A Comparative Study on Fracture Energy of Concrete Beams by Experimental and Analytical Model Study

Concrete is a brittle material. It contains micro cracks at the transition zone before loading. The failure of almost all concrete except light weight concrete is by fracture in transition zone which propagates towards plastic zone. When the tensile strength of concrete reaches its maximum value cracks will start propagates from the extreme tensile fiber in the tension zone of the concrete beam. Here an attempt is made to evaluate for its maximum fracture energy, also a comparative study is proposed between experimental and analytical model for rectangular concrete beam of same size concrete grades. Grade of concrete but with different is the prime importance criteria which defines the compressive strength of the concrete. This related to other strength parameters of the concrete elements. This study helps to develop rectangular beam models for analysis of concrete beams by fracture method of analysis and design. It is the next coming method after limit state method of concrete design.