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The size effect has its origin in fracture mechanics and describes the formation as well as propagation of cracks in brittle and solid materials in dependence of the specimen size. However, the size effect in concrete spalling describes the damage behaviour on a macroscopic scale for different sized specimens in case of fire. Concrete spalling is a very complex and yet not fully understood phenomenon. To reduce the effort of fire tests to analyse the spalling behaviour of concrete mixtures, this study investigates the susceptibility to spalling for six different concrete mixtures and three specimen sizes. The sizes were divided in full scale slabs (1.8 m x 1.2 m x 0.3 m), intermediate scale cuboids (0.6 m x 0.6 m x 0.3 m) and small scale cylinders (Ø0.15 m x 0.3 m). For this purpose, a novel test set-up was built to test six intermediate scale or twelve small scale specimens simultaneously to ensure a similar heating regime for every specimen. All specimens were fire exposed on one side and remained unrestrained. A size effect occurred for four of the six concrete mixtures. Compared to the full scale specimens the spalling was reduced significantly for all smaller specimen sizes. Additionally, spalling did not occur for the small scale specimens. The results show that the specimen size is an essential parameter to investigate the susceptibility to spalling of a concrete mixture. For future investigations the testing conditions must be adjusted for the intermediate scale specimens to recreate the conditions of the slabs.
Spalling of concrete due to fire exposure can lead to severe damage of building components. It is a much discussed subject in structural engineering and not yet completely understood. Generally, it is assumed that thermohydraulic and thermomechanical processes induce tensile stresses in the concrete. Furthermore, the tensile strength of concrete is reduced due to increasing temperatures. The combination of an increasing tensile stress and a decreasing tensile strength result in the occurrence of explosive spalling. The spalling behaviour of concrete is influenced by many parameters, for instance the water cement ratio, porosity, permeability of concrete as well, the presence of steel reinforcement and polypropylene fibres, also the size and geometry of the fire exposed area. Within the current research project at Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und prüfung (BAM), the susceptibility to spalling of six different concrete mixtures is analysed to quantify the size effect using small scale, intermediate scale and full scale tests. A special fire test setup was built to test specimens simultaneously to enable a better comparability. All specimens are tested without additional mechanical load and unrestraint to prevent external induced cracking at the fire exposed site. Thermocouples are used to measure in situ the temperature distribution as an indication on the thermal degradation of the concrete during the fire tests. Afterwards the maximum spalling depth and the damaged area of the specimen are illustrated by a photogrammetric measurement system. The contribution to the spalling workshop presents the results of four concrete mixtures tested in intermediate-scale and full-scale fire tests. The comparisons are based on the concrete temperature as well as the obtained photogrammetric data. The results show that the spalling depth and the spalling area are significantly affected by the size of the fire exposed area.
Polysaccharides are important rheology modifying admixtures in the building material sector.
The use of starch is becoming increasingly important, due to many ecological and economic advantages. In the construction sector, starch ethers are being used as thickeners and as means to increase the yield stress. The starch ethers that are available on the market differ in
their behaviour, which can vary greatly depending upon the binder system and mortar composition, e.g. solid volume content, binder type, additional admixtures. In view of the limited knowledge about the influence of molecular modifications associated with cement based systems, some fundamental rheological functional mechanisms were analysed in this study. The differently modified starch ethers used were derived from potatoes. They varied in their charges and degrees of hydroxypropylation. The setting and the flow behaviour of all examined variations
of starch ethers were analysed in cement pastes. In order to illustrate the effects of the starch ethers that were used, the water-cement ratio (w/c) was held constant in all the mixtures [Schmidt 2012]. The results indicated significant differences in setting and flow behaviour.
Fatigue is of relevance not only for metals but also for concrete. The current knowledge about fatigue behaviour of concrete is, however, incomplete. This concerns especially the progress of fatigue which precedes the fatigue failure. Some macroscopic effects of this process are well known but the governing material changes behind them are still less studied. The focus of the present contribution lay on a systematic and comprehensive investigation of the fatigue process under cyclic compressive loading. The aim was to obtain a deeper insight and to provide a better understanding of the damage process in the material. Cylindrical specimens were tested with a number of cycles to failure between 106 and 107. Various methods of non-destructive and destructive testing were used to investigate macroscopic and microscopic changes in the material. One main result was that the changes in the macroscopic material behaviour could not be explained only by the development of micro cracks. The results indicated that the related changes in the fatigue behaviour originate rather from viscous processes in the cement stone, similar to the process of creep. A sound description of the possible processes was derived from the obtained experimental results which concerns material structure during fatigue loading. It has been shown that in case of isotropic material behaviour a stiffness reduction related to a scalar value could not capture the damage effect on the stress-strain relationship caused by fatigue.
The current knowledge about fatigue behavior of concrete is still incomplete. This concerns especially the progress of fatigue which precedes the fatigue failure. Therefore, the process of fatigue itself under cyclic compressive loading was investigated in a systematic and comprehensive way. The aim of this investigation was to obtain a deeper insight and to provide a better understanding of the damage process occurring within the material during fatigue loading. Concrete cylinders were tested with a number of cycles to failure between 106 and 107. To investigate macroscopic and microscopic changes in the material, various methods of non-destructive and destructive testing were used. One main result was, in contrast to other authors, that the investigated changes in macroscopic material behavior could not be explained only by a development of micro-cracks. The results indicated rather, that the related changes in the fatigue behavior are mainly a result of viscous processes in the hardened cement paste, similar to the processes of creep. Based on the experimental results a description of the possible processes was derived which take place in the material structure during fatigue loading and also leads to the observed macroscopic changes in the material behavior. In this context, the results have shown that in case of isotropic material behavior a stiffness reduction related to a scalar value could not capture the damage effect on the stress-strain-relationship caused by fatigue.
The current knowledge about fatigue behavior of concrete is still incomplete. This concerns especially the progress of fatigue which precedes the fatigue failure. Therefore, the process of fatigue itself under cyclic compressive loading was investigated in a systematic and comprehensive way. The aim of this investigation was to obtain a deeper insight and to provide a better understanding of the damage process occurring within the material during fatigue loading. Concrete cylinders were tested with a number of cycles to failure between 106 and 107. To investigate macroscopic and microscopic changes in the material, various methods of non-destructive and destructive testing were used. One main result was, in contrast to other authors, that the investigated changes in macroscopic material behavior could not be explained only by a development of micro-cracks. The results indicated rather, that the related changes in the fatigue behavior are mainly a result of viscous processes in the hardened cement paste, similar to the processes of creep. Based on the experimental results a description of the possible processes was derived which take place in the material structure during fatigue loading and also leads to the observed macroscopic changes in the material behavior. In this context, the results have shown that in case of isotropic material behavior a stiffness reduction related to a scalar value could not capture the damage effect on the stress-strain-relationship caused by fatigue.
The aim of this project is to get deeper insight into the fatigue behaviour of concrete under cyclic compressive loading. It focuses on the evaluation and modelling of the entire damage process during life-cycle by means of various non-destructive measuring techniques. In numerous tests on cylinders h/d = 30/10 cm under different cyclic loading conditions, the crack development and the damage evolution are monitored using acoustic emission analysis and ultrasonic velocity measurement. The final aim will be the definition of a damage descriptor D based on experimental observations, which can be implemented into a numerical model on a meso-mechanical level.