Application of fractal theory to size effect of disordered materials

摘要

For disordered materials it is impossible to measure constant material properties using the Euclidian geometrical dimension of the test specimens. Based on the theory of fractal geometry, the fractal dimension of the damaged microstructure is applied to measure the strength and fracture toughness of imitation marbles, which turn out to be scale invariant material constants. In this paper, the experimental data are treated and interpreted by the theory of fractal geometry. Reasonable results are obtained and the size effects on strength and fracture energy are observed.