On the capability of the Thick Level Set (TLS) damage model to fit experimental data of size and shape effects

Size and shape effects are important issues in predicting the global response of concrete structures. Small-scale tests performed in laboratory to determine the material properties are not enough to simulate large-scale structures. Many models are used to extrapolate small scale results to large scale simulations, but only few are able to recover size and shape effects. Recently a model of graded damage (TLS) has been proposed and comparison with cohesive zone models shows that this new model contains a new degree of freedom, the length of transition between totally damaged material and undamaged zone (ie the process zone size). In this paper, the capability of the model (TLS) to represent size and shape effects for two recently published experimental campaigns is studied.