• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.567-580
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• 2005

Numerous tests on concrete structure members under local pressure demonstrated that the compressive strength of concrete at the loaded surface is increased by the confinement effect provided by the enveloping concrete. Even though most design codes propose specific criteria for preventing bearing failure, they do not take into consideration size effect which is an important phenomenon in the fracture mechanics of concrete/reinforced concrete. In this paper, six series of square prism concrete blocks with three different depths (size range = 1:4) and two different height/depth ratios of 2 and 3 are tested under concentrated load. Ultimate loads obtained from the test results are analysed by means of the modified size effect law (MSEL). Then, a prediction formula, which considers effect of both depth and height on size effect, is proposed. The developed formula is compared with experimental data existing in the literature. It is concluded that the observed size effect is in good agreement with the MSEL.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1999.04a
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• pp.135-140
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• 1999

The size effect of axial compressive strength of concrete in notched specimens was experimentally investigated. Based on the concept of the fracture mechanics and size effect law, theoretical studies for axial compressive failure of concrete were reviewed, and two failure modes of concrete specimen under compression were discussed. In this study, experiment of axial compressive failure, which is one of the two failure modes, was carried out by using double cantilever fracture specimens. By varying the slenderness of cantilevers and the eccentricity of applied loads with respect to the axis of each cantilever, the size effect of axial compressive strength of concrete was investigated, and predicted by Bazant's size effect law. The test results show that size effect appears conspicuously for all series of specimens. For the eccentricity of loads, the influence of tensile and compressive stress at the notch tip are significant and so that the size effect is varied. In other words, if the influence of tensile stress at the notch tip grows up, the size effect of concrete increases. And the fact that the fracture process zone must be sufficiently secured for more accurate experiment was affirmed.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.99-108
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• 2000

The size effect on axial compressive strength in notched concrete specimens was experimentally investigated. Based on the concept of the fracture mechanics and size effect law, theoretical studies for axial compressive failure of concrete were reviewed, and two failure modes of concrete specimens under compression were discussed. In this study, experiments of axial compressive failure, which is one of the two failure modes, was carried out by using cylindrical specimens. Adequate notch length was taken from the experimental result of strength variation based on the notch length. And, by taking various sizes of specimens the size effect on axial compressive strength of concrete was investigated. Also, model equations were suggested by modified size effect law (MSEL). The test results show that size effect appears conspicuously for all series of specimens. Additionally, the effect of initial notch length on axial compressive strength was also apparent.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1998.04a
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• pp.321-326
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• 1998

Shear failure of reinforced concrete beams is serious problem due to sudden brittle failure and many experimental results proved that size effect in shear behavior is an important feature of reinforced concrete members. For this reason, the structural safety of the reinforced concrete beams for shear has been checked by applying empirical design formula, which includes the size-effect, derived from experimental data. However, as the sizes of reinforced concrete members become extremely large, experiments sometimes become very difficult so that the formula or the experimental data could not be obtained and size-effect analyses of shear behavior become significant. In this study, size-effect analysis of shear behavior in reinforced concrete beams is performed by modeling tension stiffening/shear stiffening on reinforced concrete and the tension softening/shear softening on plain concrete. Then, the influences of models in the size-effect analyses of shear behavior in reinforced concrete beams are analyzed.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.911-916
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• 2002

It is important to consider the effect of depth when estimating the ultimate strength of a concrete flexural member because the strength always decreases with an increase of member size. In this study, the size effect of reinforced concrete beam was experimentally investigated. For this purpose, a series of beam specimens subjected to 2-point bending load were tested. More specifically, three different depth (d=15, 30, and 60 cm) of reinforced concrete beams were tested to investigate the size effect. The shear-span to depth ratio (a/d=3) and thickness (20 cm) of the specimens were kept constant where the size effect in out-of-plan direction is not considered. The test results are fitted using least square method (LSM) to obtain parameters for modified size effect law (MSEL). The analysis results indicate that the flexural compression strength and ultimate strain decreases as the specimen size increases. Finally, more general parameters for MSEL are suggested.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.127-150
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• 2007

