Multiscale modeling of carbon nanotube reinforced concrete

The present paper proposes a hierarchical multiscale approach in order to evaluate the nonlinear constitutive behavior of concrete reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs). To this purpose, representative volume elements, consistent to the microstructural topology of the material, are constructed and analyzed using finite elements. As the dimensions of the CNTs and those of a typical mesoscale concrete RVE differ by orders of magnitude, a hierarchical multiscale analysis strategy is implemented to pass information through scales with different RVEs assigned at each scale of separation. Both elastic and inelastic analyses are performed on all scales for various CNT weight fractions, defining a different nonlinear constitutive stress–strain behavior at each scale of separation. It is shown that the proposed computational approach can be used alternatively to corresponding costly experiments in order to accurately evaluate the nonlinear constitutive behavior of such complex materials.