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...