Numerical modelling of the flow of self-consolidating engineered cementitious composites using smoothed particle hydrodynamics

In this paper, a numerical method is developed to simulate the flow of self-consolidating engineered cementitious composites (SC-ECC) which can be described as a non-Newtonian viscous fluid in two dimensions. The Lagrangian form of the Navier-Stockes constitutive equations of the SC-ECC is solved using a mesh-free, weakly compressible smoothed particle hydrodynamics (WCSPH). Flexible synthetic fibres in the SC-ECC are modelled as separate particles in the computational domain, which possess the same continuum properties as mortar particles except for the drag force between two adjacent fibre particles. The numerical model is then validated using slump flow tests, and the numerical results are found to be consistent with the experimental data obtained from the literature. The correlations between the wall-effects, the distance of flow, the casting position with the orientation and the distribution of synthetic fibres are also quantitatively investigated in this work using the proposed method.