Fracture and Size Effect in Concrete and Other Quasibrittle Materials

Fracture and Size Effect is the first in-depth text on the application of fracture mechanics to the analysis of failure in concrete structures. The book synthesizes a vast number of recent research results in the literature to provide a comprehensive treatment of the topic that doesn't just give you the facts -- it provides you with true understanding. This book presents a well-rounded discussion of the theory of size effect and scaling of failure loads in structures. The size effect, which is the most important practical manifestation of fracture behavior, has become a hot topic. It has gained prominence in current research on concrete and quasibrittle materials. The many recent results on the quasibrittle size effect, which were scattered throughout many periodicals, are compiled here in a single volume. The treatment of every subject in Fracture and Size Effect proceeds from simple to complex, from specialized to general, and is as concise as possible using the simplest level of mathematics necessary to treat the subject clearly and accurately. Whether you are an engineering student or a practicing engineer, this book provides you with a clear presentation, including derivations and examples, from which you can gain real understanding of fracture and size effect in concrete and other materials. TOC:Why Fracture Mechanics?- Essentials of LEFM.- Determination of LEFM Parameters.- Advanced Aspects of LEFM.- Equivalent Elastic Cracks and R-Curves.- Determination of Fracture Properties from Size Effect.- Cohesive Crack Models.- Crack Band Models and Smeared Cracking.- Advanced Size Effect Analysis.- Brittleness and Size Effect in Structural Design.- Effect of Time, Environment, and Fatigue.- Statistical Theory of Size Effect and Fracture Process.- Nonlocal Continuum Modeling of Damage Localization.- Material Models for Damage and Failure.- References.- Index.

Zdenek P. Bazant, Jaime Planas

Why Fracture Mechanics?, Historical Perspective, Reasons for Fracture Mechanics Approach, Sources of Size Effect on Structural Strength, Quantification of Fracture Mechanics Size Effect, Experimental Evidence for Size Effect, Essentials of LEFM, Energy Release Rate and Fracture Energy, LEFM and Stress Intensity Factor, Size Effect in Plasticity and in LEFM, Determination of LEFM Parameters, Setting Up Solutions from Closed-Form Expressions, Approximate Energy-Based Methods, Numerical and Experimental Procedures to Obtain KI and G, Experimental Determination of KIc and Gf, Calculation of Displacements from KI-Expressions, Advanced Aspects of LEFM, Complex Variable Formulation of Plane Elasticity Problems, Plane Crack Problems and Westergaard's Stress Function, The General Near Tip Fields, Path-Independent Contour Integrals, Mixed Mode Fracture Criteria, Equivalent Elastic Cracks and R-Curves, Variability of Apparent Fracture Toughness for Concrete, Types of Fracture Behavior and Nonlinear Zone, The Equivalent Elastic Crack Concept, Fracture Toughness Determination Based on Equivalent Crack Concepts, Two Parameter Model of Jenq and Shah, R-Curves, Stability Analysis in the R-Curve Approach, Determination of Fracture Properties from Size Effect, Size Effect in Equivalent Elastic Crack Approximations, Size Effect Law in Relation to Fracture Characteristics, Size Effect Method: Detailed Experimental Procedures, Determination of R-Curve from Size Effect, Cohesive Crack Models, Basic Concepts in Cohesive Crack Model, Cohesive Crack Models Applied to Concrete, Experimental Determination of Cohesive Crack Properties, Pseudo-Boundary-Integral Methods for Mode I Crack Growth, Boundary-Integral Methods for Mode I Crack Growth, Crack Band Models and Smeared Cracking, Strain Localization in the Series Coupling Model, Localization of Strain in a Softening Bar, Basic Concepts in Crack Band Model