Fractura del hormigón: métodos de cálculo numérico

Nowadays Fracture Mechanics methods can be employed in engineering design to prevent concrete fracture. The paper summarizes the state of the art of this subject. First of all the application of Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics to concrete is discussed. Whenever this approximation is no longer applicable, cohesive crack models as well as damage models have been proposed. Cohesive models due to Hillerborg and Bazant are commented, as well as the strain energy theory of damage due to Sih. The paper ends with consideration of analitical, experimental and numerical approaches to fracture constitutive equiations, underlining the new concept of "numerical concrete".