The primary purpose of this experimental investigation is to obtain the shear response in a cracked concrete, and to accumulate the necessary information that applies to nonlinear finite element analy- sis. A biaxial testing device, with which the vertical and…
The primary purpose of this experimental investigation is to obtain the shear response in a cracked concrete, and to accumulate the necessary information that applies to nonlinear finite element analy- sis. A biaxial testing device, with which the vertical and horizontal load as well as displacement can be inde- pendently controlled by closed-loop servo systems, has been developed in order to establish the shear behav- ior in cracked concrete. The shear tests on specimens containing narrow cracks (fracture process zone introduced by the tensile test in displacement control) have been carried out maintaining either normal dis- placement or load across the crack surface constant. The relation of normal and shear loads to crack opening and sliding displacements was discussed and distinguished by the boundary conditions of the normal direction across the crack surface. Several expressions which give shear retention factor and so on, have been derived from the experimental results.