U-notched Dionysos-Pentelicon marble beams in three point bending: The effect of nonlinearity, anisotropy and microstructure

The failure of notched beams made from Dionysos-Pentelicon marble is studied in the present work, both experimentally and numerically. A series of properly designed three point bending tests were carried out using specimens with notches of various depths. The strain variation at strategic points of the specimens, as well as the deflection of the lower fibers and the notch mouth opening displacement were recorded during the tests as functions of the applied load. The experimental results were compared with the respective ones obtained from a linear elastic and isotropic numerical solution based on the Indirect Boundary Element Method. The agreement between them was found to be satisfactory for most quantities compared. Some discrepancies observed are critically discussed. It is indicated that ignoring the nonlinearity of the stress-strain relation as well as the anisotropy and microstructure of this type of marble may lead to fallacious conclusions.