Effect of Coarse Aggregate Size on Relationship between Stress and Crack Opening in Normal and High Strength Concretes

Fine and coarse aggregates play an important role in the fracture of concrete. However, quantitative information available on the effect of the coarse aggregate size on the fracture properties of concrete is still limited. In the present paper, the effect of coarse aggregate size (single grade of 5～10, 10～16, 16～20 and 20～25 mm) on stress-crack opening (σ-w) relation in normal and high strength concretes (compressive strength of 40 and 80 MPa, respectively)was studied. The investigation was based on three-point bending tests implemented by fictitious crack analysis. The result shows that coarse aggregate size and cement matrix strength significantly influence the shape of σ-w curve.For a given total aggregate content, in normal strength concrete, smaller size of aggregate leads to a high tensile strength and a sharp stress drop after the peak stress. The smaller the coarse aggregate, the steeper the σ-w curve.By contrast, in high strength concrete, the effect of aggregate size on σ-w relation almost vanishes. A similar σ-w relation is obtained for the concrete except for the case of 20～25 mm coarse aggregate size. The stress drop after the peak stress is more significant for high strength concrete than that for normal strength concrete. Meanwhile, the smaller the coarse aggregate size, the higher the flexural strength. Fracture energy and characteristic length increase with increasing coarse aggregate size in both normal and high strength concretes.     

Influence of field recycled coarse aggregate on properties of concrete

This paper investigates the influence of different amounts of recycled coarse aggregates obtained from a demolished RCC culvert 15 years old on the properties of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC). A new term called “coarse aggregate replacement ratio (CRR)” is introduced and is defined as the ratio of weight of recycled coarse aggregate to the total weight of coarse aggregate in a concrete mix. To analyze the behaviour of concrete in both the fresh and hardened state, a coarse aggregate replacement ratio of 0, 0.25, 0.50 and 1.0 are adopted in the concrete mixes. The properties namely compressive and indirect tensile strengths, modulus of elasticity, water absorption, volume of voids, density of hardened concrete and depth of chloride penetration are studied. From the experimental results it is observed that the concrete cured in air after 7 days of wet curing shows better strength than concrete cured completely under water for 28 days for all coarse aggregate replacement ratios. The volume of voids and water absorption of recycled aggregate concrete are 2.61 and 1.82% higher than those of normal concrete due to the high absorption capacity of old mortar adhered to recycled aggregates. The relationships among compressive strength, tensile strengths and modulus of elasticity are developed and verified with the models reported in the literature for both normal and recycled aggregate concrete. In addition, the non-destructive testing parameters such as rebound number and UPV (Ultrasonic pulse velocity) are reported. The study demonstrates the potential use of field recycled coarse aggregates (RCA) in concrete.     

The role of 0–2 mm fine recycled concrete aggregate on the compressive and splitting tensile strengths of recycled concrete aggregate concrete

The aim of this study is to investigate the role of 0–2 mm fine aggregate on the compressive and splitting tensile strengths of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) concrete with normal and high strengths. Normal coarse and fine aggregates were substituted with the same grading of RCAs in two normal and high strength concrete mixtures. In addition, to keep the same slump value for all mixes, additional water or superplasticizer were used in the RCA concretes. The compressive and splitting tensile strengths were measured at 3, 7 and 28 days. Test results show that coarse and fine RCAs, which were achieved from a parent concrete with 30 MPa compressive strength, have about 11.5 and 3.5 times higher water absorption than normal coarse and fine aggregates, respectively. The density of RCAs was about 20% less than normal aggregates, and, hence, the density of RCA concrete was about 8–13.5% less than normal aggregate concrete. The use of RCA instead of normal aggregates reduced the compressive and splitting tensile strengths in both normal and high strength concrete. The reduction in the splitting tensile strength was more pronounced than for the compressive strength. However, both strengths could be improved by incorporating silica fume and/or normal fine aggregates of 0–2 mm size in the RCA concrete mixture. The positive effect of the contribution of normal sand of 0–2 mm in RCA concrete is more pronounced in the compressive strength of a normal strength concrete and in the splitting tensile strength of high strength concrete. In addition, some equation predictions of the splitting tensile strength from compressive strength are recommended for both normal and RCA concretes.     

