A Review on Studies of Fracture Parameters of Self-compacting Concrete

Abstract

In the recent past, the use of self-compacting concrete (SSC) as a primary structural material in complex structures such as tall buildings, submerged structures, bridges, dams, liquid and gas containment structure has increased enormously. Proper understanding of the structural behavior of SCC is absolutely necessary in designing complex concrete structures. Due to the presence of micro‐cracks and other inherent flaws, the strength of the concrete structure decreases. Engineering fracture mechanics can deliver the methodology to compensate the inadequacies of conventional design concepts. It might be expected that SCC would exhibit more brittle behavior than normal/conventional concrete. The improved pore structure and better densification of matrix have great influence on the fracture characteristics of SCC. It is widely agreed that the strength, elastic modulus and fracture resistance of SCC decreases slightly with increased paste content. Increasing the volume of paste tends to make SCC brittle. Due to the quasi‐brittle nature of concrete; various computational fracture models have been developed to study the crack characterizing parameters in concrete structures, such as fictitious crack model, crack band model, two parameter fracture model, size effect model, smeared crack model, cohesive crack band model and effective crack model. Compared to conventional vibrated concrete, self‐compacting concrete often has a higher susceptibility to crack due to different mixture design, material properties and construction practices. Many studies have addressed the SCC fracture properties using different computational models. As mentioned above, all these studies are purely computational and there is no support or evidence from the experiments. This paper deals with presenting the various models as well as experimental investigations that have already been conducted by some of the researchers to study the exposure of self-compacting concrete to crack.