Fracture assessment of concrete through digital image correlation (DIC) technique

This paper describes the fracture properties of concrete containing Nano TiO₂ (NT) 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% along with fly ash (FA) 30%. The three point bend test was conducted according to size effect method (SEM). The displacement parameters were studied using digital image correlation (DIC). The displacement fields measured using DIC was very well matched with the experimental observations. The results reveal, DIC is helpful to measuring crack opening at different crack locations and the plot of load Vs crack opening displacement shown similar behavior in both methods. For fracture tests, the use of 3% NT with 30% FA is having high fracture energy, while the concrete with 4% NT with 30% FA has low fracture energy. Moreover the use of 4% NT with 30% FA shows the high fracture toughness while the 1% NT with 30% FA shows low fracture toughness.