Size effect at testing strength properties of concrete

Various strength characteristics of concrete are considered as fracture parameters. The compressive strength of concrete is of paramount importance when designing concrete structures, whereas tensile strength of concrete is the basic property when estimating cracking resistance of a structure and analysing fracture processes in concrete. When testing the compressive strength of concrete, the results are dependent on the shape and dimensions of used specimens. Some findings reported in the literature suggest that size effect exists also when testing such fracture properties of concrete as tensile strength. Unfortunately this problem is much less recognized and described compared to size effect in compressive test results. In this paper, the experimental investigation is presented on how the length of cylindrical specimens influences the tensile splitting strength of concrete obtained by means of the Brazilian method. Additional variable parameters were: type of aggregate (natural gravel and crushed granite) and cement-water ratio (C/W = 1.8 and C/W = 2.6). In conducted laboratory experiments a higher splitting tensile strength of concrete was noted for all specimens with nominal dimensions of 150×150 mm, compared to specimens 150×300 mm in size, regardless of type of aggregate or cement-water ratio.