Abstract
This paper is an experimental research in order to evaluate the effect of various water to cement (W/C) ratios on the mode III fracture energy of self-compacting concrete. Mix designs with different W/C ratios of 0.45, 0.55 and 0.65 were examined. The experiment was performed on cylindrical specimens of similar geometry and different dimensions, having initial circumferential notch loaded in torsion. In order to calculate the mode III fracture energy of concrete, Bazant’s size-effect law was used. The results of the experiment showed that as W/C ratio increased from 0.45 to 0.65, mode III fracture energy of self-compacting concrete decreased by 24%. This difference appears to be due to the porosity and strength reduction of cement paste and the interfacial transition zone at high W/C ratios. It was thus observed that by increasing the W/C ratio, brittleness number is increased.
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