Abstract:
The fracture process including crack initiation, stable crack propagation and unstable fracture in concrete can be described quantitatively by the double-
K fracture criterion. In this paper, the three-point bending concrete beam specimens are classified in 7 groups, with the initial crack-depth ratios set from 0.3 to 0.9, respectively. The initial fracture toughness
KICini and unstable fracture toughness
KICun are calculated from the initial load
Pini, the maximum load
Pmax and critical crack mouth open displacement
CMODC. The results indicate that if the initial crack-depth ratios are between 0.3 and 0.7, the concrete crack propagation process will go through crack initiation, crack propagation and unstable fracture, and the double-
K fracture parameters are independent of an initial crack-depth ratio. If the initial crack-depth ratio is greater than 0.8, the concrete crack enters the stage of unstable fracture when initial cracking happens, and the initial load is equal to the maximum load, and
KICini is still independent of an initial crack-depth ratio. Therefore,
KICini can be calculated from
Pini, which equals to
Pmax when the initial crack-depth ratio equals to or greater than 0.8. Compared to the previous method, the results are more accurate, and the test method is simpler.