NUMERICAL COUPLING BETWEEN DAMAGE AND GAS PERMEABILITY FOR CONCRETE APPLIED ON A 3D SPLITTING TEST

Due to the industrial needs, one of the key issues nowadays is to develop numerical tools that are able to predict the leakage rate through a cracked structure. This paper presents a validation of a numerical modelling of leakage rate through a mortar specimen in a splitting test versus experimental results. The mechanical state of the material is described by means of an enhanced non-local damage model which takes into account the stress state and provides a realistic damage field at failure. Two continuous approaches based on permeability-damage law are considered to study the coupling between the mechanical state of the material and the permeability. The first one lies on coupling the permeability of a crack with the mechanical state by means of the damage variable, and the second one is based on the regularized equivalent strain. Results show that the first approach isn't acceptable in case of discontinuous macrocracking while the second one predict well the permeability in the same case.