| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/C509102/1 |
| Title: |
Cell-based FE media characterisation (incorporating sub-level Lattice-Boltzmann transport through complex void systems) |
| Principal Investigator: |
Crouch, Professor R |
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| Department: |
Engineering and Computing Sciences |
| Organisation: |
Durham, University of |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 August 2005 |
Ends: |
31 January 2008 |
Value (£): |
286,746
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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The deformation response (that is the stress-strain relationship) of many engineering materials is highly nonlinear. In order to design new structures, analyse existing structures and develop new materials, a full understanding of this behaviour is needed. In a material such as structural concrete (used, for example, in major bridges, dams, tunnel networks, high-rise buildings, off-shore gas and oil platforms and nuclear power plants) this nonlinearity primarily results from the presence of many pre-existing flaws and their growth under increasing load. Stiff aggregate inclusions act as crack arrestors within the softer, porous hardened cement paste (HCP). These particles also provide sites for fracture initiation on the aggregate-paste boundary. The movement of moisture (and change of state from a liquid to a gas, in the form of vapour) within the pore structure of the HCP has a strong and poorly understood influence on the longer term creep of the material under sustained load. By building a highly detailed mathematical representation of a small volume (for example, a 100x100x100mm cube) of this material, it will be possible to include many of the key physical mechanisms that govern the deformation. These processes include the differential expansion of the HCP and the aggregate, gel and capillary water exchange following hydration or de-hydration as a result of temperature changes and the emergence of zones of intense shearing and/or high pore pressure. The resultant simulator will be used to explore the link between damage growth (in the form of sliding and crack opening) and moisture transport (where fractures can increase the fluid permeability by several orders of magnitude). This project aims to build such a model for the first time by using new numerical analysis methods and connecting low-cost computers together to speed-up the task of solving the very large number of equations (more than a thousand million) that characterise the system. This will lead to fresh insights in the deformation behaviour and could provide a valuable tool for the development of moredurable new materials.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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