Open Access

ARTICLE

Discrete Numerical Study on Type II Fracture of Partially Detached Concrete Panels in Cold Region

Huayi Zhang¹, Maobin Song², Lei Shen^1,*, Nizar Faisal Alkayem¹, Maosen Cao³

1 College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210024, China
2 Haihe River, Huaihe River and Xiaoqinghe River Basin Water Conservancy Management and Service Center of Shandong Province, Jinan, 250100, China
3 College of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Hohai University, Nanjing, 211100, China

* Corresponding Author: Lei Shen. Email:

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring 2025, 19(1), 55-75. https://doi.org/10.32604/sdhm.2024.052869

Received 17 April 2024; Accepted 29 May 2024; Issue published 15 November 2024

Abstract

The concrete panel of earth-rock dams in cold regions tends to crack due to the combination effect of non-uniform foundation settlement, ice expansion loads, and freeze-thaw damage. In this work, simulations are designed to investigate the effects of freeze-thaw damage degrees on the fracture behavior caused by the partial detachment and ice expansion loads on concrete panels. Results show that the range of detached panels and freeze-thaw damage degree are the dominant factors that affect the overall load-bearing capacity of the panel and the failure cracking modes, whereas the panel slope is a secondary factor. The failure cracking modes are found to be a combination of type II fracture modes, including compression-shear and tension-shear cracking. Besides, with the increase of detachment area and the degree of freezing-thawing damage, the concrete panels are prone to appear bending tension cracks at the bottom and a more serious smeared crack layer at the top.

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Keywords

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