Numerical modeling of concrete behavior faces numerous challenges due to its unsymmetric response in compression and tension and due to its quasi-brittle nature at failure. This characterization becomes even more complex at impact loads, where rate effects considerably change concrete properties. To simulate this behavior, a robust algorithm that models fracture in the variational sense will be implemented and a material model that mimics the physics of this behavior will be formulated.

The eigenerosion approach is a numerically efficient and stable realization of the variational eigenfracture scheme. Due to its regularization via the crack neighborhood, localization and mesh dependency are generally avoided. The material description developed in the first GRK 2250 cohort (Project B4), which includes a consistency viscoplastic constitutive formulation in the microplane framework, is suitable to predict a wide range of concrete material characteristics at high loading rates.