Investigation of the applicability potential of compact splitting specimens according to the concrete fracture

As a quasi-brittle material, concrete has many cracks, voids, and defects, and a cracked concrete/reinforced concrete structure can only be realistically analyzed using the principles of fracture mechanics. For this purpose, nonlinear fracture mechanics principles are proposed by many researchers in parallel with developments in the technological and numerical fields. Although beam specimens are widely used in the fracture mechanics of concrete, it has been observed that cube and cylinder specimens with major cracks have some advantages in terms of portability and lightness. In recent years, successful applications of this type of specimens in the fracture mechanics of concrete have been given in the literature. As a continuation of this search, compact square prismatic specimens with edge cracks have been developed as an alternative to splittiry specimens and have been successfully demonstrated in an experimental study. The scope of the previous limited study was expanded in this thesis by using concrete mixtures with varying maximum aggregate sizes (4, 8, 16 and 25 mm). The experimental data (specimen peak compressive values, i.e. fracture loads) were analyzed using the two-parameter model, one of the equivalent elastic crack models available in the literature. Three-point bending tests on notched beam specimens with 4 and 8 mm aggregate mixtures were also performed to compare the results. The peak loads of the beams were calculated using the two-parameter and effective crack models. The analyses revealed that the outcomes were quite consistent.