Materials and Structures (2013) 46:18931918 DOI 10.

1617/s11527-013-0028-2

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Double edge wedge splitting (DEWS): an indirect tension test to identify post-cracking behaviour of bre reinforced cementitious composites
Marco di Prisco Liberato Ferrara Marco G. L. Lamperti

Received: 2 August 2012 / Accepted: 14 February 2013 / Published online: 20 February 2013 RILEM 2013

Abstract Experimental identication of the tensile constitutive behaviour of bre reinforced cementitious composites represents a foremost step in design approaches for structural elements made with this kind of advanced construction materials. To this purpose, international standards and guidelines recommend either direct tension or/and bending tests, coupled with an inverse analysis procedure, both featuring pros and cons which have been exhaustively highlighted and discussed in these last years. The tremendous developments of self compacting bre reinforced concretes have furthermore highlighted the need of duly taking into account, within the aforementioned identication procedure, the likely owinduced alignment of bres with the applied tensile stress. In this paper a novel experimental testing technique, called double edge wedge splitting test, has been presented and validated, also by means of nonlinear nite element analysis. The test, as it will be shown, is able to yield directly, i.e. with no need for back analysis, the tensile stress versus crack opening constitutive relationship of the material, though performing an indirect test, i.e. by applying a compressive load to the specimen. Both the simplicity of the indirect tensile testing technique and the straightforwardness of the identication procedure surely represent a distinctive and extremely attractive
M. di Prisco L. Ferrara (&) M. G. L. Lamperti Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy e-mail: liberato.ferrara@polimi.it

characteristic of the proposed test. Furthermore, the test features a compact specimen geometry, which can be even easily cored from existing structures, and a notch preordained fracture plane, which can be aligned to any desired angle with respect to the expected ow-induced bre orientation. This makes the proposed test suitable for a thorough characterization of the inuence of bre orientation on the material constitutive behaviour, as it may be required by a casting process tailored to the intended applications. Keywords High performance ber reinforced cementitious composites Tensile behaviour Fiber orientation Double edge wedge splitting test

1 Introduction The mechanical behaviour of high performance bre reinforced cementitious composites (HPFRCCs) is highly affected by the alignment of bres to the applied tensile stress. As a matter of fact, bre orientation can be effectively governed by the casting ow thanks to superior performance in the fresh state (e.g. high owability or self compactability) [1]. Furthermore, due to their higher specic gravity, some bres, such as steel ones, can undergo static segregation within the uid mixture when at rest. This phenomenon prevents the through thickness homogeneity of the composites material, which can affect both bending and membrane behaviour, the last one not

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seldom governing the structural performance of HPFRCC structural applications [2]. In a design oriented perspective, the aforementioned issues related to the dispersion and orientation of bres, have to be suitably taken into account when characterizing the mechanical behaviour of the material, which is highly sensitive to the alignment of bres with respect to the applied tensile stress, thus possibly resulting in an even strong anisotropy. Direct tensile test (DTT) on dog-bone/dumbbell specimens has been widely employed in research for the mechanical characterization of HPFRCCs [3, 4]. As a matter of fact, DTT allows the direct identication of the relationships between the stress versus either strain (smeared crack opening) or (localized) crack opening, which respectively characterize the stable multiple cracking pre-peak response and the post-peak softening behaviour following the unstable localization of a major crack. Furthermore, through DTTs, the crack pattern can be immediately and effectively visualized. It is by the way worth remarking that, right because of their shape, these specimens have to be purposely cast and hardly can be cut or core-drilled from existing structures or larger companion samples. This is evidently due to the need of suitably reinforcing specimen end regions to prevent spurious fracture modes. This feature, together with specimen shape and size, makes it impossible to test the uniaxial tensile response of the material for different ow-induced orientation of the bres with respect to the applied stress. Furthermore, a dedicated test set-up is needed, with closed loop control, and gripping devices exactly complying with the tapered geometry of the specimen ends, or an elaborate gluing procedure. Several international standards [57] also recommend either three- or four-point bending tests to be performed on beam specimens, manufactured in such a way that the casting procedure of the intended structural application is reproduced as close as possible, mainly with reference to the ow-induced orientation of the bres with respect to the applied tensile stress. Anyway, even if beam specimens can be easily obtained from larger companion slabs of suitable size, representing relevant parts of the structure, they hardly can be obtained from existing structures, e.g. for an on-the-site quality control and structure assessment. Furthermore, a back analysis procedure is always required to identify the uniaxial tensile stress

