Rupture probability of coarse aggregate on fracture surface of concrete

Abstract

In this work, the fracture surface of concrete was analyzed by the digital image analysis (DIA) technique, and the rupture probability of the coarse aggregate (RPCA) was used to represent the failure mode of the aggregate at the fracture surface. The relationships between the RPCA, the water-binder ratio (W/B), and the size and type of coarse aggregate were investigated. Preliminary results showed that: (1) RPCA increases with decreasing W/B of concrete. (2) RPCA of concrete with coarse aggregates having a maximum size of 16 mm is higher than that with other sizes of coarse aggregate. The influence of the size of coarse aggregate on the RPCA is more significant in high strength concrete than in normal strength concrete. (3) With reduction of W/B, the interfacial bond of concrete with crushed gravel improves more significantly than with round gravel according to their RPCA. (4) RPCA depends not only on the intrinsic strength, size, and shape but also on the reactivity of the coarse aggregate.