• 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.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.71-80
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• 1990

The fracture characteristics of concrete under various rates of loading are investigated. The static and dynamic fracture energies of concrete are determined and the size-dependency of fracture energy is clarified from the present study. To this end, a series of experiments were conducted. The maximum failure loads, fracture energies and nominal failure stresses were calculated from those test results. It is found that the fracture energies are increased with the increase of loading rate. The fracture energy values were also greatly influenced with the size of the specimen. The size-dependent prediction eguations for the static and dynamic fracture energies of concrete are proposed in the present study. The present paper provides useful data for the dynamic fracture analysis of concrete structures.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.563-581
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• 2011

The signal-based acoustic emission (AE) characterization of concrete fracture process utilizing home-programmed AE monitoring system was performed for three kinds of static loading tests (Cubic-splitting, Direct-shear and Pull-out). Each test was carried out to induce a distinct fracture mode of concrete. Apart from monitoring and recording the corresponding fracture process of concrete, various methods were utilized to distinguish the characteristics of detected AE waveform to interpret the information of fracture behavior of AE sources (i.e. micro-cracks of concrete). Further, more signal-based characters of AE in different stages were analyzed and compared in this study. This research focused on the relationship between AE signal characteristics and fracture processes of concrete. Thereafter, the mode of concrete fracture could be represented in terms of AE signal characteristics. By using cement-based piezoelectric composite sensors, the AE signals could be detected and collected with better sensitivity and minimized waveform distortion, which made the characterization of AE during concrete fracture process feasible. The continuous wavelet analysis technique was employed to analyze the wave-front of AE and figure out the frequency region of the P-wave & S-wave. Defined RA (rising amplitude), AF (average frequency) and P-wave & S-wave importance index were also introduced to study the characters of AE from concrete fracture. It was found that the characters of AE signals detected during monitoring could be used as an indication of the cracking behavior of concrete.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.229-247
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• 2014

A numerical study of the influence of shear-span/depth ratio on the cohesive crack fracture parameters and double - K fracture parameters of concrete is carried out in this paper. For the study the standard bending specimen geometry loaded with four point bending test is used. For four point loading, the shear - span/depth ratio is varied as 0.4, 1 and 1.75 and the ao/D ratio is varied from 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 for laboratory specimens having size range from 100 - 500 mm. The input parameters for determining the double - K fracture parameters are taken from the developed fictitious crack model. It is found that the cohesive crack fracture parameters are independent of shear-span/depth ratio. Further, the unstable fracture toughness of double-K fracture model is independent of shear-span/depth ratio whereas, the initial cracking toughness of the material is dependent on the shear-span/depth ratio.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.93-100
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• 2000

The purpose of this study is to investigate the shear behavior of reinforced concrete beams according to small shear span-depth ratio between a/d=1.5, 2.8, 3.6. In general, shear strength of reinforced concrete beams is dependent on the compressive strength of concrete the longitudinal steel ratio, the shear span-depth ratio and shear reinforcement. The static test was carried out to measure the ultimate load, the initial load of flexural and diagonal cracking, crack patterns, fracture modes. The load versus strain and load versus deflection relations were obtained from the static test. The test results on shear strength were compared with results obtained by the formulas of ACI code 318-95. The shear strength of reinforced concrete beams exceeded those predicted following present ACI code 318-95(11-6).

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.77-83
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• 2015