versus crack opening constitutive relationship [810]. This relationship will always be affected by bre segregation, that is not completely unavoidable and may not be negligible even in thin section [1], and which may furthermore result into a not adequate over- or under-estimation (if the beams are tested upside down to casting) of shear or membrane behaviour. Anyway the bending test is always required in order to classify the material and assess its eventual deection hardening capability [11]. Alternative test methods have been recently proposed to overcome mainly the difculties of either dedicated set-up of direct tension tests or dedicated specimen manufacturing procedure which direct tensile and bending tests both feature, making it impossible to assess the actual toughness of FRCCs in existing structures. Among them the Double Punch (Barcelona) test is surely worth a [12], because of both the high suitability of the specimen shape and size (a 150 mm high cylinder with a 150 mm diameter, which can be easily cored from existing structures) and the simplicity of the test set up and procedure, which employs a compression testing machine and measures the total circumferential crack opening, not differently than in compression tests. As a matter of fact the test proved itself highly suitable to measure the total energy dissipated along the fracture process, but hardly any information could be obtained on the stress-crack opening relationship, at least to the present state of published research, mainly because of the unpredictability of the number of fracture planes which will be created as a result of the cracking process. Furthermore, the test has been calibrated on ordinary FRCs and, due to the specimen shape and size, no information about the bre orientation dependence of the material behaviour could be obtained. In order to overcome the aforementioned difculties, in this paper a new test is proposed for the identication of the tensile behaviour of HPFRCCs. Following the analogy between three point bending and wedge splitting tests, originally suggested by hwiler and Wittmann (Fig. 1a) [13], a double-edge Bru wedge splitting (DEWS) geometry has been conceived, as shown in Fig. 1. The proposed set-up, like both the Brazilian and the wedge-splitting tests, allows a tensile test to be indirectly performed by applying compressive loads, thus avoiding the need of gluing specimen end faces to press platens and of detailing

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the specimen ends in order to prevent end fracture. On the other hand, unlike in Brazilian splitting tests, in DEWS test crosswise compressive stresses are deviated far from the ligament, thanks to the suitably conceived test geometry, and a pure mode I fracture (uniaxial tensile stress state) is likely to be induced along the ligament. As a result, once the transverse tensile stress induced along the ligament by the applied compressive load has been calculated by means of simple equilibrium equations and the crack opening displacement (COD) across the ligament itself has been measured, the constitutive stressCOD relationship can be directly identied from the results of DEWS tests without any need for inverse analysis. In this respect, the DEWS test can be regarded as equivalent to a rotating ends uniaxial tension test (Fig. 1b). It is anyway worth mentioning, with respect to rotating ends uniaxial tensions tests, that, because of the rotations, there will always be a strain gradient over the ligament, which actually makes an inverse analysis necessary if exact stressCOD relation according to the Hillerborg concept should be identied [14, 15]. The spatial uncoupling between tensile and compressive stresses represents a distinctive feature of the DEWS test, which furthermore avoids the development of plastic deformations in the small area beneath the loading device, which may be quite signicant in the case of (highly) ductile bre reinforced cement based materials. The same result cannot be achieved with the Brazilian splitting tensile test, which remains only suitable to identify, in case,

the rst cracking strength of the material [16], only in the case when bres do not contribute to stable crack propagation, because no pure mode I fracture is induced in the crack process. In this paper, after a brief description of the test geometry and methodology, a series of experimental results will be presented and discussed, also by means of a validation performed through the aid of non-linear nite element analysis. Finally, in the framework of a design-oriented identication of the constitutive tensile behaviour of the material, as affected by the ow-driven alignment of bres, the potentials and the reliability of the proposed test will be highlighted with reference to a dedicated set of experimental DEWS and 4-point bending tests, through cross-wise comparison of results.

2 Test description and calibration The DEWS test distinctively features the possibility of inducing on the critical cross section of the specimen (ligament) a pure mode I fracture. This is accomplished though a tensile stress state indirectly induced by applying a compressive load, like in the Brazilian test, but always keeping the transverse tensile and the longitudinal compressive stresses uncoupled from each other (Fig. 2). In order to achieve this goal, starting from a thin square specimens, two triangular grooves, with a 45 inclination, have been created along two opposite edges: the load application device (a steel roller directly pushed by the machine platens) can be accommodated into these grooves. After some preliminary tests, as it will be further detailed, it has been decided to further modify the specimen geometry, by cutting two notches starting from the groove vertices. This has been meant as instrumental in both clearly identifying the ligament and moving the crack tip ahead of the highly stressed load application zones. As shown in Fig. 2, the roller is wedged into the groove: the 45 inclined groove edges deviate the compressive stress paths away from the ligament, which thus remains subjected to a pure tensile stress state indirectly induced by the wedging action. This is analogous to a classical uniaxial tension test with rotating end platens, where the position of the force is xedly aligned to the axis passing through the two end-pins, and the ligament may generally undergo a

Fig. 1 Analogy between the wedge splitting test and the three point bending test (a) and between the double edge wedge splitting test and the direct tension test with rotating end platyens (b)

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specimen under the applied compressive vertical load and measure the transverse tensile force actually transmitted to the intended fracture surface (Fig. 4). The most reliable results were obtained by gluing brass platens to the groove edges and lubricating the contact surface with graphite, which resulted in a friction coefcient l = 0.06 and consequently in a splitting tensile force FSP = 0.89 P.

