Mesoscale Modelling of the Mechanical Behavior of Metaconcretes

Abstract

Featured Application: Metaconcrete-based materials offer a novel approach to controlling wave propagation, making them ideal for mitigating noise and vibration. Their selective attenuation of specific frequency ranges makes them a promising material for protective barriers, high-performance flooring, and resilient infrastructure in transportation and industrial settings. Refining the design of these materials through numerical modeling optimizes their mechanical performance for structural applications, which require both durability and resistance to dynamic loads. Metaconcrete (MC) is a class of engineered cementitious composites that integrates locally resonant inclusions to filter stress waves. While the dynamic benefits are well established, the effect of resonator content and geometry on static compressive resistance remains unclear. This study develops the first two-dimensional mesoscale finite-element model that explicitly represents steel cores, rubber coatings, and interfacial transition zones to predict the quasi-static behavior of MC. The model is validated against benchmark experiments, reproducing the 56% loss of compressive strength recorded for a 10.6% resonator volume fraction with an error of less than 1%. A parametric analysis covering resonator ratios from 1.5% to 31.8%, diameters from 16.8 mm to 37.4 mm, and coating thicknesses from 1.0 mm to 4.2 mm shows that (i) strength decays exponentially with volumetric content, approaching an asymptote at ≈20% of plain concrete strength; (ii) larger cores with thinner coatings minimize stiffness loss (<10%) while limiting strength reduction to 15–20%; and (iii) material properties of the resonator have a secondary influence (<6%). Two closed-form expressions for estimating MC strength and Young’s modulus (R2 = 0.83 and 0.94, respectively) are proposed to assist with the preliminary design. The model and correlations lay the groundwork for optimizing MC that balances vibration mitigation with structural capacity.