Experimental Study on Fracture Energy of Foam Concrete at Different Notch Depth

Abstract

Foamed concrete is lightweight concrete formulated from a mixture of concrete mortar and established foam. Generally foamed concrete is known for its low engineering properties. Many researchers had conducted studies and more focused on the physical and mechanical properties of foamed concrete without taking into account the behavior on its fracture energy. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the effect of notch-to-depth ratio on fracture energy of foam concrete using three point bending testmethod. Beam specimens with V-notch were prepared at a densityof 1400kg/m3 and 1600kg/m3. Three different notch-to-depth ratios which were adopted at 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5. Fracture energy was determined using Hillerborg, Bazant and Comitee euro International du Beton (CEB) models. From the experimental results, it was shown that fracture energy decreases asthe notch-to-depth ratio increases.

Mechanical Behaviour, Properties and Characteristics of Foamed Cellular Concrete: A Review

“…Regarding the comparison of the models, those of Hillerborg and Bazant showed an increase of G F with the density of the material, and very similar results among them, for FCC and cement mortar with self weight up to 2 000 kg/m 3 . In addition, Zamri et al [96] evaluated the fracture energy of FC beams with different notch-todepth ratios, and comparing the values obtained with the Hillerborg model, the CEB-FIB model, and with that of Bazant. They observed that G F decreases with increasing the ratio of the notch height to the beam height, and that the Hillerbog model is the most suitable.…”