Identification of AAAS Composites Mechanical Fracture Parameters

Abstract

The paper deals with selected alkali-activated aluminosilicate (AAAS) composites based on ceramic precursors in terms of characterization by mechanical fracture parameters. Two composites made of brick dust as a precursor and an alkaline activator with a silicate modulus Ms = 1.0 were investigated. The composites differed in the fineness of grinding of the precursor – in the first set it was 0 to 1 mm, in the second set 0 to 0.3 mm. The filler was crushed brick. The test specimens had nominal dimensions of 40 × 40 × 160 mm and were provided with notches in the middle of the span up to 1/3 of the depth of the specimens after 28 days of hardening. Five to six specimens from each composite set were tested. The specimens were subjected to three-point bending tests, in which force vs. displacement (deflection in the middle of the span) diagrams (F–d diagrams) and force vs. crack mouth opening displacement (F–CMOD) diagrams were recorded. After correction of these diagrams, the values of static modulus of elasticity, effective fracture toughness, effective toughness and specific fracture energy were determined using the Effective Crack Model and the Work-of-Fracture method. After the fracture experiments, the values of informative compressive strength were determined on one of the fractured parts. At the same time, the values of static modulus of elasticity, tensile strength and specific fracture energy were identified using artificial neural networks and F–d diagrams measured and simulated in the ATENA FEM software. All evaluations included the determination of basic statistics of parameters.