Experimental investigation of concrete fracture under uniaxial compression

Localization of deformations has been investigated in a series of displacement controlled uniaxial compression experiments. Of main interest are the effects of specimen slenderness and friction between loading platen and specimen. Both effects have a direct influence on the development of localized fracture zones in the specimen. The results indicate that the use of a double layer of teflon with an intermediate layer of grease yields size-independent results as far as the pre-peak stress–strain behaviour and the peak strength are concerned. However, in terms of stress and strain, a significant influence of both the specimen slenderness and the amount of boundary restraint has been observed in the post-peak regime. It is found that the post-peak curves become almost completely identical when they are plotted in terms of nominal stress and post-peak displacement. For any type of loading platen used, the post-peak relative stress-displacement curves are found to be independent of the specimen height. Furthermore, since during post-peak localization relative sliding and movements of larger parts of the specimen are observed, the definition of a unique Poisson's ratio is virtually impossible.