Determination of Tensile Strength and Crack Growth of a Typical Polymer Concrete Using Circular Disc Samples

Cracked and un-cracked Brazilian disc specimens subjected to diametral compression were used for conducting fracture toughness and tensile strength experiments on a polymer concrete (PC) material. The value of mode I fracture toughness (KIc) was determined from the center- cracked Brazilian disc and the indirect tensile strength (?t) was obtained from the un-cracked Brazilian disc specimen. The experiments showed the practical applicability of both cracked and un-cracked specimens for using as suitable techniques for measuring KIc and ?t in PC materials. The average values of KIc and ?t of tested PC were about 1.5 MPa?m and 8 MPa, respectively which are significantly greater than the corresponding values of KIc and ?t obtained for conventional cement concrete tested with the same Brazilian disc specimens. Hence, for those structural applications that the risk of tensile rupture and crack growth is high, polymer concretes are more suitable candidates in comparison with the conventional cement concretes