Mesoscale prediction of mechanical properties of concrete

Concrete is an heterogeneous structuralmaterial whose constitutive behaviour is strictly depending on the mechanical properties of the aggregates and the cement paste. Its behaviour is often macroscopically characterised by assigning homogenised mechanical properties. A number of methods are devoted to the prediction of the mechanical properties of the composite material by means of mesoscale analysis. The paper concerns a new numerical modeling of cementitious material. The numerical description of the mesoscale structure is attained by using a random method that allocates at each Gauss point of the finite element discretization of the RVE a specific phase of the mixture: aggregate, cement paste, void. Each phase is characterised by a specific constitutive model. The numerical simulations of cyclic uniaxial compression tests gives the strength and the tangent and secant elastic modulus of the mesoscale homogenised concrete mixture.