Experimental Study of Brazilian Tensile Strength of Concrete Under Static Loads

Concrete is one of the most significant materials in modern society. It is widely used in many projects. Thus it is essential to study the strength and the failure patterns of this material. As well known, the compressive strength is much higher than the tensile strength for concrete. Thus, it is easy to fail due to the tensile strength for concrete. Thus, this paper focuses on the study of the tensile strength of the concrete and its failure patterns. Three types of concretes are made for studying the tensile strengths and the failure patterns of the concretes. Then the Brazilian tensile strength test method is employed in this study. The mythology of calculating tensile strength by the Brazilian tensile strength test method is introduced. Many discs are made for the tests. The Rock mechanics testing machine is used to excavate pressure on the top and bottom of the disc. It is concluded that the failure of the disc is along the vertical diameter between the top and bottom plates contacting the dis. The tensile failure is not obviously influenced by the ratios of the materials while the tensile strength is significantly influenced by the ratios of the concrete. The damage index of concrete is also proposed to describe the capabilities of resisting failure.