3 Experimental results 3.1 Preliminary tests: geometry optimization In order to assess the reliability of the test geometry and set-up, a series of preliminary experimental tests was performed on specimens made with a HPFRCC. The material composition, detailed in Table 1, was optimized to achieve self consolidating properties in the fresh state together with a good ability to disperse the bres, and, in case, orientate them along the direction of the casting ow [1]. Specimens employed for preliminary DEWS tests were obtained by cutting a larger slab (1.2 m wide 9 2.5 m long 9 25 mm thick), cast as a prototype of HPFRCC structural applications [17]. No tailored procedure was adopted when casting the slab; this may have most likely resulted in a random

Fig. 2 Force diagram in double edge wedge splitting test specimen

not-symmetrical crack propagation, originating from either notch. The contact between the rollers and the groove edges has been carefully detailed in order to minimize friction, which, through a tangential force, may affect the transverse tensile load induced on the ligament (Fig. 2). Brass platens have been applied to the groove edges and three different contact solutions were examined: direct contact between the steel roller and the brass plates; insertion of a Teon layer and use of graphite as a lubricant. As from simple equilibrium considerations (Fig. 2), the transverse splitting tensile force FSP induced by the applied vertical load P can be calculated as: Fsp P cos # l sin # sin # l cos # 1

where # is the inclination angle of the wedge grooves (# = 45), l if the friction coefcient, depending on the contact detail. The friction coefcient was measured by means of a dedicated testing apparatus (Fig. 3), conceived to simulate the behaviour of the

Fig. 3 Experimental apparatus for the determination of the ction coefcient

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electromechanical INSTRON machine and controlling the displacement of the actuator at a speed ranging from 0.2 to 0.5 lm/s, as a function of the crack propagation stage. In order to accurately detect and track the crack propagation, three LVDTs were placed on each side of the specimen to measure the COD at the tip of the top and bottom notches and at mid-height of the specimen (see again Fig. 5 for details). An overall view of the preliminary test results is provided in Fig. 6, in terms of nominal tensile stress SP (rN = tF hlig , with FSP calculated as from Eq. (1), t specimen thickness and hlig ligament depth) versus COD evolutions. As expected, due to the random orientation of the bres with respect to the ligament in

Fig. 4 Evaluation of friction coefcient from transverse versus longitudinal load curves

Table 1 Mix-design of HPFRCC employed in this study Constituent Cement Slag Sand 02 mm Water Superplasticizer Steel bers (lf = 13 mm; df = 0.16 mm) Quantity (kg/m3) 600 500 982 200 33 (lt/m3) 100

orientation of the bres and, consequently, in an expectable quite larger scattering of experimental results. Furthermore, downward settlement of bres, due to their higher specic gravity, is also likely to occur. In DEWS tests this scantly affects the load bearing capacity, even if the larger concentration of bres on one side of the specimen may cause an uneven through thickness crack propagation: as a matter of fact the layer poorer in bres (towards the mould-side surface of the slab, as cast) is weaker, and this results in an out of plane rotation, as it will be further shown. Preliminary tests were performed on two different geometries (Fig. 5a, b), differing because of the presence of 10 mm deep notches originating from the groove vertices. Three tests per each geometry were performed, employing a 100 kN capacity

Fig. 5 Details of specimen geometries employed for preliminary tests (a, b) and of the measuring instrument arrangement

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thickness of the specimens, is likely to govern this phenomenon. The in- and out-of plane rotations have been then computed from measured values of COD and distances between the instruments and are shown in Fig. 7g, h respectively. It can be observed that the in-plane rotations are far larger than the out-of-plane ones at the end of the test. Furthermore, the growth of the formers mostly occurs during the unstable crack propagation stage, unlike the latter ones, which exhibit signicant growth during the stable crack propagation, remaining almost constant thereafter. Similar statements also hold for the specimen with notches as shown in Fig. 8. 3.2 Preliminary tests: assessing sensitivity to ow-driven bre orientation
Fig. 6 Preliminary tests: nominal stress versus COD evolution

different specimens, test results feature a large experimental scattering, as also witnessed by the values of maximum loads and tensile stresses, summarized in Table 2. It is worth remarking that in the graph reference has been made to the average value, between front and rear face of each specimen, of the COD measured at mid-depth of the ligament. A deeper insight into test results for each of the employed geometries is further shown in Figs. 7 and 8. First of all it can be observed that the actuator stroke always monotonically increases and can be hence reliably adopted as a control parameter. Focusing on the specimen geometry shown in Fig. 5a (without notches), a not symmetric crack propagation both in- and out of the plane of the specimen (Fig. 7c, d, e, f) can be observed. As expectable, uneven bre dispersion, also through the

The possibility of aligning the bres along the direction of the casting ow surely represents one among the most challenging goals achievable through suitable adaption of the fresh state performance of bre reinforced cementitious composites. As a consequence, the casting process can be designed to effectively achieve an orientation of the bres tailored to the intended application, which is along the direction of the principal tensile stresses within a structural element under relevant combination of actions. This is of the utmost importance, primarily in membrane and shell structures, whose constructability, mechanical performance and aesthetical value may highly benet from the opportunities by the HPFRCC technology. In order to assess both the effectiveness of a ow driven bre alignment and the suitability of the DEWS test to identify the inuence of the latter on the tensile behaviour of HPFRCCs, a 1 m long 9 0.5 m wide 9 30 mm thick slab was cast, still with the