Tensile behaviour of FRC under high strain-rate

This paper presents experimental results on two types of concrete reinforced with steel and polyvinyl-alcohol (PVA) fibres subjected to dynamic tensile loading. The tests were carried out by using a Modified Hopkinson Bar apparatus on fibre reinforced concrete notched-specimens under three different strain-rates (50, 100, and 200 s⁻¹). From the experiments it was found that there is a significant enhancement in tensile strength with increasing strain-rates. The dynamic tests on steel FRC with the smaller loading rate (50 s⁻¹) showed a strength similar to the one measured from static tests; however, for increasing loading rates, a remarkable decrease of post-peak strength and ductility occurs. In specimens with PVA fibres, an enhancement of the tensile strength was also observed and a significant reduction of fracture energy and ultimate deformation occurred. Some experimental aspects are also discussed as the specimen shape, its dimension, the loading rate as well as the different post-peak behaviour from static and dynamic tests.     

Impact of particle packing mix design method on fracture properties of natural and recycled aggregate concrete

The fracture properties of four types of concrete prepared using natural coarse aggregate and recycled coarse aggregate and conventional and particle packing method (PPM) of mix design approaches are studied. The three‐point bending (TPB) test is performed using three different sizes of single edge notched beam. The fracture energy is calculated from the load‐CMOD curve obtained in the TPB test, and in this process the load‐CMOD curve is curtailed at 2% of the depth of the beam. Based on CTOD_c and w₁ relationship, appropriate softening function is used to estimate the double‐K fracture parameters. The fracture energy and fracture toughness parameters of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) is inferior to the natural aggregate concrete (NAC). The PPM mix design improves the fracture properties of concrete in comparison to the conventional mix design approach. The fracture properties of PPM mix designed RAC are comparable to that of NAC prepared using conventional method.     

Irregular lattice models of fracture of multiphase particulate materials

Irregular lattice models are developed to simulate fracture of multiphase particulate materials, such as concrete. The models are composed of rigid-body-spring elements that break according to simple rules. A salient feature of the models is the use of Voronoi diagrams to define the lattice structure and assign the elastic and fracture properties of the elements. The material is discretized as a three-phase composite consisting of a matrix phase, coarse inclusions, and the matrix–inclusion interfacial zones. Aggregates are randomly positioned in the domain according to a target granulometric distribution. A procedure is outlined for the explicit representation of the surfaces of such heterogeneous features, including control over the thickness of the matrix–aggregate interfacial zones. Fracture simulations are conducted for notched, three-point bend specimens of concrete, where each phase is assigned locally brittle fracture properties. The simulation results show both pre- and post-peak behavior that agrees with experimental findings, at least in a qualitative sense. In particular, toughening mechanisms form through interaction of developing cracks with the evolving material structure. However, the post-peak toughness is largely underestimated due, in part, to the coarse discretization of the material and the lack of frictional effects in the model. For comparison, the same specimen is analyzed using a homogeneous material model and a cohesive crack approach, which lumps the various energy dissipation mechanisms active at finer scales into a cohesive traction versus separation law.     

Effect of composition on fracture behavior of polypropylene–wollastonite–polyolefin elastomer system

The fracture behavior of polypropylene (PP)–wollastonite–polyolefin elastomer (POE) in the mixed mode region was studied using the essential work of fracture (EWF) method. The relationship between the microstructure and the fracture parameters was analyzed. The effect of wollastonite content on the essential work of fracture and the work of plastic deformation was discussed. The energy dissipation during a double-edge-notched tension (DENT) test was calculated with the EWF method. It was found in the mixed mode region that σ_n increases with shortening of the ligament length region as plastic constraint effect rises and variation of the specific total work of fracture with ligament length was still reasonably linear within the mixed mode region. With increasing wollastonite content, w _e (specific essential work of fracture) increases, while the βw _p (specific non-essential work of fracture) decreases. The measurements of energy dissipation show that improvement in the fracture toughness of PP–wollastonite–POE is mainly due to the increase in crack propagation resistance during the necking and tearing processes after yielding, while the plastic deformation capability of the material depends mainly on the properties of fracture behavior before yielding. It is also found that the impact strength of the material decreases with increasing wollastonite content. However, the composition with high impact strength has lower specific essential energy of fracture and lower long-term fracture resistance, indicating that EWF is a better indicator of long-term fracture properties than the impact strength. DSC results show that the presence of wollastonite hinders crystallization of the PP.     

