An upscaling method for predicting the behavior of concrete structures under brine attack

Concrete contains layers of complexity and considered as a heterogeneous material, thus assessing the concrete response through multiscale analysis, requires a development of up scaling approach. Concrete being a composite material that contain more than two finely mixed constituents, results a complex modelling procedure. The multiscale approach is achieved by retrieving the macroscopic properties from the cement and mortar scales. The overarching goal of this paper is to apply the Lattice model developed in Delft in order to obtain the compression numerical parameters, required for the evaluation of the Lattice Discrete Particle Model (LDPM) Pore Collapse and Material Compaction parameters. This aim was successfully achieved in the Microlab/Section of Materials and Geosciences, under the co-workers of Prof. Klaas van Breugel, Prof. Erik Schlangen and Dr. Ye Guang. Towards this goal, the specific scientific objective of this paper is to formulate, calibrate, and validate multi- scale models based on the homogenization of a recently developed discrete meso-scale model known as the Lattice Discrete Particle Model (LDPM). Furthermore, in this paper, a multiscale analysis procedure is proposed for modelling concrete structures, in which material properties at the macro scale are retrieved from the components and their geometrical distribution in the micro structure. In addition, we implemented the up-scaling method in order to analyses the stability, longevity, and durability of a concrete wall located at the Dead Sea. The models were calibrated and validated using experimental results and the results looks promising as microscopic calibrated parameters were able to predict accurate macroscopic results.