Characterization of cracking in Strain-Hardening Cementitious Composites using the compact tension test

The characterization of the tensile behavior of strain hardening cementitious composites (SHCC) is of significant importance to the material design. In a previous work the tensile stress-crack opening response of different types of SHCC was characterized using notched specimens tested in direct tension, where a single crack was obtained and mechanically characterized by performing Single Crack Tension Test (SCTT).

In this study the tensile behavior of SHCC materials is characterized under eccentric tensile load using the Compact Tension Test (CTT). The long edge notch placed in the rectangular plate specimens and the eccentrically applied tensile load create the local conditions necessary to the initiation of a single crack at the tip of the notch.

Further propagation and opening of the crack in Mode I allow the assessment of the tensile load-displacement relationship. The experimental results are discussed and compared to the numerically derived responses. The tensile load-displacement responses observed in the CTTs were simulated using the cohesive crack model.

The tensile stress-crack opening behaviors previously obtained with the SCTT tests were utilized to derive the traction-separation laws assigned to the interface elements. The results obtained with the CTT are analyzed and discussed, with special emphasis on the possibility of using the SCTT responses to predict the structural behavior of SHCC.