Compressive stress–strain behavior of steel fiber reinforced-recycled aggregate concrete

The use of recycled aggregate from construction and demolition waste (CDW) as replacement of fine and coarse natural aggregate has increased in recent years in order to reduce the high consumption of natural resources by the civil construction sector. In this work, an experimental investigation was carried out to investigate the influence of steel fiber reinforcement on the stress–strain behavior of concrete made with CDW aggregates. In addition, the flexural strength and splitting tensile strength of the mixtures were also determined. Natural coarse and fine aggregates were replaced by recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) and recycled fine aggregate (RFA) at two levels, 0% and 25%, by volume. Hooked end steel fibers with 35 mm of length and aspect ratio of 65 were used as reinforcement in a volume fraction of 0.75%. The research results show that the addition of steel fiber and recycled aggregate increased the mechanical strength and modified the fracture process relative to that of the reference concrete. The stress–strain behavior of recycled aggregate concrete was affected by the recycled aggregate and presented a more brittle behavior than the reference one. With the addition of steel fiber the toughness, measured by the slope of the descending branch of the stress–strain curve, of the recycled concretes was increased and their behavior under compression becomes similar to that of the fiber-reinforced natural aggregate concrete.     

骨料粒径对混凝土动态拉伸强度及尺寸效应影响分析

骨料粒径是影响混凝土力学性能及破坏机理的重要因素。从细观角度出发,将混凝土看作由骨料颗粒、砂浆基质及界面过渡区组成的三相复合材料,考虑细观组分的应变率效应,建立了混凝土动态拉伸破坏行为研究的细观力学分析模型,模拟研究了不同骨料粒径下混凝土动态拉伸破坏行为,并揭示了动态拉伸强度的尺寸效应规律。研究表明:低应变率下骨料不发生破坏,骨料粒径对混凝土动态拉伸破坏模式及拉伸强度影响显著,且拉伸强度的尺寸效应随骨料粒径的减小而削弱;高应变率下裂缝将贯穿骨料,骨料粒径的大小对混凝土动态拉伸强度及尺寸效应影响可忽略。最后,结合应变率效应的影响机制,建立了混凝土拉伸强度的"静动态统一"尺寸效应理论公式,该公式可以较好描述各骨料粒径下混凝土动态拉伸强度与试件尺寸的定量关系。     

Influence of atomized powder size on microstructures and mechanical properties of rapidly solidified Al–Cr–Y–Zr aluminum alloys

Rapidly solidified powders of Al–5.0Cr–4.0Y–1.5Zr (wt%) were prepared by using a multi-stage atomization-rapid solidification powder-making device. The atomized powders were sieved into four shares with various nominal diameter level and were fabricated into hot-extruded bars after cold-isostatically pressing and vaccum degassing process. Influence of atomized powder size on microstructures and mechanical properties of the hot-extruded bars was investigated by optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electronic microscopy with EPSX and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the fine atomized powders of rapidly solidified Al–5.0Cr–4.0Y–1.5Zr aluminum alloy attains supersaturated solid solution state under the exist condition of multi-stage rapid solidification. With the powder size increasing, there are Al₂₀Cr₂Y (cubic, a = 1.437 nm) and Ll₂ Al₃Zr (FCC, a = 0.407 nm) phase forming in the powders, and even lumpish particles of Al₂₀Cr₂Y appearing in the coarse atomized powders, as can be found in the as-cast master alloy. Typical microstructures of the extruded bars of rapidly solidified Al–5.0Cr–4.0Y–1.5Zr aluminum alloy can be characterized by fine grain FCC α-Al matrix with ultra-fine spherical particles of Al₂₀Cr₂Y and Al₃Zr. But a small quantity of Al₂₀Cr₂Y coarse lumpish particles with micro-twin structures can be found, originating from lumpish particles of the coarse powders. The extruded bars of rapidly solidified Al–5.0Cr–4.0Y–1.5Zr aluminum alloy by using the fine powders eliminated out too coarse powders have good tensile properties of σ_0.2 = 403 MPa, σ_b = 442 MPa and δ = 9.4% at room temperature, and σ_0.2 = 153 MPa, σ_b = 164 MPa and δ = 8.1% at high temperature of 350 °C.     

Proportioning cement based composites with burnt coal cinder

This paper presents an experimental investigation to advance a stepwise procedure to proportion plain and slag concrete mixes with burnt coal cinder waste as coarse aggregate. When typical strength of coarse aggregate in concrete is lower than the concrete strength required, conventional methods such as British Method, ACI and country’s standard code cannot be used directly since failure of concrete is predominantly by aggregate crushing. To analyze the data, concrete, for simplicity, is regarded as two phase composite of cement mortar matrix and coarse aggregate. With the concrete and constituent cement mortar matrix strengths and their respective volume fractions as input parameters, the typical strength of coarse aggregate in concrete is determined from linear law of mixtures. Using again the same law, the cement mortar matrix strength required for higher or at par to that of the typical aggregate strength is calculated. To arrive at water–cement ratio for matrix strength, the Generalized Abrams’ law is employed.     

