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The effect of water to cement ratio on fracture parameters and brittleness of self-compacting concrete

Beygi, M. H. A ; Sharif University of Technology | 2013

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2013.02.018
  3. Publisher: Elsevier Ltd , 2013
  4. Abstract:
  5. The paper describes an experimental research on fracture characteristics of self-compacting concrete (SCC). Three point bending tests conducted on 154 notched beams with different water to cement (w/c) ratios. The specimens were made from mixes with various w/c ratios from 0.7 to 0.35. For all mixes, common fracture parameters were determined using two different methods, the work-of-fracture method (WFM) and the size effect method (SEM). Test results showed that with decrease of w/c ratio from 0.7 to 0.35 in SCC: (a) the fracture toughness increases linearly: (b) the brittleness number is approximately doubled: (c) the effective size of the process zone cf in SEM and the characteristic length (lch) in WFM decrease which may be explained by the change in structural porosity of the aggregate-paste transition zone; and (d) the fracture surface of concrete is roughly smoother, which can be attributed to the improved bond strength between the aggregates and the paste. Also, the results showed that there is a correlation between the fracture energy measured by WFM (GF) and the value measured through SEM (Gf) (GF≅2.92Gf)
  6. Keywords:
  7. Brittle fracture ; Aggregates ; Brittleness ; Cements ; Concrete aggregates ; Fracture mechanics ; Plasticity ; Self compacting concrete ; Toughness ; Brittleness numbers ; Characteristic length ; Experimental research ; Fracture behavior ; Fracture characteristics ; Fracture parameter ; Selfcompacting concretes (SCC) ; Three-point bending test ; Brittle fracture
  8. Source: Materials and Design ; Volume 50 , 2013 , Pages 267-276 ; 02613069 (ISSN)
  9. URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261306913001143