Experimental and Numerical Study of Shear Fracture in Brittle Materials with Interference of Initial Double Cracks

• Published in: Acta mechanica solida Sinica Vol. 29; no. 5; pp. 555 - 566
• Main Authors: Haeri, Hadi, Sarfarazi, Vahab, Marji, Mohammad Fatehi, Hedayat, Ahmadreza, Zhu, Zheming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2016; Springer Singapore
• Subjects: Classical Mechanics; concretelike specimens; crack propagation; double edge cracks; Engineering; indirect shear loading; overlapped cracks; Surfaces and Interfaces; Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; Thin Films; indirect shear loading; concretelike specimens; crack propagation; double edge cracks; overlapped cracks
• ISSN: 0894-9166; 1860-2134
• DOI: 10.1016/S0894-9166(16)30273-7

A simultaneous experimental and numerical study of shear fracture of concrete-like materials is carried out using Brazilian disc specimens with initial double edge cracks and fourpoint bending beam specimens with double edge-notches. The interference effects of two cracks/notches are investigated through varied ligament angles and crack lengths. It is shown that shear fracturing paths change remarkably with the initial ligament angles and crack lengths. The cracked specimens are numerically simulated by an indirect boundary element method. A comparison between the numerical results and the experimental ones shows good agreement.