Modeling and evaluation of the fracture resistance of alkali-resistant glass fibre reinforced concrete under different loading rates

Alkali-resistant glass fibre reinforced concrete (AR-GFRC) has garnered significant interest due to its economic and environmental friendliness. Given the critical importance of evaluating the crack resistance of AR-GFRC under dynamic loading conditions and the size effect inherent in determined fracture parameters using traditional methods, this study aims to propose an analytical approach based on the boundary effect model. The goal is to predict the realistic dynamic tensile strength (ft) and fracture toughness (KIC) while elucidating the rate sensitivity of fracture resistance. Three-point bending tests were conducted on AR-GFRC with three different fibre volumes to investigate dynamic fracture behaviors under varying loading rates. By introducing discrete parameter and the microstructure characteristic parameter that account for material discontinuity and heterogeneity, the realistic dynamic ft and KIC of AR-GFRC can be directly obtained as closed-form solutions upon determining the maximum fracture load from the tests. The results revealed a substantial increase in ft and KIC with an improvement in the loading rate. However, due to relatively weakened fibre activities, the enhancement of dynamic fracture resistance decreases with the increase in fibre content and loading rate.