Table 2 Results of preliminary tests Specimen Peak load (kN) Tensile strength (MPa) 3.65 6.71 9.12 7.83 5.16 8.21 Average 6.78 MPa (std. dev. 2.05 MPa) Crack starting notch Down Up Up Down Down Down

Unnotched

1 2 3

7.56 13.87 19.97 16.19 10.66 16.98

Notched

1 2 3

Materials and Structures (2013) 46:18931918 Fig. 7 Preliminary tests on unnotched specimens: control parameters (a); crack propagation (b); nominal stress versus: COD at mid height (c), upper (d) and lower groove vertex (e); average (front-rear) COD (f); in-plane (g) and out-of-plane rotations (h)

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mix detailed in Table 1, according to the casting procedure schematically shown in Fig. 9. The investigation also included a detailed survey of the owinduced bre dispersion and orientation by means of a recently developed non-destructive magnetic method, which has been already presented in detail elsewhere [18]. At the end of the survey, DEWS specimens were

cut from the slab, according to the scheme shown in Fig. 9, and tested, still according to the set-up shown in Fig. 5b. Figure 10 shows the experimental results in terms of nominal tensile stress, computed as above, versus COD curves: as already shown in [19], the local dispersion and orientation of bres are evidently

1900 Fig. 8 Preliminary tests on notched specimen: control parameters (a); crack propagation (b); nominal stress versus: COD at mid height (c), upper (d) and lower groove vertex (e); average (front-rear) COD (f); in-plane (g) and out-ofplane rotations (h)

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responsible for the measured experimental scattering, even among specimens extracted from the same structural element. It is also worth noting that the ow-induced orientation of the bres resulted in a strong anisotropy of the material behaviour, which features a strain hardening capacity when bres are aligned with the tensile stress indirectly induced along the ligament, whereas it falls within the range of ordinary (strain-softening) FRCs in the case of an unfavourable orientation of the bres.

4 Numerical validation: continuum damage modelling The experimental results shown in Fig. 10 are actually representative of a wide range of material constitutive relationships, as affected by the ow induced dispersion and orientation of the bres. Due to this signicance they have been chosen for a numerical validation of the proposed test. Three cases will be hereafter investigated: those exhibiting the lowermost

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Fig. 9 Schematics of slab casting and of DEWS specimen cutting for tests featuring ow-driven orientation of bres

Fig. 10 Experimental stress-COD curves for DEWS tests featuring different ow driven alignment of bres on the ligament

and uppermost capacity among the specimens featuring a strain hardening behaviour, respectively denoted as specimens H1 and H2, and one (average specimen)

among those featuring a post-cracking strain softening response (denoted as specimen S). The numerical validation has been performed describing the material behaviour through the Crush-Crack model [20, 21], formulated in the framework of Continuum Damage Mechanics and implemented in the nite element code Cast3M [22]. The input constitutive relationships have been identied from the experimental stress-COD curves according to the procedure described hereafter, where the two cases of either a post-cracking softening or a strain hardening behaviour have been separately analyzed. In the former case, besides the rst cracking strength fFt, dened as the maximum value of the nominal tensile stress up to a COD value equal to 0.05 mm, the residual stresses have been identied in correspondence of COD values equal to 0.5 and 2.5 mm, and respectively denoted as fFT,0.5 and fFT,2.5. In the case of a post-cracking hardening behaviour, besides the rst cracking strength, dened as above, the peak stress fFt,peak and the corresponding COD value CODpeak have also to be considered, as well as the residual stresses in correspondence of COD values equal to [CODpeak ? 0.5 mm] and [CODpeak ? 2.5 mm],

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respectively denoted as fFt,peak?0.5 and fFt,peak2.5. This procedure is based on the concept of the equivalent opening of the localized (post-peak) crack and has been shown to yield consistent identication of material tensile constitutive relationships in both cases of strain softening and strain hardening behaviour [1]. For the complete denition of the tensile stress strain law, which has to be assigned in input to the nite element code, rst of all COD values had to be converted into strains. In the case of a strain softening material, crack opening values were thus divided by a localization limiter, assumed equal to the nite element size hel along the ligament (in the analyses herein performed hel = 1.66 mm, unless otherwise specied). This localization limiter coincides with the structural characteristic length as dened in Model Code 2010 (MC2010) when a nite element approach is employed for the analysis of FRC structures [8]. The post cracking residual branch was thus identied from the residual strength fFT,0.5 and fFT,2.5 and the corresponding strain values (0.5/hel and 2.5/hel); once identied as said, the softening branch was superimposed to the constitutive behaviour of the plain matrix, dened coherently with prescriptions given by MC2010. This was completely dened by the measured values of the tensile strength and the value of the fracture energy, calculated from the measured value of compressive strength through MC2010 equation (Fig. 11a). In the case of a strain hardening behaviour, the postpeak residual branch was identied as above, whereas a bilinear law was adopted for the pre-peak branch,

