7 1 3 877
B 7 2 7 2853
C 13 1 3 1631
D 13 2 7 5303
(a) Solutions obtained with all tested discretizations
(b) Comparison with other numerical tools and
experimental data
Fig. 12. Hassanzadehs test: reaction (N)prescribed displacement (mm) diagrams.
C.M. Silva, L.M.S.S. Castro / Advances in Engineering Software 50 (2012) 6981 77
The expansion coefcients C
U
ji
and C
W
ji
are dened by:
C
U
ji

2
2
j
2

sin
i 1p
2
j
2
_ _
17
C
W
ji

2
2
j
1

sin
i 1p
2
j
1
_ _
18
An unconditional orthogonal basis for L
2
([1, 1]) is dened by the
following set of functions:
f/
00
x; /
01
x; fw
ji
xg
j0;1;...;j
max
i0;2
j
1
g 19
According to (19), 2
j
wavelets are dened at a given level of resolu-
tion, j. It is not difcult to demonstrate that the total number of
functions in the basis dened by (19) is given by n
f
2
j
max
1
1.
Polynomials with a degree up to 2
j
max
1
are exactly represented
using that basis.
The scaling functions /
00
(x) and /
01
(x) and the wavelets with
renement levels ranging from j = 0 to j = 2 are represented in
Fig. 1.
Tensor products involving one-dimensional bases in each coor-
dinate direction lead to the construction of polynomial wavelet
bases for 2D domains. Fig. 2 presents the nine 2D functions dened
at renement level j = 0.
6. Numerical tests
6.1. Analysis of an L-shaped plate
Let us consider the L-shaped concrete plate presented in Fig. 3.
The thickness of the plate is 100 mm and an upward vertical dis-
placement, u, at the lowest right corner is prescribed. The experi-
mental results and the solutions obtained with several numerical
simulations are presented in [28,29].
The available experimental data are the Young modulus
E = 25,850 MPa, the Poisson coefcient, m = 0.18 and the maximum
strength in tension, f
t
= 2.70 MPa. The remaining material parame-
ters are dened in order to minimize the differences between the
experimental and numerical load-prescribed displacement dia-
grams. According to [29], the following values have been assumed:
n = 9.5, k = 1.1 10
11
MPa, c = 270 and l = 11 mm.
A plane stress behavior is considered and the vertical displace-
ment at edge A is prescribed. The two nite element meshes pre-
sented in Fig. 4 have been considered. For each mesh, two
different discretizations have been adopted. The rst uses polyno-
mial wavelets with resolution level j = 1 to dene the effective
stress eld approximation in the domain of each nite element
and Legendre polynomials of degree p
L
= 3 to approximate the dis-
placement elds, both in the domain and on the static boundary.
The second discretization considers polynomial wavelets with res-
olution level given by j = 2 to approximate the effective stress elds
and Legendre polynomials up to degree p
L
= 7 to approximate all
displacement elds.
Table 2 lists the main characteristics of these different discreti-
zations, namely the number of element in the nite element mesh,
n
elem
, and the total number of degrees of freedom, n
dof
. In all cases,
a (20 20) Lobatto mesh points is used.
Fig. 5 presents the damage distribution obtained by each tested
discretization for a prescribed vertical displacement given by
u 0:75 mm. In the rst {second} row, the results obtained with
the three {10} element mesh are plotted. The results obtained with
resolution level j = 1{j = 2} are presented in the rst{second} col-
umn. It is possible to observe that solutions obtained with the low-
est levels of resolution (Discretizations A and C) are associated
with less accurate damage distributions. In these cases, damage
appears in regions where it is not supposed to exist, namely along
the boundary between elements 2 and 3 (Discretization A) and
along the plate boundary (Discretization B). The same conclusion
can be extracted from the analysis of the ~ r
yy
effective stress
distributions presented in Fig. 6.
In Fig. 7a the reactionprescribed displacement diagram ob-
tained with Discretization D is compared with the set of
experimental curves reported in the literature and referred in
Fig. 13. Final damage distribution obtained for u 0:04 mm.
78 C.M. Silva, L.M.S.S. Castro / Advances in Engineering Software 50 (2012) 6981
[29]. It can be veried that the numerical solution is able to capture
the observed global behavior of the structure. Fig. 7b compares the
solution obtained with Discretization D with the numerical solu-
tion provided by the use of a hybrid-mixed stress model based
on the use of orthonormal Legendre polynomials as approximation
functions [29]. The slight difference existing between both curves
may be explained by the fact that in the analysis reported in this
paper the vertical displacement is prescribed along the complete
right edge of the plate while in the simulation presented in [29]
a point prescribed displacement load has been considered. The
reactionprescribed displacement diagrams obtained with all
tested discretizations are presented in Fig. 7c. The solutions are
consistently rened by increasing the number of elements in the
mesh or by increasing the renement level of the functions used
to dene the approximation bases.
Fig. 8 presents the evolution for the horizontal displacement at
the upper left corner of the structure. The numerical response is
stiffer than the experimental behavior at the beginning of the load-
ing procedure. This type of behavior is also observed in other
numerical simulations and can be justied by the fact that the
numerical simulation does not take into account the rotational
stiffness of the steel device that embraces the L-shaped concrete
structure.
Fig. 9 presents the damage distribution obtained with Discreti-
zation D for the following loading steps: u 0:125 mm ,
u 0:25 mm , u 0:50 mm and u 1:00 mm. The corresponding
~ r
yy
effective stress distributions are presented in Fig. 10.
6.2. Hassanzadeh test
The second test presented in this paper corresponds to the
numerical simulation of the Hassanzadehs experiment [30], illus-
