In this tutorial, the simulation of low-energy impact on a concrete slab reinforced with pretensioned bars and GFRP plates in Abaqus is studied. The concrete is modeled as a three-dimensional solid part. The GFRP is modeled as a planar shell part, while the steel bars are modeled as three-dimensional wire parts. The projectile is modeled as a discrete rigid body.

The concrete behavior is simulated using the Concrete Damaged Plasticity (CDP) model, which is a continuum, plasticity-based damage model. It considers tensile cracking and compressive crushing as the primary failure mechanisms in concrete under impact loading.

For the GFRP plate, Hashin’s damage theory is used to define damage initiation. This theory considers four distinct failure modes: fiber tension, fiber compression, matrix tension, and matrix compression. The GFRP material consists of eight layers, and Hashin’s damage model is applied to capture damage during impact. The steel bars are assigned elastic–plastic behavior to represent their nonlinear response.

A dynamic explicit step is selected for the simulation, with mass scaling applied to speed up the computational process. A general contact algorithm with contact properties is defined between all parts. The steel bars are embedded in the concrete slab, and a tie constraint is applied between the concrete and GFRP plate.

Pretensioning in the steel bars is introduced by applying stress, which can be defined either through an initial stress field or temperature loading. Boundary conditions are applied to the concrete slab, and an initial velocity is assigned to the projectile to simulate impact. A suitable mesh size is used for all parts to ensure accurate results.