PURPOSES : In this study, a fracture-based finite element (FE) model is proposed to evaluate the fracture behavior of fiber-reinforced asphalt (FRA) concrete under various interface conditions. METHODS : A fracture-based FE model was developed to simulate a double-edge notched tension (DENT) test. A cohesive zone model (CZM) and linear viscoelastic model were implemented to model the fracture behavior and viscous behavior of the FRA concrete, respectively. Three models were developed to characterize the behavior of interfacial bonding between the fiber reinforcement and surrounding materials. In the first model, the fracture property of the asphalt concrete was modified to study the effect of fiber reinforcement. In the second model, spring elements were used to simulated the fiber reinforcement. In the third method, bar and spring elements, based on a nonlinear bond-slip model, were used to simulate the fiber reinforcement and interfacial bonding conditions. The performance of the FRA in resisting crack development under various interfacial conditions was evaluated. RESULTS : The elastic modulus of the fibers was not sensitive to the behavior of the FRA in the DENT test before crack initiation. After crack development, the fracture resistance of the FRA was found to have enhanced considerably as the elastic modulus of the fibers increased from 450 MPa to 900 MPa. When the adhesion between the fibers and asphalt concrete was sufficiently high, the fiber reinforcement was effective. It means that the interfacial bonding conditions affect the fracture resistance of the FRA significantly. CONCLUSIONS : The bar/spring element models were more effective in representing the local behavior of the fibers and interfacial bonding than the fracture energy approach. The reinforcement effect is more significant after crack initiation, as the fibers can be pulled out sufficiently. Both the elastic modulus of the fiber reinforcement and the interfacial bonding were significant in controlling crack development in the FRA.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.319-340
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• 2013

This paper presents a comparative study on the double-K fracture parameters of concrete obtained using four existing analytical methods such as Gauss-Chebyshev integral method, simplified Green's function method, weight function method and simplified equivalent cohesive force method. Two specimen geometries: three point bend test and compact tension specimen for sizes 100-500 mm at initial notch length to depth ratios 0.25 and 0.4 are used for the comparative study. The required input parameters for determining the double-K fracture parameters are derived from the developed fictitious crack model. It is found that the cohesive toughness and initial cracking toughness determined using weight function method and simplified equivalent cohesive force method agree well with those obtained using Gauss-Chebyshev integral method whereas these fracture parameters determined using simplified Green's function method deviates more than by 11% and 20% respectively as compared with those obtained using Gauss-Chebyshev integral method. It is also shown that all the fracture parameters related with double-K model are size dependent.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2021

The concrete fatigue analysis can be performed with the use of fracture mechanics. The fracture mechanics defines the fatigue crack propagation as the relationship of crack growth rate and stress intensity factor. In contrast to metal, the application of fracture mechanics to concrete is more complicated and therefore many authors have introduced empirical expressions using Paris law. The topic of this paper is development of a new prediction of fatigue crack propagation for concrete using rheological-dynamical analogy (RDA) and finite element method (FEM) in the frame of linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM). The static and cyclic fatigue three-point bending tests on notched beams are considered. Verification of the proposed approach was performed on the test results taken from the literature. The comparison between the theoretical model and experimental results indicates that the model proposed in this paper is valid to predict the crack propagation in flexural fatigue of concrete.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.223-234
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• 2016

In this study, direct tension test for hybrid steel fiber reinforced ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) containing two different steel fibers with a length of 16 and 19 mm was performed to investigate the fracture behavior of UHPC. Test results showed that crack strength and tensile strength, and fracture energy increased with increasing the fiber volume ratio. Based on the test results, the peak cohesive stress at the crack tip, tensile strength, and fracture energy depending on the fiber volume ratio were proposed. The proposed tensile strength of UHPC was suggested as a function of the fiber volume ratio and compressive strength. The peak cohesive stress at the crack tip and fracture energy were also proposed as a function of the tensile strength. The predicted values were relatively agree well with the test results. Thus, the proposed equations is expected to be applicable to UHPC with a compressive strength of 140~170 MPa and a fiber volume ratio of less than 2%.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.267-278
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• 2016

In order to observe the internal damage of concrete in real time, we introduced acoustic emission nondestructive detecting technology into a series of fracture tests; the test results revealed the whole process that concrete undergoes when it sustains damage that leads to failure, according to the change rules of the acoustic emission parameters. The results showed that both the initiation and unstable loads can be accurately determined using the abrupt change of the acoustic emission rate curves and the turning point of the acoustic emission parameters' accumulative curves. The whole process, from damage to failure, includes five phases, beginning with damage, such as cracking, a stable crack growth process, a critical unstable stage, and unstable propagation. The brittle fracture characteristics of concrete change when steel bars are joined, because the steel bars and the concrete structure bond, which causes an increase in the acoustic emission signals within the fracture process of the reinforced concrete. The unstable propagation stage is also extended. Our research results provide a valid methodology and technical explanations, which can help researchers to monitor the cracking process of concrete structures, in real time, during actual projects.