Mechanical modeling of asr strain: an enhanced constitutive model

Abstract

Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is a major cause of deterioration of concrete infrastructures and structures worldwide, such as dams and building’s foundations, where the chemical features of cement and aggregates constitute a reactive combination and moisture is abundant. Among the several existing models devised for this complex phenomenon, Saouma & Perotti’s thermo-chemo-mechanical coupled approach can be adapted for application in a solely mechanical manner, ready for practical estimation of the behavior of ASR affected elements by means of Finite Element Analysis packages. In this research, an enhancement of that model is developed in a semi-empirical way from the original one and tested against some well-known literature samples. This modified model has produced a higher correlation coefficient in such tests than the original unenhanced one and poses a viable tool for field practice calculations. In order to illustrate the applicability of the model in a structural engineering problem, a pile cap foundation was modeled under service loading conditions and, the pertaining analysis results discussed from a preventive design for ASR perspective.