Crack Growth and Lifetime of Concrete under Long Time Loading

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Abstract
Edge-notched eccentrically compressed fracture specimens made of aggregate of reduced size are loaded in standard creep test frames. Measurements of the time rate of crack mouth opening in notched concrete specimens subjected to constant load of almost one month duration are reported and analyzed. To reveal the size effect, geometrically similar specimens of four sizes in the ratio 1:2:4:8 are tested. The results are successfully described by a previously proposed time-dependent generalization of the R-curve model, in which the rate of crack growth is a function of the ratio of the stress intensity factor to the R-curve, and linear aging viscoelastic creep in the bulk of the specimen is treated according to the operator method. Good predictions are also obtained with a simplified method in which the R-curve is replaced by a constant asymptotic value of the critical stress intensity factor and creep is handled in similarity to the effective modulus method, neglecting the history effect. The time curves of ...