Materials and Structures/Mat~riaux et Constructions,Vol.

32, April 1999, pp 210-217

Size effect and boundary conditions in the Brazilian test: Experimental verification
C. Rocco 1, G. V. Guinea2,j. Planas 2 and M. Elices2
(1) Departamento de Construcciones, Facultad de Ingenieffa, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, 48 y 115, CP 1900, La Plata, Argentina. (2) Departamento de Ciencia de Materiales, Escuela T&nica Superior de Ingenieros de Caminos, Universidad Polit&nica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, Spain.

Paper received:July 24, I998; Paper accepted: October 30, 1998

A B S T R A C T

R I~ S U M I~
L'influence de la taille et des conditions de bords sur la r&istance mdcanique a la traction indirecte (essai br&ilien) ont dtd ddtermine's a part# des essais de compression dicta&ale. On a essayd un total de II0 dprouvettes, en granite et en mortier. Les dchantillons employ& dtaient prismatiques et cylindriques, de dimensions comprises entre 17 mm et 300 ram. Afin d'analyser l'effet des conditions d'essai, les dchantillons ont itd test& avec diff&entes largeurs d'appuis, dans l'intervalle conseilld par la norme. L'influence du mode de rupture (propagation stable ou instable) sur la r&istance m&anique a la traction a dtd aussi test&. On a compard tes r&uttats des essais avec tes pr&isions th&riques obtenues moyennant une expression analytique ferm& qui s'appuie sur le module de la,fissure coh&ive. La validitd de l'approche de la contrainte limite a dtd analys& pour des dprouvettes de plus grande taille. Les r&ultats montrent que la rdsistance a la traction des dprouvettes est dtroitement li& a la taille et aux conditions de l'essai. Quand la taille de l'dprouvette augmente et la targeur relative de l'appui diminue, la r&istance atteint une limite qui correspond a la r&istance a la traction. L'essai de compression indirecte (essai br&ilien) ddpend de la taille de l'dprouvette et des conditions de l'essai, en accord dtroit avec les pr&isions du module de lafissure coh&ive.

The effect of both size specimen and boundary conditions on the splitting tensile strength, determined from the Brazilian test, were studied experimentally. A total of 110 splitting tests of granite and mortar specimens were performed, using cylindrical and prismatic specimens of sizes between 17 mm and 300 ram. To analyze the effect of the boundary conditions, the specimens were tested with different widths of load bearing strip in the range of size recommended by the standards. The influence of the rupture mode (stable or unstable crack propagation) on the splitting tensile strength was also explored. The results of the tests were compared with the theoretical predictions obtained from a closed form analytical expression based on the cohesive crack model. The validity of the classicallimit strength theory for larger size specimens was also analyzed. The results indicate that the splitting tensile strength depends strongly on specimen size and on the boundary conditions of the test. As the size of the specimen increases and the relative width of the bearing strip decreases, the splitting strength tends asymptoticallyto the minimum value coincident with the tensile strength. The dependence of the Brazilian test on the specimen size and boundary conditions closely follows the predictions of the cohesive crack model.

iiii!iiil
1. I N T R O D U C T I O N

The effect of both the size specimen and the boundary condition on the splitting strength fst' as determined in the Brazilian test, was analyzed theoretically by the authors in a previous paper [1] using a cohesive crack model. The results obtained with the model showed that the splitting strength of quasi-brittle materials such as concrete, ceramics and rocks is a decreasing function of the specimen size, whose value approaches the tensile strength as the size increases. The decrease of the splitting strength with the specimen size has been experimentally verified by various

authors [2-4]. However tests reported by Ba~ant et al. [5] and Chen and Yuan [6] show that fst may increase with the size of the specimen. In view of these contradictory results, it was not clear how the specimen size actually affects the splitting strength. The specimen size is not the only variable that affects the splitting tensile strength. As was demonstrated by the authors in [1], the specimen shape and the width of the bearing strips used to distribute the load during the test are important variables that affect substantially the results of this test. The width of the bearing strips affects not only the splitting tensile strength in absolute terms, but

