LAUSR

Abstract Multiscale modelling of damage in cement-based materials is mostly done through a downscale approach and constitutive laws are developed based on quasi-brittleness or cracking process within these materials. However, the microscopic characteristics of each phase in these materials need to be considered in order to accurately predict the durability. This article presents an experimentally-validated multiscale approach to model damage in mortar which takes into account the microscale fracture properties of the cement paste, the grain and the interface in-between them. This numerical study, on the one hand, shows that the failure is significantly dependent on the interface properties between cement paste and sand grains, which should be modelled as a separate phase with different properties than the bulk matrix. On the other hand, this study reveals that sand grain failure and grain size effect are the key phenomena to consider for the precise prediction of damage in the cement-based materials.