consisting of a rst linear elastic behaviour, up to 0.9 fFt, with fFt equal to the rst cracking strength, identied as above. The slope of this elastic branch was assumed equal to the Young modulus of the material, calculated through the MC2010 formulae starting from the measured value of the compressive strength. A further linear stage hence follows up to the peak strength fFT,peak. In the pre-peak stage crack openings were converted into strains dividing by the gauge length LCOD adopted in the experiments to measure the crack openings across the ligament (LCOD = 50 mm, as already shown in Fig. 5a, b). A linear stress decay from the peak strength to the rst residual stress fFT,peak?0.5 dened as above was nally assumed (Fig. 11b). Parameters dening the constitutive laws assigned in input to the nite element code for the three different analyzed cased are listed in Table 3. In Fig. 12a, b the mesh employed for the analyses is shown: the size of the elements, which has been kept constant along and across the ligament, has been employed also to convert the measured crack opening into strain, thus ensuring, because of the underlying energy based regularization algorithm, the mesh independence of the nite element solution (Fig. 12c). The good agreement between experimental and numerical results for the three investigated cases (Fig. 12d) stands as a rst proof of the reliability of the proposed procedure for the identication of the tensile constitutive behaviour of both strain hardening and softening HPFRCCs, with major emphasis on the specimen geometry and test set-up. Local instabilities and subsequent stress recovery, which features the

Fig. 11 constitutive relationships for strain-softening (a) and hardening (b) FRCCs

Materials and Structures (2013) 46:18931918 Table 3 Constitutive law parameters for analyzed cases fFt (N/mm2) S H1 H2 3.55 4.34 7.86 E (N/mm2) 42,600 42,600 42,600 fFt,peak (N/mm2) = 4.50 8.76 CODpeak (mm) = 1.16 0.72 2.32e-2 1.44e-2 epeak =
CODpeak LCOD

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fFt,0.5 or fFt,peak?0.5 (N/mm2) 2.68 4.26 7.80

fFt,2.5 or fFt,peak?2.5 (N/mm2) 2.34 2.58 3.11

experimental immediate post-cracking response even in the hardening case, most likely because of nonsymmetric crack propagation, are obviously not captured by the model, which enforces perfect symmetry. This topic would anyway deserve deeper investigation, e.g. by introducing local mechanical defect. The computed patterns of principal tensile and compressive stresses, shown in Fig. 13, for selected numerical steps (reference has been made to specimen H2, but qualitative similitude holds for all the cases
Fig. 12 Mesh employed for nite element validation of DEWS tests (a with a magnied detail in b); mesh independencesimulation of specimen H2 (c); numerical-experimental comparison (d) for DEWS tests featuring a ow induced orientation of the bres

investigated) conrm the ability of the test geometry to characterize the response of the material under a pure mode I fracture, indirectly induced by the application of a compressive load, with no spurious stresses along the fracture plane. It in fact clearly appears that the trajectories of the principal compressive stresses are constantly deviated from the ligament, thanks to the wedge shaped grove, accommodating the device which applies the compressive load. This assertion is further conrmed rst of all by the values of principal both tensile and compressive stresses, plotted, along

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CODcracking = 0.05 mm

COD = 0.50 mm

CODpeak = 0.75 mm

COD = CODpeak + 0.25 mm

COD = CODpeak + 1.25 mm

Fig. 13 Principal stress patterns along the loading path (specimen H2)

COD = 4 mm (end of calc.)

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and across the ligament and and in correspondence with the same crack opening values as above, for both hardening and softening specimen (Fig. 14). Besides the aforementioned spatial uncoupling of tensile and compressive stress elds, it is also quite interesting to observe that, since the overall behaviour is governed by a mode I fracture process, the values of principal compressive stresses also follow a softening trend. This appears to be a distinctive feature of the DEWS tests, which numerical analyses performed in this study have highlighted. It is worth remarking that this does not happen, e.g., in Brazilian splitting test, in which the tensile fracture process zone along and across the diameter, undergoes simultaneously transverse tensile and longitudinal compressive stresses, the latter featuring a quite high residual bearing capacity, in the form of a plateau. This, even if taken into account through some kind of tailored additional experiment, leads to spurious evaluation of the fracture toughness [23]. Figures 15 and 16 interestingly show the evolution of the damage patterns along the loading path, as computed for both analyzed cases of a strain hardening and softening material. Whereas in the latter case an immediate unstable localization occurs after the formation of
Fig. 14 Principal stresses along the ligament for COD values: strain hardening (a specimen H2) and strain softening (b specimen S) materials

the crack along the ligament, in the former case a signicant spreading of the damage has been correctly predicted in the pre-peak regime, which corresponds to stable multiple cracking, consistently with experimental evidence (Fig. 17). All along the softening stage, when a major crack localizes and propagates, the width of the damaged zone no longer spreads. In order to provide further support to the aforementioned statements, the value of the tensile strain norm which governs damage evolution ~ e q P 2 hei i , where hei i denote the positive (tensile) strain tensor components [18, 19], have also been computed, in correspondence of the same crack opening values selected as above. These values have been plotted both along the ligament (Figs. 18a, b, 19a, b) and across it, at the same locations where COD measuring LVDT were placed in the experiments (Figs. 18c, 19c). It can be once again observed that, with due consideration for concentration effects close to the notch tip, a strain hardening material features an reasonably uniform straining across the ligament up to the peak, followed by crack localization; this, on the other hand, immediately occurs after rst cracking in the case of a strain softening material.

