An Experimental Study on Fracture Energy of Plain Concrete

In this study, the concrete fracture energy was obtained using the three point notched beam test method developed by Hillerborg et al. (Cem Concr Res 6(6):773–782, 1976). A total of 12 notched concrete beams were tested under two different loading conditions: constant stroke control and constant crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) control. Despite individual fracture energies obtained from the two different loading conditions showing some variation, the average fracture energy from both loading conditions was very similar. Furthermore, the results obtained support the idea that a far tail constant “A” could change the true fracture energy by up to 11 %, if it is calculated using CMOD instead of LVDT. The far tail constant “A” is determined using a least squares fit onto a straight line according to Elices et al. (Mater Struct 25(148):212–218, 1992) and RILEM report (2007). It was also observed that the selection of the end point can produce variations of the true fracture energy. The end point indicates the point in the experiment at which to stop. An end point of 2 mm has been recommended, however, in this study other end points were also considered. The final form of the bilinear softening curve was determined based on Elices and Guinea’s methods (1992, 1994) and RILEM report (2007). This paper proposes a bilinear stress–crack opening displacement curve according to test results as well as the CEB-FIP model code.