FRACTURE OF CONCRETE

THE CONCEPT OF BRITTLE FRACTURE AND ITS EXTENSION TO FRACTURE OF HETEROGENEOUS SYSTEMS IS REVIEWED. THE POSSIBILITY OF APPLICATION OF SUCH A CONCEPT TO FAILURE OF CONCRETE IS DISCUSSED. A LABORATORY TECHNIQUE UTILIZING NOTCHED-BEAM SPECIMENS IS DEVELOPED AND IS APPLIED TO THE FRACTURE STUDY OF CEMENT PASTE, MORTAR, AND CONCRETE. THE RESULTS SHOW THAT THE FRACTURE WORK OF THE PASTE INCREASES BY THE INTRODUCTION OF SOLID PARTICLES. THIS INCREASE IS ATTRIBUTED TO THE MULTIPLICITY OF CRACK GROWTH DURING THE FRACTURE PROCESS IN CONCRETE SPECIMENS. THE EXTENT OF THE INTERNAL CRACKING IS MEASURED USING A QUANTITATIVE MICROSCOPY TECHNIQUE. THE RESULTS OF SUCH CRACK MEASUREMENTS HAVE INDICATED THAT THE TRUE FRACTURE WORK OF CONCRETE (DETERMINED BY ACCOUNTING FOR MULTIPLICITY OF CRACKS IN THE SPECIMENS) IS SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN THAT FOR CEMENT PASTE. THIS DIFFERENCE IS ATTRIBUTED TO THE PREFERENCE OF CRACKS TO PROPAGATE THROUGH THE INTERFACE OF PASTE AND AGGREGATE, WHICH IN GENERAL IS OF LOWER BOND STRENGTH THAN THE MATRIX. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 4, No 3, PP 497-519
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

  100 Barr Harbor Drive, P.O. Box C700
  West Conshohocken, PA  United States  19428-2957
• Authors:
  • Moavenzadeh, F
  • Kuguel, R
• Publication Date: 1969-9

Media Info

• Serial:
  • Journal of Materials
  • Publisher: American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bond strength (Materials); Bonding; Cement; Concrete; Cracking; Fracture mechanics; Mortar; Pastes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Concrete cracking; Crack propagation
• Subject Areas: Highways; Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00213429
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 16 1970 12:00AM