Cell Method Analysis of Crack Propagation in Tensioned Concrete Plates

In this study, the problem of finding the complete trajectory of propagation and the limiting load in plates with internal straight cracks is extended to the non-linear field. In particular, results concerning concrete plates in bi-axial tensile loading are shown. The concrete constitutive law adopted for this purpose is monotonic non-decreasing, as following according to previous studies of the author on monotonic mono-axial loading. The analysis is performed in a discrete form, by means of the Cell Method (CM). The aim of this study is both to test the new concrete constitutive law in biaxial tensile load and to verify the applicability of the CM in crack propagation problems for bodies of non-linear material. The discrete analysis allows us to identify the crack initiation without using the stress intensity factors.