Garboczi, E.
, Qian, Z.
, Schlangen, E.
and Ye, G.
(2014),
A material model and its application to simulate the composite material structure of mortar and concrete using real-shape particles, Cement and Concrete Research, [online], https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-014-0482-5, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=913229
(Accessed November 21, 2025)
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A material model and its application to simulate the composite material structure of mortar and concrete using real-shape particles
Published
Author(s)
, Zhiwei Qian, Erik Schlangen, Guang Ye
Abstract
The mesostructures of mortar and concrete can be represented by a model consisting of particles (sand, gravel) embedded in a cement paste matrix. Traditionally, spheres have been used to represent aggregates because of their simplicity, although the accuracy of resulting properties when using this shape can be limited when the property contrast between aggregate and matrix is large \citeDouglas1995}. In this paper, a new material model is proposed and implemented, the Anm material model, which can simulate the material structures of mortar and concrete with real-shape aggregates. Compared with other concrete material models, the shape of aggregates is changed from spheres to irregular ones that are either directly or statistically taken from real particles, which is closer to reality. The aggregate particle shape is mathematically represented by a spherical harmonic expansion, where a set of spherical harmonic coefficients is used to describe the irregular shape. The take-and-place parking method is employed to put multiple irregular particles together within a pre-defined empty container, which can be interpreted as a representative volume element of the material structure of concrete. The key enabling part of this parking algorithm is to be able to determine whether two arbitrary particles overlap, as no unphysical overlap is allowed in the resulting simulated mortar/concrete material structure.Citation
Cement and Concrete Research
Volume
49
Pub Type
Journals
Download Paper
Keywords
microstructure, concrete, mortar, spherical harmonic, model, three dimensional
Citation
Issues
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Created November 30, 2014, Updated September 29, 2025