Modelling uniaxial compression of concrete specimen with utilization of nonlinear material models inside ANSYS and RFEM

The utilization of nonlinear material models within numerical simulation of response of concrete structures moves the numerical methods closer to the reality. Nevertheless, the use of these models is still not common in the engineering practice. The mistrust may lies in relative complexity of a background theory. The proposed article, which is about modelling of a simple uniaxial compression with 3D brick elements, shows the high accuracy of results obtained by various nonlinear material models in two different computational systems: ANSYS and RFEM. The solution of the uniaxial compression problem is solved both with nonlinear material models based on plasticity and models based on damage theory. The article further shows softening capability of material models implemented in RFEM computational system. The text of the article points to pros and cons of used models and gives basic advices for practical usage.The utilization of nonlinear material models within numerical simulation of response of concrete structures moves the numerical methods closer to the reality. Nevertheless, the use of these models is still not common in the engineering practice. The mistrust may lies in relative complexity of a background theory. The proposed article, which is about modelling of a simple uniaxial compression with 3D brick elements, shows the high accuracy of results obtained by various nonlinear material models in two different computational systems: ANSYS and RFEM. The solution of the uniaxial compression problem is solved both with nonlinear material models based on plasticity and models based on damage theory. The article further shows softening capability of material models implemented in RFEM computational system. The text of the article points to pros and cons of used models and gives basic advices for practical usage.