Experimental and numerical analysis of matrix cracking in brittle composites

Inorganic Phosphate cement (IPC) is a cementitious material developed at the "Vrije Universiteit Brussel" which can be reinforced with E-glass fibres. In order to improve its application in civil engineering constructions like wall and roof panels, the constitutive behaviour of IPC should be fully understood and accurately modelled. Using a stochastic cracking theory, the averaged matrix crack distance can be calculated as a function of the applied stress. This theory is experimentally verified using a stereomicroscope equipped with a video camera and image acquisition board. It is shown that the experimentally obtained value of the average crack distance as a function the applied stress correlates quite well with the theoretically obtained value.