Influence of specimen size on compression behavior of cement paste and mortar under high strain rates

Abstract

Static and dynamic compression tests were carried out on mortar and paste specimens of three sizes (ϕ68 mm×32 mm, ϕ59 mm×29.5 mm and ϕ32 mm×16 mm) to study the influence of specimen size on the compression behavior of cement-based materials under high strain rates. The static tests were applied using a universal servo-hydraulic system, and the dynamic tests were applied by a spilt Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) system. The experimental results show that for mortar and paste specimens, the dynamic compressive strength is greater than the quasi-static one, and the dynamic compressive strength for specimens of large size is lower than those of small size. However, the dynamic increase factors (DIF) has an opposite trend. Obviously, both strain rate and size effect exist in mortar and paste. The test results were then analyzed using Weibull, Carpinteri and Bažant’s size effect laws. A good agreement between these three laws and the test results was reached on the compressive strength. However, for the experimental results of paste and cement mortar, the size effect is not evident for the peak strain and elastic modulus of paste and cement mortar.