(a)

(b)

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CODcracking = 0.05 mm

COD = 0.5 mm

CODpeak = 0.75 mm

COD = CODpeak + 0.5 mm

COD = CODpeak + 2.5 mm

COD = 4.0 mm (e.o.c.)

Fig. 15 Damage patterns plot on deformed shapes at different COD values (case H2displacement magnication factor 910)

5 Identication of the stress versus crack opening relationship: bending versus DEWS tests Experimental results shown above in Sect. 3.2 and related numerical validation presented in Sect. 4 have conrmed the reliability of the proposed DEWS test geometry to experimentally identify the tensile behaviour of HPFRCCs, either strain hardening or softening,

as it can be affected by the ow induced alignment of the bres to the applied tensile stress. The aforementioned ndings have made the authors condent to further proceed with a thorough investigation of the issues related to the identication of the tensile stress versus crack opening constitutive relationship of the material, by cross evaluating the DEWS test, which has been demonstrated capable of

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CODcrackin = 0.03 mm

COD = 0.05 mm

COD = 0.5 mm

COD = 1.5 mm

COD = 2.5 mm

COD = 3.1 mm (e.o.c.)

Fig. 16 Damage patterns plot on deformed shapes at different COD values (case S, displacement magnication factor 910)

providing straightforwardly this relationship, and bending tests, from which the behaviour law has to be obtained by means of an inverse analysis procedure. This will also be instrumental at further assessing the suitability of the DEWS test geometry also in the case of strain hardening composites, where the presence of the notch may hinder or affect the unique multiple cracking behaviour [4].

To this purpose, and in order to include once again the ow induced orientation of the bres as a variable in the investigation, a dedicated experimental campaign was nally performed, casting, according to the tailored procedure shown in Fig. 21, two slabs, 1 m long 9 0.5 m 9 25 mm thick. Beams specimen 150 mm wide and 500 mm long were cut from the slabs, as schematically shown once again in Fig. 20,

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Fig. 17 Crack pattern specimen H2 (formation of multiple cracks, beside the major one across the ligament is evident)

of bres. It is also worth remarking, as it is already evident from results shown in Fig. 22 and it will be evident from the results shown after, that the aforementioned directional coincidence was more effectively obtainable in slab A, due to the almost unidirectional constrained ow, and could have been jeopardized, to an extent which is not easily a priori quantiable, by the radial ow which most likely characterized formwork lling in slab B [1, 24]. The results of the 16 performed DEWS tests once again conrm the effectiveness of the test to experimentally identify the tensile behaviour of the material, as affected by the ow induced orientation of the bres (Fig. 23a, b). Differences in strain capacity, with respect to cases shown in previous section, can be attributed to disturbances in local bre dispersion and orientation, most likely caused by wall effect of the formwork. As a matter of fact, the dependence of the material deformation capacity in the pre-peak region from the orientation of the bres once again clearly appears. The kinematics of the test has been also carefully investigated by processing the garnered measures of COD on both surfaces of the specimens. From the graphs shown in Figs. 24ad and 25af it can be observed that: the in-plane rotations measured on both surfaces and calculated either from the topbottom and from the top-mid LVDT measures, mostly develop in the post-peak unstable crack propagation regime. As a matter of fact their value always remain below 810, with some exceptions in the case of specimens characterized by the most unfavourable bre orientation. the out-of-plane rotations are always fairly limited and mostly occur, as preliminary tests have already shown, in the stable crack propagation range;

with their axis either parallel (beam L) or orthogonal (beam T) to the main casting ow direction. Beams were tested in 4-point bending, according to the set-up illustrated in Fig. 21. Results of bending tests are shown in Fig. 22 in terms of nominal stress versus COD, the latter having been measured over a 200 mm base length astride the central constant bending moment region (Fig. 20), in order to completely capture the multiple cracking, if any, which is responsible of pre-peak strain hardening behaviour. The effectively achieved ow-induced orientation of the bres and its inuence on the mechanical performance of the material clearly appear (Fig. 22). At the end of 4pb tests, specimens for DEWS tests were cut from the undamaged portions of the beams, i.e. between the load application point and the support closer to it, thus obtaining two DEWS specimens from each tested beam. Grooves and notches were cut in DEWS specimens so that the preordained fracture plane resulted either perpendicular (specimens B) or parallel (specimens A) to the same casting ow direction itself, and hence to the preferential alignment

Comparison with values of in- and out-of-plane rotations measured during preliminary tests, in which specimens featured no preferred alignment of the bres, also highlight that a controlled dispersion and, in case, tailored orientation of the bres is also able to guarantee, thanks to a likewise reduced importance of statistical defects, a more uniform in plane crack propagation process. As remarked above, while the DEWS tests reliably provide straightforward the stress-COD constitutive relationship of the investigated material, a back