考虑细观组分影响的混凝土宏观力学性能理论预测模型

混凝土宏观力学性能与其内部细观结构构造密切相关。该文建立了一类能够考虑细观组分影响的混凝土宏观力学性能理论预测模型。首先,采用细观力学数值试验法对理论模型中的参数进行了标定;进而,基于该模型对混凝土断裂能和单轴抗拉强度在材料层次的尺寸效应行为进行了分析。结果表明:混凝土断裂能和单轴抗拉强度均随骨料级配（即最大骨料粒径）发生变化,且受到界面特性的影响。当界面过渡区力学性能相对薄弱时,混凝土强度较低,断裂能和单轴抗拉强度随骨料级配增大而呈现减小的趋势;当界面过渡区力学性能较强时,混凝土强度较高,断裂能和单轴抗拉强度随骨料级配增大亦呈现增大的趋势。计算结果与试验结果吻合良好,验证了该文建立的理论预测模型的准确性和合理性。     

Piezoelectric,ferroelectric and mechanical properties of lead zirconate titanate/zinc oxide nanowhisker ceramics

New lead zirconate titanate/zinc oxide nanowhisker (PZT/ZnO_w) ceramics were fabricated by a conventional solid state processing and their structures, piezoelectric, ferroelectric and mechanical properties were studied. Both the PZT perovskite and ZnO phases can be observed from the X-ray diffraction patterns. The grain size of ceramics is reduced due to the ZnO_w addition. The incorporation of ZnO_w into the PZT ceramics improves the strength and toughness, while deteriorates the piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties. For the PZT/ZnO_w ceramics with 1–2 wt% ZnO_w, the mechanical properties become optimum, meanwhile maintain good piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties: σ _c = 376–484 MPa, σ _f = 115–121 MPa, K _IC = 1.41–1.54 MPa m^1/2, d ₃₃ = 442–490 pC/N, k _p = 0.54–0.55, ε _r = 3,322–3,980, Q _m = 99–101, tanδ = 1.6%–1.7%, P _r = 21.5–26.9 μC/cm² and E _c = 8.1–8.6 kV/cm.     

Mechanical properties of steel fibre reinforced lightweight concrete with pumice stone or expanded clay aggregates

This paper presents basic information on the mechanical properties of steel fibre-reinforced light-weight concrete, manufactured using pumice stone or expanded clay aggregates. Results are presented for standard compressive tests and indirect tensile tests (splitting tests on cylinder specimens and flexure tests on prismatic beams using a three-point loading arrangement) under monotonically increasing or cyclically varying loads. The influence of steel fibres and aggregate types on modulus of elasticity, compressive and tensile strength and post-peak behaviour is evaluated. Test results show that compressive strength does not change for pumice stone aggregates, while an increase is observed for expanded clay; tensile strength and fracture toughness are significantly improved for both pumice stone and expanded clay. The results also show that with both expanded clay and pumice stone lightweight aggregates a suitable content of fibres allows one to obtain performances comparable with those expected from normal weight concrete, the important advantage of lower structural weight being maintained.     

Cohesive crack modelling of a simple concrete: Experimental and numerical results

Fracture tests were performed on six types of simple concrete made with two types of mortar matrix w/c = 0.32 and w/c = 0.42, two types of spherical aggregates (strong aggregates that debonded during concrete fracture, and weak aggregates, able to break), and two kinds of matrix-aggregate interface (weak and strong).The tensile strength, fracture energy and elasticity modulus of the six types of concrete were measured. These results are intended to serve as an experimental benchmark for checking numerical models of concrete fracture and for providing certain hints to better understand the mechanical behaviour of concrete.A bilinear softening function was used to model the fracture of concrete. The influence of the type of matrix, aggregate, and interface strength on the parameters of the softening curve are discussed: particularly, the fracture energy, the cohesive strength and the critical crack opening.     

Identification of concrete fracture parameters through size effect experiments

This paper deals with the identification of concrete fracture parameters through indirect methods based on size effect experiments. These methods utilize the size effect curve (structural strength versus structural size), associated with a certain specimen geometry, to identify the tensile strength and the initial fracture energy. These two parameters, in turn, are typically used to characterize the peak and the initial post-peak slope of the cohesive crack law. In the literature, two different approaches can be found for the calculation of the size effect curve: (a) an approach based on the polynomial interpolation of numerically calculated structural strengths of geometrically similar specimens of different sizes, and (b) the classical approach based on equivalent elastic fracture mechanics, which gives rise to the well-known Bažant’s size effect law (SEL). In this paper, the two approaches are first reviewed, the relationship between them is investigated, and a new procedure to identify the tensile strength using the SEL is proposed. Then several sets of experimental results, recently performed at the Politecnico di Milano, are analyzed with both approaches in order to assess their range of applicability and accuracy in the identification of the two fracture parameters specified above.     

