Compact shear test specimens for FRC materials

The shear strength and toughness index of polypropylene and steel fibre-reinforced concretes have been determined using two new compact test specimen geometries. The first geometry was a double-notched cube, the second a double-notched cylinder in the form of a disc. Two notch separation distances and two maximum sizes of coarse aggregates were used in the study to investigate the possibility of size effects with such compact specimens. The results were shown to be reproducible and independent of the test geometry. The shear- strength results were relatively independent of the fibre content and maximum size of the coarse aggregate used. The toughness index results were similar for the two test specimen geometries and toughness was shown to increase uniformly with increasing fibre content over the range of fibre concentrations used in the study.