Evaluation of Fracture Mechanics Parameters of Dam Concrete

Abstract

The mode I fracture behavior of dam concrete have been tested by notched cubic specimens and wedge splitting procedures allowing for stable crack growth. From the measured load-displacement curves, the specific fracture energy and the tension softening diagrams were derived. In the process to evaluate numerically the tension softening behavior the poly-linear approximation analysis method based on the fictitious crack model was used. Based on the experimental and analytical data a tension softening diagram was proposed for dam concrete and applied to the fracture analysis of concrete specimens. The results showed that the specific fracture energy of dam concrete determined by experiment was larger than that evaluated from both compressive strength and maximum size of aggregate. The load-displacement curves obtained from the fracture analysis using the proposed tension softening diagram agreed well with experimental results compared to those of the bi-linear or exponential function models.