Experimental Research on Size Effect of Mode II Fracture Toughness of Concrete

Based on specimen size, which is the main reason of the shear fracture toughness of concrete, experimental research was carried out by 5 groups including 40 symmetrically loading specimens with different length and height. Through load and crack tip sliding displacement curve P-CTSD, load and strain curve P-ε and load and time curve P-t, the effects of length and height of specimens to shear fracture toughness were studied. Specimen stability is strengthened with increasing of length and weakened with increasing of height. Size effect of fracture toughness is weakened with increasing of length, is strengthened with the increasing of height. Fracture toughness increases with the increasing of length, decreases with the increasing of height. Research Background The size effect exists in parameters of concrete, such as concrete strength, modulus of elasticity, fracture toughness, fracture energy and so on [1-. In 1961, the theory of fracture mechanics was applied to concrete structure for the first time by Kaplan [. A vast majority of research work about concrete fracture mechanics was carried out by international scholars [6-. As the development of fracture theory of concrete, the size effect of fracture parameters became the focal point in theory study. Karihaloo [ pointed out that the size effect of concrete strength strengthens with the increasing of components size, however, the size effect weakens when crack length decreased relative to the size of specimens. Hu [3, 10, 11] accounted for the size effect by applying the theory of boundary effect and carried out the concept of local fracture energy which changes with width of fracture process zone. Based on the fictitious crack model, an analytical method [12, 13] for predicting the effective fracture toughness of concrete of three-point bending notched beams is proposed and the effects of initial seam height ratio and height on fracture parameters were carried out by Wu and Xu. At present, research on shear fracture toughness of concrete is immature and there are almost no papers about the size effect of shear fracture toughness of concrete. Aiming at the issue, this paper conducts a study on the size effect of shear fracture toughness of concrete by using symmetrically single-edge notched specimen.