101-0619-00L  Mechanics of Building Materials

SemesterAutumn Semester 2016
LecturersF. Wittel
Periodicitytwo-yearly recurring course
Language of instructionEnglish


AbstractMaterial models comprise our knowledge on the physical behavior of materials. Based on a short introduction to solid mechanics, 3D material laws for elastic, visco-elastic behavior, plasticity and damage mechanics are discussed. We focus on material laws for concrete, metals, wood and other composites, how to obtain parameters from mechanical tests and their application in FEM calculations.
ObjectiveThis introductory course aims to bridge the gap between phenomenological, qualitative comprehension of processes in building materials, their characterization in mechanical testing and the ability to apply those for practical design purposes via constitutive models.

Upon completion of the course you should be able to:

- classify different material behavior (e.g. linear/non-linear elastic, elasto-plastic, creep) with respect to types of constitutive material models (total /incremental strain models, damage / plasticity models, linear visco-elasticity),

- review how incremental strain models (e.g. elasto-plastic) are algorithmically implemented in Finite Element software (UMat of Abaqus),

- formulate the main approach and assumptions to the most import models for building materials and discuss their limitations,

- propose experimental campaigns for obtaining relevant material parameters for non-linear material models.
Content- Introduction to constitutive models for materials
- Fundaments of mechanics of materials
- Cauchy-, hyper- and hypoelastic material descriptions
- Constitutive Models for Concrete (non-linear elastic)
- Introduction to metall and concrete plasticity
- Introduction to ABAQUS UMAT Programming
- Damage continuum mechanics
- Linear visco-elastic materials
Lecture notesWill be provided during the lecture.