Determination of Tensile Strength and Crack Growth of a Typical Polymer Concrete Using Circular Disc Samples

Subject Areas : Smart & Advanced Materials

م.ر.م علیها ¹ , م. حیدری رارانی ² , م.م. شکریه ³ , م.ر آیت اللهی ⁴

1 - Assistant Professor, Welding and Joining Research Center, School of Industrial Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, 16846-13114, Tehran, Iran
2 - Ph. D. Student, Composites Research Laboratory, Center of Excellence in Experimental Solid Mechanics and Dynamics, School of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, 16846-13114, Tehran, Iran
3 - Professor, Composites Research Laboratory, Center of Excellence in Experimental Solid Mechanics and Dynamics, School of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, 16846-13114, Tehran, Iran
4 - Professor, Fatigue and Fracture Laboratory, Center of Excellence in Experimental Solid Mechanics and Dynamics, School of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, 16846-13114, Tehran, Iran

Received: 2015-06-07 Accepted : 2015-06-07 Published : 2012-11-01

Keywords: Polymer Concrete, Brazilian Disc Test Specimen, Mode I Fracture Toughness, Indirect Tensile Strength,

Abstract :

Cracked and un-cracked Brazilian disc specimens subjected to diametral compression were used for conducting fracture toughness and tensile strength experiments on a polymer concrete (PC) material. The value of mode I fracture toughness (KIc) was determined from the center- cracked Brazilian disc and the indirect tensile strength (σt) was obtained from the un-cracked Brazilian disc specimen. The experiments showed the practical applicability of both cracked and un-cracked specimens for using as suitable techniques for measuring KIc and σt in PC materials. The average values of KIc and σt of tested PC were about 1.5 MPa√m and 8 MPa, respectively which are significantly greater than the corresponding values of KIc and σt obtained for conventional cement concrete tested with the same Brazilian disc specimens. Hence, for those structural applications that the risk of tensile rupture and crack growth is high, polymer concretes are more suitable candidates in comparison with the conventional cement concretes.