Determination of tensile strength of concrete and rocks by using the Brazilian test in the confrontation with the failure criteria

The paper presents the analysis of the Brazilian compression tests considering the possibilities of determining the proper tensile strength. These analyses include the precise designation of the stress field without singularity at the point of application of force, the evaluation of critical stress in the light of classical and contemporary failure criteria for a brittle material, and determination of the position of the point where the destructive crack is expected to be initiated in the sample.