Abstract
The fracture mechanism of concrete may be considered as a series of crack-propagation processes within the cement paste phase. From such a viewpoint, this paper presents a stochastic theory for concrete fracture under simple loading, in which, not only the stochastic characteristic of the process, but also the statistical stress distpibution due to material defects, is taken into consideration. The adequancy of this theory has been ascertained by comparison with the results of previous experimental investigations. The effect of environmental temperature on fracture strength is described as follows : lnΛ_<temp>=C・(λ_T-1) where Λ_<temp>=strength ratio : (σ/σ_0), C=const., λ_T=absolute temperature ratio : (T/T_0) The stress rate effect on fracture strength is shown as follows : Λ_<atr>=σ^^-/σ^^-_0=(σ^^・/σ^^・_0)^ζ