Effect of fibre concentration,temperature and mould thickness on weldline integrity of short glass-fibre-reinforced polypropylene copolymer composites

The effect of fibre concentration, temperature and mould thickness on tensile strength of single- and double-gated injection-moulded polypropylene copolymer reinforced with 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 wt% short glass fibre was studied at a fixed strain-rate of 7.58 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹ between 23 and 100 °C. It was found that tensile strength of single-gated mouldings, σ_c, increased with increasing volume fraction of fibres, ϕ_f in a nonlinear manner and decreased with increasing temperature in a linear manner. However, for ϕ_f values in the range 0–10% a simple additive rule-of-mixtures adequately described the variation of σ_c with ϕ_f over the entire temperature range 23–100 °C studied here. Tensile strength of double-gated mouldings like their single-gated counterparts decreased linearly with increasing temperature. The presence of weldlines significantly reduced tensile strength of double-gated composite mouldings but had little effect on tensile strength of the matrix. Weldline integrity factor, F _σ, defined as weldline strength divided by unweld strength, decreased with increasing ϕ_f but increased with increasing temperature. A linear dependence was found between F _σ and temperature. Mould thickness had no significant effect upon weld and unweld tensile strengths and consequently had no significant effect upon weldline integrity factor.     

Failure mechanism of normal and high-strength concrete with rice-husk ash

Mineral admixtures generally lead to a densification of the concrete internal structure. In this sense, the failure mechanism could be modified so that the concrete exhibits a more brittle behaviour. This paper discusses the effects of rice-husk ash (RHA) additions to concrete, based on analyses of the mechanical behaviour of normal and high-strength concrete. The stress–strain response in compression and load vs. CMOD (or deflection) in bending were analysed. It appears that the incorporation of RHA in concrete increases the strength, particularly for lower water/binder ratio concretes. The analysis of the failure mechanism indicates a tendency for more brittle failure behaviour in RHA concretes. For the same strength level, however, the energy of fracture was reduced no more than 10%, which is much smaller than the variations that may be produced by a change in the type or size of coarse aggregate.     

考虑骨料体积含量影响的混凝土准脆性断裂预测模型及应用

基于对准脆性断裂边界影响模型参数的分析,该文将平均骨料粒径d_ave引入模型中,得到了考虑骨料体积含量及尺寸影响的混凝土准脆性断裂预测模型。模型中的有效裂缝与特征裂纹的比值,明确表征了三分点加载单边切口梁(SENB)试件的尺寸及初始缝长度变化时服从的断裂失效准则;模型中d_ave及分散系数β_ave将影响最大荷载P_max作用下临界微裂纹扩展区的平均虚拟裂纹长度Δa_fic。通过SENB试件在P_max时的受力分析,得到了临界正应力σ_n、有效裂缝长度a_e、拉伸强度f_t及断裂韧度K_IC之间的关系式。通过Amparano的试验结果,当a_fic为0.8~1.4倍d_ave时,采用混凝土准脆性断裂模型能较好预测混凝土拉伸强度及断裂韧度。通过对Δa_fic=1.2d_ave时模型得到的预测曲线与试验结果的对比,证明了模型计算结果的可靠性。考虑骨料体积含量影响的混凝土准脆性断裂模型能基于RILEM规范中三分点加载SENB试验预测混凝土断裂韧度与拉伸强度。     

Micromechanical investigation on size effect of tensile strength for recycled aggregate concrete using BFEM

In this paper, the validity and performance of base force element method (BFEM) based on potential energy principle was studied by some numerical examples. And the BFEM on damage mechanics is used to analyze the size effect on tensile strength for recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) at meso-level. The recycled aggregate concrete is taken as five-phase composites consisting of natural coarse aggregate, new mortar, new interfacial transition zone (ITZ), old mortar and old ITZ on meso-level. The random aggregate model is used to simulate the meso-structure of recycled aggregate concrete. The size effects of mechanical properties of RAC under uniaxial tensile loading are simulated using the BFEM on damage mechanics. The simulation results agree with the test results. This analysis method is the new way for investigating fracture mechanism and numerical simulation of mechanical properties for RAC.