Determination of Tensile Strength at Crack Initiation in Dynamic Brazilian Disc Test for Concrete-like Materials

Concrete is a brittle material whose tensile strength is about one-tenth of its compressive strength. Tensile strength is a key parameter for concrete under impact loading. When a turning point occurs before peak load in the load–time curve from the dynamic Brazilian disc test, there is no basis for choosing the turning point or the peak load to calculate the tensile strength. The objective of this study is determining the crack initiation tensile stress at the turning point or the peak. The method contrasts the time duration from Digital image correlation (DIC) and the load–time curve from a split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) system in order to obtain the load value when cracking first appears. The crack initiation tensile strength is less than the peak strength for concrete specimens with a turning point in the load–time curve. The crack initiation tensile strength is equal to the peak strength for concrete specimens without a turning point in the load–time curve. The proposed method is successfully applied to determine crack initiation of concrete specimens and obtain tensile strength at crack initiation of concrete specimens.

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