Study of the fracture behavior of mortar and concretes with crushed rock or pebble aggregates

Abstract

The objective of this work was to compare the fracture energy of mortar and concretes produced with crushed rock and pebble aggregates using zero, 10, 20, 30 and 40% of aggregates mixed with standard mortar and applying the wedge splitting method to achieve stable crack propagation. The samples were cast in a special mold and cured for 28 days, after which they were subjected to crack propagation tests by the wedge splitting method to determine the fracture energies of the mortar and concrete. The concretes showed higher fracture energy than the mortar, and the concretes containing crushed rock showed higher resistance to crack propagation than all the compositions containing pebbles. The fracture energy varied from 38 to 55 J.m -2. A comparison of the number of aggregates that separated from the two concrete matrices with the highest fracture energies indicated that the concrete containing pebbles crumbled more easily and was therefore less resistant to crack propagation.

Wedge splitting test method: quantification of influence of glued marble plates by two-parameter fracture mechanics

“…Here, the initial notch was made by inserting a steel plate into the specimens during the casting and the plate was taken out after one day. The use of special moulds to produce notch and grooves in mortar samples has been widely reported [28]. However, this method is generally applicable for concretes with small aggregate size.…”

Experimental investigations on mode II fracture of concrete with crushed granite stone fine aggregate replacing sand

“…Ribero et al 5 compared the Mode -I fracture energy of mortar and concrete produced with crushed rock and pebble aggregates using 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% of aggregates mixed with standard mortar and applying wedge splitting test for stable crack growth. The concrete with crushed rock show higher crack growth resistance than those with pebbles.…”

Investigação da propagação estável de trinca pelo método da cunha em refratários: tijolo e concreto

“…Até pouco tempo não se utilizava o método da cunha no Brasil, mas em 2006 teve início a implantação desse método no GEMM/DEMa/UFSCar e no DEMAR/EEL/USP (9,16,54,57,(62)(63)(64)(65)(66)(67)(68)(69)(70)(71)(72)(73)(74)(75)(76)(77) , e conforme pode ser observado pelas publicações citadas nas referência, pode ser considerado um método bastante eficaz.…”