Size effect of concrete and sandstone

摘要

A series of uniaxial tension experiments has been conducted to investigated the size effect on strength and fracture energy of concrete and sandstone. The experiments were carried on specimens of six different sizes in a scale range of 1:32. Depending on the material and the curing conditions a stronger or weaker size effect on the nominal strength occurred in the tests. The observed size effect was attributed to a combination of statistical size effect and strain gradients in the cross section of the specimens, which were caused by the specimen shape, load eccentricity and material inhomogeneity.