the effect of the critical strain energy release on propagation of cracks in concrete beams

concrete is one of the most widely used materials in construction industry. many large and important structures such as power plants, bridges, dams and buildings employ concrete as main material. propagation of crack is considered one of the main reasons in failure of concrete structures. the process of formation and crack growth is one of the major and complex issues in concrete, because concrete is a heterogeneous material and different factors such as the construction and curing methods, initial crack length, rate of critical strain energy release, crack width, loading condition, weather conditions and etc. are effective in formation and crack growth. this paper aims to discuss the effect of critical strain energy release ( ) in propagation of initial crack in concrete beams. finite element software abaqus and extended finite element method is used for modeling propagation of initial crack. the results of this study show that increase of critical strain energy release rate in concrete beams with same dimensions causes the increase of maximum failure load and crack mouth opening displacement.