Abstract:
The aim of this project is to develop reliable, theoretically supported, simulation tools for damage processes in quasi-brittle materials at small strains driven by mechanical and transport phenomena. This will be achieved by a critical assessment of the existing continuum models, development and efficient implementation of numerical solvers applicable to non-linear coupled problems, analysis of the related mathematical models as well as deployment of computationally intensive applications to complex civil and geotechnical structures. The unique feature of the project is that all these aspects are approached in an integrated unified framework rather than on an ad-hoc per-problem basis often adopted in engineering simulations.