Size Effect of Concrete in Uniaxial Tension

Abstract

In order to investigate the size effect of concrete, four sizes of rectangular prisms were tested in uniaxial tension. The cross sections of the prisms were 50x100mm, 100x100mm, 200x100mm and 400x100mm. The concrete was an ordinary one with the compressive strength of 34 MPa and the maximum aggregate size of 20mm. Notches were applied on four side faces and secondary flexure was completely eliminated during the test in order to obtain the exact nominal tensile strength. The size effect was analyzed by four factors, namely tensile strength, fracture energy, critical crack opening displacement and tension softening curves. Clear size dependence was observed in critical crack opening displacement and initial convexity of tension softening curves, and a slight size dependence was observed in tensile strength. On the other hand, size effect was unclear in fracture energy and other part of tension softening curves because of their scatters.