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Effect of water to cement ratio on the mode III fracture energy of self-compacting concrete

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Abstract

This paper is an experimental research in order to evaluate the effect of various water to cement (W/C) ratios on the mode III fracture energy of self-compacting concrete. Mix designs with different W/C ratios of 0.45, 0.55 and 0.65 were examined. The experiment was performed on cylindrical specimens of similar geometry and different dimensions, having initial circumferential notch loaded in torsion. In order to calculate the mode III fracture energy of concrete, Bazant’s size-effect law was used. The results of the experiment showed that as W/C ratio increased from 0.45 to 0.65, mode III fracture energy of self-compacting concrete decreased by 24%. This difference appears to be due to the porosity and strength reduction of cement paste and the interfacial transition zone at high W/C ratios. It was thus observed that by increasing the W/C ratio, brittleness number is increased.

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Acknowledgements

Authors would like to appreciate the faculty members of Faculty of Civil Engineering at Babol Noshirvani Univeresity of Technology of Iran who kindly conducted the research and suggested useful comments and modifications.

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  1. Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Babol, Islamic Republic of Iran

    S. Firoozi, M. Dehestani & B. Navayi Neya

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  1. S. Firoozi
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  2. M. Dehestani
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  3. B. Navayi Neya
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Correspondence to M. Dehestani.

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Firoozi, S., Dehestani, M. & Navayi Neya, B. Effect of water to cement ratio on the mode III fracture energy of self-compacting concrete. Mater Struct 51, 80 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-018-1208-x

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