Accelerating fatigue induced crack propagation modeling in concrete using a time homogenization approach

In this contribution, a time homogenization (TH) scheme is utilized to accelerate the computational simulation of fatigue induced crack propagation in engineering materials, specifically focusing on concrete subjected to cyclic loads.The proposed approach segregates the problem into distinct micro-and macro-time scales, improving computational efficiency by extrapolating internal variables linked to material fatigue.This method, originally applied to multi-scale problems such as tire life cycle analysis, is now adapted to model fatigue induced damage in concrete structures.The model is built on a modified phase-field formulation that considers material degradation due to fatigue and the Representative Crack Element formulation as an energy split.The time homogenization accelerates the simulation by upscaling micro-scale behavior over extended macro-time periods.The model performance has been previously tested against high-fidelity simulations and it has been demonstrated the method's potential to effectively model crack growth under various loading conditions.The novelty of this approach lies in its application of a methodology based on computational homogenization to fracture mechanics.By utilizing this framework, the computational burden is significantly reduced, providing results that approximate high-fidelity simulations with much shorter processing times.In this contribution, the time homogenization scheme is extended to experimental validation, utilizing data from fatigue tests.A comparison between simulation results and experimental observations is presented, demonstrating the method's accuracy in replicating crack growth patterns and fatigue behavior.The results confirm that the time homogenization approach offers a reliable and efficient alternative to traditional methods, particularly in high-cycle fatigue cases, reducing computational time without sacrificing accuracy.