On the Characterization of Strain Hardening Cement-based Materials by Inverse Analysis of Bending Tests

An inverse analyses procedure for determining the mechanical material properties of strain hardening cement-based materials is presented. It allows to determine the uniaxial stressstrain curve up to the material’s localization point on the basis of the results of four-point bending tests. In these tests, the beam curvature is measured and serves as input value for the inverse analysis. An evolutionary optimization algorithm is used. It is demonstrated that the beginning of damage localization in a bending test does not necessarily lead to a decrease of the external load. Results of direct tension tests were used for validating the inverse analysis procedure.