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Fig. 18 Strain norm along (a, b) and across (c) the ligament for strain hardening specimen

analysis is needed in order to get it from bending tests. To this purpose, the procedure proposed in [1] has been herein employed, which is based on cross sectional force and moment equilibrium equations

written for the beam cross section, which is assumed to remain plane, and with reference to a limited number of crack-propagation stages as shown in Fig. 26 and hereafter detailed:

1910

Materials and Structures (2013) 46:18931918

(a)

(b)

(c)
Fig. 19 strain norm along the ligament for COD values: strain softening specimen

fFt, i.e. the rst cracking strength dened as the maximum nominal strength in the COD range 00.1 mm; fFt,peak, i.e. the nominal peak strength and the corresponding value of the COD, CODpeak

feq,0.02h i.e. the equivalent post-cracking strength in the COD range: (0.02 h 20 % CODpeakh/ COD) ? CODpeak

Materials and Structures (2013) 46:18931918

1911

feq,010h, i.e. the equivalent post-cracking strength in the COD range (0.10h 20 % CODpeakh/ COD) ? CODpeak

Fig. 20 Schematics of slab casting and specimens cutting for DEWS-versus-bending identication tests Fig. 21 4-Point bending test set-up for beam specimens cut from slabs shown in Fig. 16

where h is the beam depth (25 mm in this case) and COD is the base length for the measure of the COD at the beam intrados (200 mm in this case as shown in Fig. 21). The aforementioned denitions of the crack opening ranges for the calculation of post-peak strength are derived under the assumption of same crack openings for either an unstable localized crack and a stable multiple cracking. In Figs. 27 and 28 the constitutive laws obtained through inverse analysis from bending tests and directly from DEWS tests are compared. Comparison is made with reference to similar relative orientation of the fracture cross section to the casting ow direction and to the most probable alignment of bres to the tensile stress. The strain in the pre-peak branch of DEWS curves has been calculated dividing the average COD by the gauge length (50 mm). The following issues are worth being highlighted:

Fig. 22 Nominal stress rN versus COD curves4pb tests on beam specimens cut from slab A (a) and from slab B (b)

(a)

(b)

1912 Fig. 23 Stress versus COD curvesDEWS specimens cut from slab A (a) and from slab B (b)

Materials and Structures (2013) 46:18931918

(a)

(b)

Fig. 24 In plane rotations [angles measured in degrees ()]

the pre-peak constitutive behaviour identied from 4pb tests always shows a higher peak stress as well as a higher hardening modulus than in DEWS test results; this may be the outcome of a most

likely downward settlement of bres [1], which acts favourably in the case of 4pb tests; the effects of the different size of the ligament/fracture cross section of the two specimens, as well as the

Materials and Structures (2013) 46:18931918 Fig. 25 Out-of-plane rotations [angles measured in degrees ()]

1913

presence/absence of the notch, which may also have affected the obtained results in terms of peak tensile strength, deserve deeper investigation; except for very early softening stage, which may be affected by the above said differences in the prepeak behaviour, there is a remarkable agreement

between the post-peak behaviour as identied from 4pb and DEWS tests in most of the investigated cases, which refer to different bre orientation with respect to the applied tensile stress. the value of the crack opening at zero stress identied by means of inverse analysis from 4pb

1914

Materials and Structures (2013) 46:18931918 Table 5 Results of DEWS tests on specimens obtained from slabs shown in Fig. 20 Specimen fFt,peak (N/mm2) feq,0.01 (N/mm2) feq,0.05 (N/mm2)

Slab A L1-A L1-B L2-A L2-B T1-A T1-B T2-A T2-B Slab B L1-A L1-B L2-A L2-B T1-A T1-B T2-A T2-B 4.2 5.8 5.5 6.7 2.5 Loss of control 2.6 4.6 2.1 3.8 1.3 1.7 3.8 4.9 5.1 5.8 1.8 1.9 2.2 2.4 2.6 1.2 4.2 9.8 3.5 9.3 3.6 8.5 2.6 8.0 3.8 8.2 3.0 7.5 1.9 7.8 2.1 7.1 1.9 3.2 1.3 2.5 1.8 3.0 1.6 2.9

(a)

(b)
Fig. 26 Pre-peak stressstrain (a) and post-peak stress crackopening (b) laws for deection-hardening materials (coefcients b1, j1 and j2 computed through inverse analysis) Table 4 Results of 4pb tests on beams cut from slabs shown in Fig. 20 Specimen fFt,peak (N/mm2) feq,0.02h (N/mm2) feq,010h (N/mm2)

