The presented work aimed at the derivation of a consistent conversion formula between the splitting tensile strength f ct,sp and the uniaxial tensile strength f ct for the entire spectrum of structural concretes used in practice. First, the validity of…
The presented work aimed at the derivation of a consistent conversion formula between the splitting tensile strength f ct,sp and the uniaxial tensile strength f ct for the entire spectrum of structural concretes used in practice. First, the validity of the splitting tension test had to be verified. To achieve this, an extensive experimental programme was carried out. Furthermore, a testing method was developed to detect the cracking sequence in the specimen during the splitting tension tests. Based on fracture mechanical parameters obtained by the experiments, the splitting tension test was analyzed by means of numerical simulations as well. To in- vestigate the interdependency of the compressive strength and the splitting and uniaxial tensile strength, con- cretes of different strength classes were tested. Both experimental and numerical test results show a complex failure mechanism in the specimen during the splitting tension test.