ABSTRACT
This paper comprises an experimental study to characterize the size effect and fracture behavior of plain and fiber-reinforced self-compacting concrete. To understand fracture behavior, geometrically similar plain and fiber-reinforced SCC specimens were casted and tested in a three-point bending setup under a closed loop servo-controlled testing machine. The non-linear fracture mechanics parameters such as fracture energy, length of process zone, brittleness number, critical mode I stress intensity factor, critical crack-tip opening displacement, size of fracture process zone for infinitely large specimens, and the crack growth resistance curve (R-curve) were determined using Bazant’s size effect method. The resistance against crack growth was high for fiber-reinforced specimens compared to that of plain specimens. It is concluded that fiber-reinforced concrete specimens show better behavior under crack propagation as compared to plain specimens.