Slab A L1 L2 T1 T2 Slab B L1 L2 T1 T2 24.1 23.5 20.3 19.4 23.5 21.4 19.2 18.9 13.7 15.2 12.2 13.5 26.0 27.6 9.2 8.9 23.5 24.6 8.9 8.8 16.6 12.2 7.0 6.8

tests, which is close to half the bre length (lf = 13 mm), is conrmed also by DEWS test results. The relatively good agreement detectable in Figs. 27 and 28, besides supporting the reliability of

the proposed experimental and identication procedures, also makes it possible the inuence to be assessed of the casting ow geometry on the random dispersion and tailored orientation of bres. It appears that a good homogeneity of bre dispersion almost all over the cast slab has been obtained in the case of slab A, where, after an initial transient ow where the fresh material is poured, formwork was lled by an almost unidirectional ow parallel to the longer edges of the slab. In the case of slab B, where a radial ow of fresh concrete lled the moulds, the direction of bres, as induced by the fresh concrete ow, was different in each tested specimen, thus justifying the larger differences between results from 4pb and DEWS tests. In order to provide also quantitative conrmation to the aforementioned statements, in a previous work [1], the authors performed a rened image analysis to identify bre orientation parameters on the fracture cross sections of 4pb specimens. Calculated bre orientation densities for the analyzed specimen surfaces are shown in Fig. 29a, b. The bre orientation density may be correlated to the total bre projected length in the given direction, expressed in probabilistic terms. Results of this analysis have been correlated to

Materials and Structures (2013) 46:18931918

1915
b Fig. 27 Comparison between stressstrain/crack opening rela-

tionship identied from 4pb tests (inverse analysis) and directly from DEWS tests: pre-peak behaviour (a): post-peak with bres parallel to tensile stresses (b) and bres perpendicular to tensile stresses (c)slab A

(a)

the values of post-cracking equivalent strengths representative of the bre reinforced composite behaviour. For bending tests reference has been made to fFt,peak, feq,0.02h and feq,0.10h dened as above (Table 4). For DEWS tests, in order to maintain consistent comparison throughout this work, the following postcracking equivalent strengths have been calculated (Table 5) in correspondence of the following crack opening ranges: feq,0.01 = 0.01 LCOD 20 % (? CODpeak in case) (for LCOD = 50 mm: 0.01 LCOD = 0.5 mm) feq,0.05 = 0.05 LCOD 20 % (? CODpeak in case) (for LCOD = 50 mm: 0.05 LCOD = 2.5 mm) which result in the same localized cracking strain as for bending tests as well as with the values assumed in Sect. 4. A strong correlation is evident between the bre orientation density vertical to the fracture surface and the values of the material properties identied as above (Fig. 29c, d). It is worth remarking that for DEWS tests the same bre orientation as for the analyzed fracture surfaces of 4pb beams has been hypothesized. This assumption may justify the somewhat larger scattering detectable in Fig. 29d.

(b)
6 Concluding remarks The results of experimental and numerical investigation illustrated and discussed in this paper are instrumental at drawing the following statements: the proposed DEWS Test allows the uniaxial tensile behaviour of HPFRCC, both in the prepeak and post-peak regimes and in the cases of strain hardening and softening materials, to be reliably and straight forwardly identied through an indirect test, i.e. by applying a compressive load to the specimen. This has been clearly highlighted by a careful comparison with results from back analysis from bending tests as well as through numerical nite element validation.

(c)

1916

Materials and Structures (2013) 46:18931918

b Fig. 28 Comparison between stressstrain/crack opening rela-

tionship identied from 4pb tests (inverse analysis) and directly from DEWS tests: pre-peak behaviour (a): post-peak with bres parallel to tensile stresses (b) and bre perpendicular to tensile stresses (c) (slab B)

(a)

(b)

(c)

thanks to the suitably conceived specimen geometry, a pure mode I fracture process is reliably induced over the ligament, whereas principal compressive stresses, as due to the applied load, are constantly deviated far from the ligament along arch shaped trajectories. This has been also clearly conrmed by dedicated numerical analyses, which provided sound assessment of the proposed test methodology. It has to be remarked that, because of the test geometry, the investigated fracture zone is always quite limited and is therefore scantly affected by statistical inhomogeneities and defects, which can reduce the pre-peak ductility; stress and strain pattern, as described above and as analyzed in detail by means of nonlinear nite element analyses, were further supported by the visually observed crack pattern, featuring, even in the presence of the notch, a multiple cracking in the fracture process zone in the pre-peak regime, followed by unstable crack localization, mainly along the ligament. Upon unstable crack propagation, the fracture process zone remains almost frozen in the previously attained cracking state (irreversible strain) and the release of elastic energy appears to be fairly limited, anyway occurring within quite a narrow zone, bounded by trajectories of principal compressive stresses. This allows the test to be performed under displacement control, since snap-back phenomena are avoided, and greatly simplies the test methodology itself; specimens for DEWS tests, due to their geometry and size, can be easily obtained by cutting or coring from larger structural elements or even existing structures. This, together with the presence of the notches, allows the test fracture plane to be prearranged at any desired orientation to the preferential alignment of bres. In this way the behaviour of the material, as affected by the owinduced bre orientation, and the resulting material anisotropy/orthotropy can be easily and effectively characterized.

Materials and Structures (2013) 46:18931918

1917
b Fig. 29 Fibre orientation densities on fracture surfaces of

selected 4pb specimens from slabs A (a) and B (b) and inuence of bre orientation on stresses at different crack openings calculated from 4pb tests (c) and DEWS tests (d)

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