Size effect of concrete and sandstone

A series of uniaxial tension experiments has been conducted to investigate the size effect on strength and fracture energy of concrete and sandstone. The experiments were carried on specimens of six different sizes in a scale range of 1:32. Depending on the material and the curing conditions a stronger or weaker size effect on the nominal...

Analysis of hygral induced crack growth in multiphase materials

In this paper a numerical model for simulating crack growth processes caused by moisture movement in a porous multiphase material like concrete is proposed. In the model, the material is schematized as a regular triangular network of beam elements. The meso-material structure of the material is projected on top of the lattice and different...

Fracture mechanics of concrete: Will applications start to emerge?

Fracture mechanics of concrete has developed into an active field of research in the past decades. It promises a rational solution technique to structural problems in reinforced concrete in the limit state. Numerical tools have been developed on the basis of fracture mechanics theories. The question to be addressed is how much of the early...

An Experimental Study of Shear Fracture and Aggregate Interlock in Cementbased Composites

In the present paper the results of an exploratory study with the recently developed biaxial tension/shear apparatus of the Stevin Laboratory of Delft University of Technology are presented. The apparatus is unique in the sense that square double-edgenotched concrete plates up to a size of 200 x 200 mm can be loaded in any combination of tension...