Title:
Fracture Toughness for High-Strength Concrete
Author(s):
Surendra P. Shah
Publication:
Materials Journal
Volume:
87
Issue:
3
Appears on pages(s):
260-265
Keywords:
brittleness; compressive strength; cracking (fracturing); elastic properties; flexural strength; fracture properties; high-strength concretes; microcracking; shear strength; splitting tensile strength; tensile strength; Materials Research
DOI:
10.14359/2213
Date:
5/1/1990
Abstract:
High-strength concrete tends to be more brittle or less tough than normal strength concrete, yet there is no acceptable method available to quantify the brittleness of normal strength or high-strength concrete. It seems reasonable to use the concepts of linear elastic fracture mechanics to quantify fracture toughness since they have been successfully applied to metals. In this paper, the concepts of linear elastic fracture mechanics are summarized. It is shown that a single fracture parameter such as the critical stress intensity factor cannot be simply applied to quasi-brittle material like concrete. A two-parameter fracture model is presented. The two parameters can be calculated from an ASTM-type notched-beam test. This model accurately predicts fracture toughness as well as split cylinder strength and modulus of rupture strength of high-strength concrete.