Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials

Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials

The Effect of Water-Cement Ratio on the Brittleness and Fracture Characteristics of Fiber-Reinforced Self-Compacting Concrete

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
hadi Heydarpour 1
Habib Akbarzadeh Bengar 2
Siroos Gholampour 3
Mobin Afzali Rad 4
1 1- PhD Candidate, Department of Civil Engineering, Qaemshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qaemshahr, Iran
2 3- Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran,
3 2- Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Qaemshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qaemshahr, Iran
4 4- Assistant Professor Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Qaemshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qaemshahr, Iran
10.30478/jcsm.2024.471726.1376
Abstract
 A correct understanding of the failure mechanism of self-compacting concrete (SCC) plays an important role in the design of SCC structures and a better understanding of the behavior of structures made of it. Adding steel fibers in self-compacting concrete and different ratios of water to cement can change the cracking behavior and its failure parameters. Therefore, in this research, using 120 grooved beams under three-point bending test, the effect of water-cement ratio (w/c) on the fracture properties and ductility of fiber self-compacting concrete was investigated. The fracture parameters obtained in this study are total fracture energy ( ) and characteristic length ( ) from fracture work method (WFM) and initial fracture energy ( ), effective length of processing area ( ), brittleness number and fracture toughness from size effect method (SEM). The results showed that , with increasing w/c ratio from 0.35 to 0.7 decreased by 23% and 24% respectively. Also, with the increase of w/c ratio from 0.35 to 0.7, the value of parameter and  increased by 22 and 47%, respectively, while the brittleness number ( ) in SEM decreased by 14.5%. By decreasing the w/c ratio, the strength of the surface transition zone and cement paste increased and the ductility decreased. The ratio of fracture energy obtained from WFM ( ) to initial fracture energy obtained from SEM ( ) for different w/c ratios was equal to 9.9 with a coefficient of variation of 4%. Finally, the obtained values ​​for mechanical properties and test variables were used to develop multivariate prediction models for failure parameters of self-compacting concrete containing fibers with different w/c ratios, which have acceptable accuracy when compared with the results of other researchers.
Keywords
Fracture Parameters
Brittleness Number
Fracture Toughness
Self-Compacting Concrete

Subjects

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  • Receive Date 07 August 2024
  • Revise Date 16 December 2024
  • Accept Date 16 December 2024