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2.2.3 ‘Dog-Bone’ Tension Tests

Since the primary focus of this testing program was the behaviour of conventionally
reinforced SFRC specimens subjected to direct tension, it was necessary to determine the
behaviour of the concretes used when they were subjected to tensile loads. Two types of tests
were performed for this purpose; bending tests, as described in the following section, and direct
tension ‘dog-bone’ tests, as described in this section.

While RILEM TC 162 has formulated a recommended direct tension test involving a
notched cylinder, it was decided that ‘dog-bone’ shaped specimens with a gauge length of
reduced cross section would be used instead. These specimens were 500 mm total in length, with
a reduced cross section of 100 x 70 mm over a length of 200 mm. The 100 x 70 mm cross section
was chosen to allow a degree of random fibre orientation to occur while maintaining portability.
These ‘dog-bone’ shaped specimens were superior to notched cylinders, because a notch forces
the failure to occur at a location of imposed weakness while a ‘dog-bone’ specimen allows the
failure to initiate at the naturally weakest location within the specimen.

Three ‘dog-bone’ specimens were cast for each SFRC type. The specimens were cast in
two lifts. Between the first and second lift, a wire mesh was inserted into the flared ends of each
specimen at mid-depth to help prevent cracks from occurring outside of the central length of the
specimen (refer to Figure 2-9). The ‘dog-bone’ specimens were demoulded and stored next to
their corresponding conventionally reinforced direct tension specimens.

Prior to testing, several steps were performed to attach the end blocks and ensure that
they did not debond from the specimen during testing. First, the ends of the ‘dog-bones’ were
ground until aggregates were visible, in order to remove the weak paste layer. Following this, a
diamond-bladed circular saw was used to cut grooves in a diamond lattice pattern at the ends to
increase the surface area available for bonding (refer to Figure 2-10). Next, the ends were blasted
with air to remove loose grit and wiped clean. Finally, the end blocks were glued to the
specimens using Sikadur30TM epoxy, and allowed to cure for at least five days before testing.
Special care was taken to ensure that the specimens were level when the end blocks were glued,
and that the end blocks were centred before the epoxy was allowed to set (refer to Figure 2-11).
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Figure 2-9 – Placement of wire mesh in end sections of ‘dog-bone’ specimen

Figure 2-10 – Grooved end of ‘dog-bone’ specimen for improved bond with end block
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Figure 2-11 – Bonding of end blocks to ‘dog-bone’ specimens

The specimens were attached to the testing machine with freely rotating grips (refer to
Figure 2-12). It was decided that rotating universal joints would be used, because they allow the
specimen to rotate while cracking, allowing the crack to propagate through the weakest parts of
the specimen. This was preferable to fixed grips, because although fixed grips are easier to
manufacture, they can create additional bending moments within the specimen while cracking
progresses.

All ‘dog-bone’ specimens were instrumented with four LVDTs which continually
measured the specimens’ displacements throughout the tests (refer to Figure 2-13). Two LVDTs
were affixed over a length of 150 mm, while the other two had a gauge length of 300 mm in
order to capture any cracks that occur outside of the inner LVDTs.

The displacements were controlled via a closed loop in which two control LVDTs were
affixed just outside of the universal joints. These aided in controlling the displacements more
effectively than the intrinsic machine LVDT when the specimens cracked. Ideally, the
displacement rate could have been controlled by the LVDTs already mounted directly on the
specimen. However, if the control LVDTs were attached directly to the specimen and the
specimen rapidly deformed while cracking the machine may attempt to compress the specimen
in order to maintain the imposed displacement rate. At the location just outside of the universal
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joints, the majority of displacements within the testing machine had no effect on the
displacements measured by the control LVDTs, while the adverse effects of controlling the
displacement rate from LVDTs attached directly to the specimen were avoided.

Figure 2-12 – Uniaxial ‘dog-bone’ tension test

The specimens were tested in a 245 kN MTS universal testing machine. To install the
specimens, the universal rotating joints were screwed into the end blocks. Caution was taken to
ensure that there were no large tensile or compression forces introduced into the specimens
during this process. Once the LVDTs were installed, the test began loading at a rate of 0.001
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mm/s. After the specimens exhibited a significant softening response, the rate was increased to
0.01 mm/s. The test was stopped when the load-carrying capacity was significantly reduced.
Data were sampled at a rate of 25 Hz throughout the test, in order to capture the load drop at
cracking with acceptable resolution.

Figure 2-13 – ‘Dog-bone’ specimen (a) dimensions, and (b) instrumentation

2.2.4 Bending Tests

To obtain a measure of the concrete flexural tensile strength, two types of bending tests
were performed on concrete prisms 152 x 152 x 533 mm in size. For each concrete type, two
four-point un-notched bending tests were performed according to ASTM C 1609 (refer to
Figures 2-14 and 2-15), and one three-point notched bending test was performed in accordance
with RILEM TC 162 (refer to Figures 2-16 and 2-17). The exception to this is the plain concrete
PC concrete series, where four four-point ASTM C 1609 tests were performed, and no RILEM
TC 162 tests. It must also be noted that the displacement was not closed-loop servo-controlled.

After casting, the specimens were stored alongside the conventionally reinforced direct
tension specimens. After a minimum of 21 days, the RILEM test specimens were rotated 90o
from the casting direction, and a notch was wet-sawn at midspan with a depth of 25 mm and a