• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.83-99
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• 2022

The two, NBD and SCB tests using gypsum circular discs each containing a single notch have been experimentally accomplished in a rock mechanics laboratory. These specimens have also been numerically modelled by a two-dimensional particle flow which is based on Discrete Element Method (DEM). Each testing specimen had a thickness of 5 cm with 10 cm in diameter. The specimens' lengths varied as 2, 3, and 4 cm; and the specimens' notch angles varied as 0°, 45° and 90°. Similar semi-circular gypsum specimens were also prepared each contained one edge notch with angles 0° or 45°. The uniaxial testing machine was used to perform the experimental tests for both NBD and SCB gypsum specimens. At the same time, the numerical simulation of these tests were performed by PFC2D. The experimental results showed that the failure mechanism of rocks is mainly affected by the orientations of joints with respect to the loading directions. The failure mechanism and fracturing patterns of the gypsum specimens are directly related to the final failure loading. It has been shown that the number of induced tensile cracks showing the specimens' tensile behavior, and increases by decreasing the length and angle of joints. It should be noted that the fracture toughness of rocks' specimens obtained by NBD tests was higher than that of the SCB tests. The fracture toughness of rocks usually increases with the increasing of joints' angles but increasing the joints' lengths do not change the fracture toughness. The numerical solutions and the experimental results for both NDB and SCB tests give nearly similar fracture patterns during the loading process.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.66 no.3
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• pp.379-386
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• 2018

The present study addresses the direct and indirect methods of determining the mode-I fracture toughness of concrete using experimental tests and particle flow code. The direct method used is compaction tensile test and the indirect methods are notched Brazilian disc test, semi-circular bend specimen test, and hollow center cracked disc. The experiments were carried out to determine which indirect method yields the fracture toughness closer to the one obtained by the direct method. In the numerical analysis, the PFC model was first calibrated with respect to the data obtained from the Brazilian laboratory test. The crack paths observed in the simulated tests were in reasonable accordance with experimental results. The discrete element simulations demonstrated that the macro fractures in the models are caused by microscopic tensile breakages on large numbers of bonded particles. The mode-I fracture toughness in the direct tensile test was smaller than the indirect testing results. The fracture toughness obtained from the SCB test was closer to the direct test results. Hence, the semi-circular bend test is recommended as a proper experiment for determination of mode-I fracture toughness of concrete in the absence of direct tests.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.39-47
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• 2017

In this paper, mode I fracture toughness of rock was determined by direct and indirect methods using Particle Flow Code simulation. Direct methods are compaction tension (CT) test and hollow centre cracked quadratic sample (HCCQS). Indirect methods are notched Brazilian disk (NBD) specimen, the semi-circular bend (SCB) specimen, hollow centre cracked disc (HCCD), the single edge-notched round bar in bending (SENRBB) specimen and edge notched disk (END). It was determined that which one of indirect fracture toughness values is close to direct one. For this purpose, initially calibration of PFC was undertaken with respect to data obtained from Brazilian laboratory tests to ensure the conformity of the simulated numerical models response. Furthermore, the simulated models in five introduced indirect tests were cross checked with the results from direct tests. By using numerical testing, the failure process was visually observed. Discrete element simulations demonstrated that the macro fractures in models are caused by microscopic tensile breakages on large numbers of bonded discs. Mode I fracture toughness of rock in direct test was less than other tests results. Fracture toughness resulted from semi-circular bend specimen test was close to direct test results. Therefore semi-circular bend specimen can be a proper test for determination of Mode I fracture toughness of rock in absence of direct test.