A methodology for remaining life prediction of concrete structural components accounting for tension softening effect

This paper presents methodologies for remaining life prediction of plain concrete structural components considering tension softening effect. Non-linear fracture mechanics principles (NLFM) have been used for crack growth analysis and remaining life prediction. Various tension softening models such as linear, bi-linear, tri-linear, exponential and power curve have been presented with appropriate expressions. A methodology to account for tension softening effects in the computation of SIF and remaining life prediction of concrete structural components has been presented. The tension softening effects has been represented by using any one of the models mentioned above. Numerical studies have been conducted on three point bending concrete structural component under constant amplitude loading. Remaining life has been predicted for different loading cases and for various tension softening models. The predicted values have been compared with the corresponding experimental observations. It is observed that the predicted life using bi-linear model and power curve model is in close agreement with the experimental values. Parametric studies on remaining life prediction have also been conducted by using modified bilinear model. A suitable value for constant of modified bilinear model is suggested based on parametric studies.