A new approach for fracture process zone evaluation

Abstract

The study presents a novel method for identifying and monitoring the fracture process zone and its impact on cracking parameters, such as damage rate and fracture energy. Concrete samples subjected to a Wedge Splitting Test were investigated. Digital Image Correlation, a full-field measurement technique, was utilized to measure the experimental displacement fields at various scales. The experimental measurements, optimized through a Newton-Raphson iterative adjustment procedure, revealed the presence of a damaged zone accompanying the cracking process. This analysis also enabled the estimation of the material damage rate and provided a more realistic assessment of cracking parameters by integrating the entire process of damage and macro-cracking into the calculation of fracture energy. The results suggest that the appearance of a fracture process zone correlates with a reduction in the material’s hardness downstream of the crack propagation front.