Full Coupling Between Diffusion and Mechanical Analysis in a Discrete Computational Framework.

Nowadays durability and sustainability are two major priorities in the structural design and numerous models have been developed along these lines in different disciplines. Even though in reality, observed phenomena in concrete structures such as corrosion are the results of multi-physics, most models adopt a single disciplinary approach. Recently, advanced multi-physics computational framework have been proposed and successfully used to model: 1) the mechanical behavior of concrete, including visco-elasticity, long-term behavior, cracking and damage, and hygro-thermal deformations; 2) heat transfer and moisture variation/diffusion associated with environmental exposure and self desiccation; 3) aging that is the evolution of the mechanical and physical material properties. However, the current developed framework is not fully coupled between the mechanical and diffusion model.