ISSN 0025-6544, Mechanics of Solids, 2015, Vol. 50, No. 4, pp. 463–472. c  Allerton Press, Inc., 2015. Original Russian Text c  A.A. Bykov, V.P. Matveenko, G.S. Serovaev, I.N. Shardakov, A.P. Shestakov, 2015, published in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Mekhanika Tverdogo Tela, 2015, No. 4, pp. 118–129. Analysis of the Influence of Dynamic Phenomena on the Fracture of a Reinforced Concrete Beam under Quasistatic Loading (Computations and Experiment) A. A. Bykov 1* , V. P. Matveenko 2** , G. S. Serovaev 2*** , I. N. Shardakov 2**** , and A. P. Shestakov 2***** 1 Perm National Research Polytechnic University, Komsomolsky pr. 29, Perm, 614990 Russia 2 Institute of Continuous Media Mechanics, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Akad. Koroleva 1, Perm, 614013 Russia Received May 4, 2015 Abstract—Construction of numerical models which reliably describe the processes of crack forma- tion and development in reinforced concrete permit estimating the bearing capacity and structural strength of any structural element without using expensive full-scale experiments. In the present paper, an example of four-point bending of a rectangular beam is used to consider a finite-element model of concrete fracture. The results obtained by quasistatic calculations and by solving the problem with inertia forces taken into account are compared. The kinetic energy contribution to the total mechanical energy of the system at the crack origination moment, which is greater than 30%, is estimated to justify the expediency of taking the inertia forces into account. The crack distribution characters obtained numerically and observed experimentally are compared. It is shown that the leading role in the evolution of the crack formation process is played by the mechanism of fracture of bonds between the reinforcing elements and the concrete. DOI: 10.3103/S0025654415040123 Keywords: mathematical modeling, reinforced concrete, fracture, crackformation. 1. INTRODUCTION Reinforced concrete is widely used as a structural material because of its high strength properties which are attained due to the effective combination of the rigidity and deformation characteristics of the concrete and steel reinforcement elements. The service life of reinforced concrete structures is mainly determined by the parameters characterizing the appearance of irreversible deformations. The complex character of deformation process evolution in reinforced concrete structures from the initial conservative state to the final critical state is conditioned by special features of the deformation properties of concrete and steel reinforcing elements and by their structural interaction. The scientific literature contains much information [1–5] about the results of experimental studies of the deformation and fracture of reinforced concrete structures. These data were used to formulate the parameters which characterize the admissible levels of working loads. These parameters are reflected in various normative documents. In the scientific literature, the main attention is paid to the mathematical modeling of fracture processes in reinforced concrete structures [9–16]. Numerical realizations of a majority of the proposed mathematical models are based on the finite element method or the boundary element method with the use of some known computer program, for example, ANSYS. One of the first finite-element models was presented in 1967 in [17]. The results of various finite-element approaches to modeling crack formation processes in deformable bodies are compared in [18]. * e-mail: violentharpy@yandex.ru ** e-mail: mvp@icmm.ru *** e-mail: serovaev@icmm.ru) **** e-mail: shardakov@icmm.ru ***** e-mail: shap@icmm.ru 463