trated in Fig. 11a. This numerical test has been used by several
authors [31,11,10] to assess the behavior of concrete in prevailing
tension mechanisms. Due to the geometry and to the applied load,
only the tension mechanism is activated through the loading his-
tory. In this paper, the numerical results obtained with the pro-
posed model are compared with the experimental results of
Hassanzadeh [30] and with the numerical results presented in ref-
erence [10].
Following Comi and Perego [10], a two-dimensional analysis is
performed and the total vertical reaction is computed in order to
take into account the three dimensionality of the problem. The
structure is analyzed as a strain plane problem using both meshes
shown in Fig. 11b. The symmetry of the problem is not considered
in order to conrm if the model simulates this property correctly.
The material parameters of the damage model are n = 12,
k = 5.8 10
14
MPa, c = 405, l = 1.6 mm, E = 36 GPa and m = 0.15.
Table 3 lists the main characteristics of the discretizations con-
sidered in the analysis of the Hassanzadeh problem, namely the
Fig. 14. Hassanzadehs test: damage distribution evolution.
C.M. Silva, L.M.S.S. Castro / Advances in Engineering Software 50 (2012) 6981 79
number of element in the nite element mesh, n
elem
, and the total
number of degrees of freedom, n
dof
. In all cases, a (20 20) Lobatto
mesh points is used. As before, two different discretizations have
been adopted for each mesh. The rst uses polynomial wavelets
with resolution level j = 1 to dene the effective stress eld
approximation in the domain and Legendre polynomials up to de-
gree p
L
= 3 to approximate the displacement elds, both in the do-
main and on the static boundary. The second discretization
considers polynomial wavelets with resolution level given by
j = 2 to approximate the effective stress elds and Legendre poly-
nomials up to degree p
L
= 7 to approximate all displacement elds.
Fig. 12a presents the reactiondisplacement diagrams obtained
with the different tested discretizations. Except for the case of Dis-
cretization A, all the remaining solutions are quite similar. This fact
illustrates the objectivity of the numerical solutions obtained and
proves that the non-local integral regularization scheme being
adopted is working properly.
Fig. 12b compares the reactiondisplacement diagram obtained
with Discretization D with the experimental results obtained by
Hassanzadeh [30]. It can be easily veried that both the numerical
and the experimental solutions are similar. The bump experimen-
tally observed in the softening branch is due to rotational instabil-
ity and therefore is not present in the numerical simulations. The
same gure presents the reactiondisplacement curves obtained
by Comi and Perego using classical nite elements [10] and by Sil-
va [29] using a hybrid-mixed stress nite element model based on
the use of Legendre polynomials as approximation functions. In
this last case, a total of 1153 have been considered in the analysis.
It is possible to state that all numerical models provide quite sim-
ilar and accurate results.
The nal damage distribution obtained with each tested dis-
cretization is presented in Fig. 13. With Discretization A it is not
possible to obtain an accurate nal damage distribution. This fact
indicates that with this number of nite elements the renement
level considered is not able to ensure the computation of adequate
solutions, especially at the nal stages of the loading procedure.
This can be overcome by increasing the number of elements in
the mesh or by increasing the renement level. Both renement
approaches proved to work as expected, as Discretizations B and
C provided accurate nal damage distributions.
For the solution obtained with Discretization D, Fig. 14 presents
the damage distribution evolution for different values of the pre-
scribed displacement. As expected, the damage rst appears near
the re-entrant corners and then evolves localizing the damage
around the fracture zone.
7. Conclusions
The hybrid-mixed stress model based on the use of polynomial
wavelets proved to be a stable and robust numerical technique for
the physically non-linear analysis of concrete structures using con-
tinuum damage mechanics. From the numerical tests reported in
this paper, it is possible to conclude that when using polynomial
wavelets to dene the approximation bases for the effective stress
elds the use of the lowest level of resolution, j = 1, is not
recommended.
In all performed numerical tests, the quality of the solutions
does not depend on the nite element mesh orientation (mesh
bias). This behavior results mainly from the use of macroelement
meshes associated with the implementation of highly effective p-
renement procedures. As discussed in [32], this type of phenom-
ena may inuence the quality of the results provided by the classi-
cal FEM computations.
The potential associated with the use of polynomial wavelet
basis is not completely explored as only uniform renement
was taken into account. This means that all wavelets at all levels
of resolution with j 6 j
max
are considered in the basis. To fully
exploit the properties of wavelet systems, adaptive algorithms
based on non-uniform renement procedures should be
implemented. In these cases, only the wavelets located near
the regions where the detail is important are necessary to
include in the approximation basis. The implementation of
such adaptive algorithms is one of the main objectives for the
future.
Acknowledgements
This research work corresponds to part of the activities of the
Mechanics, Modeling and Analysis of Structures Group of Instituto
de Engenharia de Estruturas, Territrio e Construo, ICIST. It has
been supported by Fundao para a Cincia e Tecnologia as part
of research Program PTDC/ECM/71519/2006.
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