Experimental Study on Dynamic Tensile Strength of Cement Mortar Using Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar Technique

The dynamic characterization of cement-based materials under high strain rates is fundamental to understand the material behavior in case of heavy earthquakes and dynamic events. Abram's law, which was originally formulated for cement-based materials under static loading, is not directly applicable to the dynamic loading condition. In this paper, a modified relationship has been proposed to evaluate the tensile strength of cement mortar. An extensive experiment was carried out to determine the effect of strain rate and water-to-cement (w/c) ratio on tensile strength of cement mortar. The dynamic characterization of tensile strength has been carried out by the split Hopkinson pressure bar at high strain rates. The results of the tests show a significant strain rate-sensitive behavior, exhibiting dynamic tensile strength of cement mortar increases with an increase in strain rate. The influence of w/c ratio on dynamic increase factor is minor. (C) 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.