Damage-plasticity modelling of concrete: Calibration of parameters using separation of fracture energy

This paper presents a method for the calibration of parameters of coupled damage-plasticity models for concrete. The determination procedure uses the experimental fact that during the fracture process in concrete in tension a considerable part of energy dissipation occurs via a plastic frictional mechanism hitherto disregarded in many constitutive models. The procedure developed provides a consistent and rational way of determining the parameters for coupled damage-plasticity models of concrete. We highlight the advantages of the thermodynamic approach that serves as the basis for the constitutive model used here, and give a simple one-dimensional example as an illustration of the calibration process.