The objective of this paper is to develop a finite element procedure for predicting the compressive strength and ultimate axial strain of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics (CFRP) confined circular concrete columns and to study the effective parameters of confinement efficiency for helping design of CFRP retrofit technology. The behavior of concrete confined with CFRP is studied using the nonlinear finite element method. In this paper, effects of column size, CFRP volumetric ratio and plain concrete strength are studied. The confined concrete nonlinear constitutive relation, concrete failure criterion and stiffness reduction methodology after concrete cracking or crushing are adopted. First, the finite element model is verified by comparing the numerical solutions of confined concrete with experimental results. Then the effects of column size, CFRP volumetric ratio and plain concrete strength on the peak strength and ductility of the confined concrete are considered. The results of parametric study indicate that the normalized column axial strength increases with increasing CFRP volumetric ratio, but without size effect for columns with the same CFRP volumetric ratio. As the same, the increase in column ductility depends on CFRP volumetric ratio but without size effect for columns with the same CFRP volumetric ratio.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 1999.04a
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• pp.239-244
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• 1999

The reduction phenomena of the compressive strength of concrete with respect to the size of specimens have been extensively investigated. However, adequate analysis technique have not been developed until now. Existing researches have shown that the larger member size, the smaller the strength. This indicated the necessity of nonlinear fracture mechanics theory in order to analyze the fracture behaviors of concrete. The are some models that predict the size effect of compressive strength of cylindrical specimens. Theses equations, however, are developed not considering the difference of fracturing mechanism which depends on both geometry of specimen and the strength level of concrete. In this paper, a model to predict compressive strength of cylindrical concrete specimens with respect to diameters, h/d ratios, and the strength level of concrete, is suggested. For this purpose, theoretical and statistical analyses are conducted. Experimental constants used in the model of new size effect are formulated in terms of strength levels of concrete based on existing experimental data.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.521-532
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• 2021

Present paper focuses on the modeling of size effect on the compressive strength of normal concrete with the application of Discrete Element Method (DEM). Test specimens with different size and shape were cast and uniaxial compressive strength test was performed on each sample. Five different concrete mixes were used, all belonging to a different normal strength concrete class (C20/25, C30/37, C35/45, C45/55, and C50/60). The numerical simulations were carried out by using the PFC 5 software, which applies rigid spheres and contacts between them to model the material. DEM modeling of size effect could be advantageous because the development of micro-cracks in the material can be observed and the failure mode can be visualized. The series of experiments were repeated with the model after calibration. The relationship of the parallel bond strength of the contacts and the laboratory compressive strength test was analyzed by aiming to determine a relation between the compressive strength and the bond strength of different sized models. An equation was derived based on Bazant's size effect law to estimate the parallel bond strength of differently sized specimens. The parameters of the equation were optimized based on measurement data using nonlinear least-squares method with SSE (sum of squared errors) objective function. The laboratory test results showed a good agreement with the literature data (compressive strength is decreasing with the increase of the size of the specimen regardless of the shape). The derived estimation models showed strong correlation with the measurement data. The results indicated that the size effect is stronger on concretes with lower strength class due to the higher level of inhomogeneity of the material. It was observed that size effect is more significant on cube specimens than on cylinder samples, which can be caused by the side ratios of the specimens and the size of the purely compressed zone. A limit value for the minimum size of DE model for cubes and cylinder was determined, above which the size effect on compressive strength can be neglected within the investigated size range. The relationship of model size (particle number) and computational time was analyzed and a method to decrease the computational time (number of iterations) of material genesis is proposed.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.153-160
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• 2001

In this study, the size effect on axial compressive strength for concrete members was experimentally investigated. Experiment of mode I failure, which is one of the two representative compressive failure modes, was carried out by using double cantilever beam specimens. By varying the eccentricity of applied loads with respect to the axis on each cantilever and the initial crack length, the size effect of axial compressive strength of concrete was investigated, and new parameters for the modified size effect law (MSEL) were suggested using least square method (LSM). The test results show that size effect appears for axial compressive strength of cracked specimens. For the eccentricity of loads, the influence of tensile and compressive stress at the crack tip are significant and so that the size effect is present. In other words, if the influence of tensile stress at the crack tip grows up, the size effect of concrete increases. And the effect of initial crack length on axial compressive strength is present, however, the differences with crack length are not apparent because the size of fracture process zone (FPZ) of all specimens in the high-strength concrete is similar regardless of differences of specimen slenderness.

• KCI Concrete Journal
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2002

In this study, size effect tests were conducted on axial compressive strength of concrete members. An experiment of Mode I failure, which is one of two representative compressive failure modes, was carried out by using dimensionally proportional cylindrical specimens (CS). An adequate notch length was taken from the experimental results obtained from the compressive strength experiment of various initial notch lengths. Utilizing the notch length, specimen sizes were then varied. In addition, new parameters for the modified size effect law (MSEL) were suggested using Levenberg-Marquardt's least square method (LSM). The test results show that size effect was apparent for axial compressive strength of cracked specimens. Namely, the effect of initial notch length on axial compressive strength size effect was apparent.