The study of new and innovative quasi-brittle materials offers new possibilities for use in construction, but detailed knowledge of their behavior and mechanical properties is required. The use of new materials in the design solution of a structure is usually associated with numerical methods, which has a number of both advantages and disadvantages. Sophisticated numerical methods, without a sufficiently detailed input knowledge, can provide highly variable results with little informative value. The main goal of this article is to present the procedure for the identification of fracture mechanical parameters for a specific concrete with the use of developed inverse analysis combining multi-criteria decision analysis, stochastic modelling and nonlinear analysis. Subsequently, the identified mechanical parameters of concrete are used for the parametric study of shear resistance of structural beams without shear reinforcement, as an alternative or generalized approach to the study of damage to concrete and concrete structures. This research includes an experimental program using 24 reinforced concrete beams and a detailed determination of basic and specific mechanical properties during laboratory tests. The process of inverse analysis is illustrated in detail for the solved task. The use of nonlinear analysis for detailed failure modelling is based on a 3D computational model and a fracture plastic material model for concrete. Finally, the results of the experimental program and numerical modelling are discussed, leading to a number of conclusions.
Keywords: beam; bending test; concrete; inverse analysis; mechanical parameters; reinforced concrete; shear; steel.