Size effect at testing strength properties of concrete

Amanda Akram

a.akram@pollub.pl
Department of Structural Engineering; Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture; Lublin University of Technology; (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5619-2927

Abstract

Various strength characteristics of concrete are considered as fracture parameters. The compressive strength of concrete is of paramount importance when designing concrete structures, whereas tensile strength of concrete is the basic property when estimating cracking resistance of a structure and analysing fracture processes in concrete. When testing the compressive strength of concrete, the results are dependent on the shape and dimensions of used specimens. Some findings reported in the literature suggest that size effect exists also when testing such fracture properties of concrete as tensile strength. Unfortunately this problem is much less recognized and described compared to size effect in compressive test results. In this paper, the experimental investigation is presented on how the length of cylindrical specimens influences the tensile splitting strength of concrete obtained by means of the Brazilian method. Additional variable parameters were: type of aggregate (natural gravel and crushed granite) and cement-water ratio (C/W = 1.8 and C/W = 2.6).  In conducted laboratory experiments a higher splitting tensile strength of concrete was noted for all specimens with nominal dimensions of 150×150 mm, compared to specimens 150×300 mm in size, regardless of type of aggregate or cement-water ratio.


Keywords:

concrete, size effect, tensile strength

EN 12390-1:2013-03 - Testing hardened concrete - Part 1: Shape, dimensions and other requirements for specimens and moulds, European Committee for Standardization, 2013.
  Google Scholar

EN 12390-3:2019-07 - Testing hardened concrete - Part 3: Compressive strength of test specimen, European Committee for Standardization, 2019.
  Google Scholar

EN 12390-6:2011 - Testing hardened concrete - Part 6: Tensile splitting strength of test specimen, European Committee for Standardization, 2011.
  Google Scholar

Aitcin P. C., Miao B., Cook W., Mitchell D., “Effects of size and curing on cylinder compressive strength of normal and high-strength concretes”, ACI Materials Journal, vol. 91(4), 1994, pp. 349-354.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14359/4044   Google Scholar

Malaikah A., “Effect of Specimen Size and Shape on the Compressive Strength of High Strength Concrete”, Pertanika J Sci Technol, 13(1), 2005, pp. 81-96.
  Google Scholar

Che Y. et al., “Effect of Specimen Shape and Size on Com-pressive Strength of Concrete”, Advanced Materials Research, vol. 163-167, 2010, pp. 1375-1379. http://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.163-167.1375
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.163-167.1375   Google Scholar

Sudin M.A.S., Ramli M., “Effect of Specimen Shape and Size on the Compressive Strength of Foamed Concrete”, MATEC Web of Conferences, vol. 10(1), 2014. https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/20141002003
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/20141002003   Google Scholar

Zhong W, Pan J, Wang J, Zhang C., “Size effect in dynamic splitting tensile strength of concrete: Experimental investigation”, Construction and Building Materials, vol. 270(3), 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.121449
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.121449   Google Scholar

Liu J, Wenxuan Y, Xiuli D, Wangxian Y., “Mesoscopic numerical simulation of dynamic size effect on the splitting-tensile strength of concrete”, Engineering Fracture Mechanics, vol. 209, 2019, pp. 317-332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2019.01.035
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2019.01.035   Google Scholar

Suchorzewski J, Tejchman J, Nitka M., “Experimental and numerical investigations of concrete behaviour at meso-level during quasi-static splitting tension”, Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics, vol. 96, 2018, pp. 720-739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tafmec.2017.10.011
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tafmec.2017.10.011   Google Scholar

Zhu R., “Scale and Aggregate Size Effects on Concrete Fracture: Experimental Investigation and Discrete Element Modelling”, Civil Engineering, Écolecentrale de Nantes, 2018.
  Google Scholar

Chandran K. S. R., Galyon Dorman S., “The nature of specimen-size-effect on fatigue crack growth and net-section fracture mechanics approach to extract the size-independent behavior”, International Journal of Fatigue, vol. 145(2), 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2020.106088
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2020.106088   Google Scholar

EN 12390-5:2019-08 - Testing hardened concrete: Flexural strength of test specimens, European Committee for Standardization, 2019.
  Google Scholar

PN-B-06250 – Beton zwykły (Eng. Plain concrete), Polski Komitet Normalizacyjny Miar i Jakości, 1988.
  Google Scholar

Benkemoun N., Khazraji H. A., Poullain P., Choinska M., Khelidj A., “3-D mesoscale simulation of crack-permeability coupling in the Brazilian splitting test”, International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, vol. 42(1), 2017, pp. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1002/nag.2749
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/nag.2749   Google Scholar

Słowik M., Stroeven P., Akram A., “Crack mechanisms in concrete – from micro to macro scale”, Budownictwo i Architektura, 19(4), 2020, pp. 55-65. http://doi.org/10.35784/bud-arch.2147
DOI: https://doi.org/10.35784/bud-arch.2147   Google Scholar

Karamloo M., Mazloom M., Payganeh G., “Influences of water to cement ratio on brittleness and fracture parameters of self-compacting lightweight concrete”, Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 168(A), 2016, pp. 227-241. http://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.engfracmech.2016.09.011
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2016.09.011   Google Scholar

Nitka M., Tejchman J., “Meso-mechanical modelling of damage in concrete using discrete element method with porous ITZs of defined width around aggregates”, Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 231, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2020.107029.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2020.107029   Google Scholar

Sadrmomtazi A., Lotfi-Omran O., Nikbin I.M., “Influence of cement content and maximum aggre-gate size on the fracture parameters of magnetite concrete using WFM, SEM and BEM”, Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics, 107, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tafmec.2020.102482.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tafmec.2020.102482   Google Scholar

EN 196-1:2016-07 – Methods of testing cement – Part 1: Determination of strength, European Committee for Standardization, 2016.
  Google Scholar


Published
2021-12-29

Cited by

Akram, A. (2021) “Size effect at testing strength properties of concrete”, Budownictwo i Architektura, 20(4), pp. 037–046. doi: 10.35784/bud-arch.2821.

Authors

Amanda Akram 
a.akram@pollub.pl
Department of Structural Engineering; Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture; Lublin University of Technology; Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5619-2927

Statistics

Abstract views: 250
PDF downloads: 160 PDF downloads: 18 PDF downloads: 21


License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Budownictwo i Architektura supports the open science program. The journal enables Open Access to their publications. Everyone can view, download and forward articles, provided that the terms of the license are respected.

Publishing of articles is possible after submitting a signed statement on the transfer of a license to the Journal.