~/)~E a ~ i ~ % / ~ V ~ ( ~ U ~ ? ~ ~L 84184184184184184184184184184 Prof. M. Elices Pianas are RILEM SeniorMembers. Both participatein the work of RILEM TechnicalCommittee QFS (Size effectand Scaling~qua~ib~itilefraciure)i Prof. Eiices:alsoparticipatesin RILEM TC 147-FMB (Fracturemechanicsapplicationsto anchorageand bond) and responseof concrete). Prof. G. Guinea is the 1994 Robert I Hermite medallist. 1359-5997/99 @KILEM 2 10

Rocco,Guinea,Planas,Elices
also its dependence on specimen size. When the width of the bearing strip approaches zero, i.e. when a concentrated load is applied, the size effect vanishes. Only in this ideal case can the splitting strength be observed as a material property. Even though according to the cohesive crack model the width of the bearing strip has an important effect on the splitting tensile strength, this effect has not been experimentally proved. In this paper, the effect of both the specimen size and the boundary conditions on the splitting tensile strength are studied experimentally. Two types of tests, stable and unstable, were conducted with granite and mortar specimens of different size, and loaded through bearing strips of various widths. Section 2 describes the characteristic of the specimens and materials tested, together with the experimental method used. The results of the splitting strength showing the effect of different variables are presented in Section 3. In Section 4 the experimental values of the splitting strength are compared with the theoretical predictions of the cohesive crack model, and the predictive capability of the model is analyzed. Finally, Section 5 summarizes the main conclusions. prepared from the same batch of mortar. Granite: cylindrical specimens 30 m m in thickness and of various diameters, of 30, 60, 120 and 240 m m were tested (Fig. lb). The specimens were cored from granite plates of uniform thickness using cylindrical steel drills with diamond crown. Drilling was performed at a cutting speed of 64 m/minute and an advance speed of 2 mm/minute, low enough to avoid vibrations and specimen heating. To eliminate any irregularity in the face cut, the specimens were ground on a lathe with a diamond grindstone. 2.1.2 Stable tests Stable tests were conducted in a 1000 kN servohydraulic universal testing machine (Instron 1275). To obtain a stable test, the diametral elongation normal to the load axis was controlled. To measure this diametral elongation, two resistive extensometers Instron 2620 with a range of+ 2.5 m m were used, one on the front face and the other on the rear face. The scheme of Fig. 2a and photo in Fig. 2b show the arrangement of a cylindrical specimen and the situation of the extensometer used to control the test. The gauge length of the extensometer was proportional to the size of the specimens (L0 = 0.8 D). The extensometer set was supported by two aluminum fasteners glued to the specimen faces. The diametral elongation rate was proportional to the specimen size, varying from 1 btm/minute for the small specimens to 8 btm/minute for the largest. The average duration of each test was 30 minutes. During the test, the complete curve of load vs. diametral deformation was recorded including the post-peak unloading branch. A full description of this test method is included in reference [7]. The load bearing strips were made of plywood, free of imperfections, 3 m m thick and equal in length to the specimen thickness or slightly longer. The bearing strips were glued to the specimen in the correct position and were not reused. To study the effect of the width of the bearing strip, three different sets of bearing strips of relative widths equal to 4%, 8% and 16% of the specimen size (b/D = 0.04, 0.08 and 0.16) were employed.

2. MATERIALS A N D TESTS
To evaluate experimentally the effect of the boundary conditions and the size of the specimen on the splitting strength, specimens made of rock and mortar were tested. The rock was a grey granite with a maximum grain size of 3 mm. The mortar was elaborated with ordinary Portland cement (ASTM, Type I) and siliceous natural sand with a maximum aggregate size of 5 m m and a grain size curve distribution within ASTM C33 standard limits. The sand:water:cement ratios were 3:0.5:1 by weight. The microstructure of this mortar was designed to provide a scale representation of the behavior of larger specimens of conventional concrete. For this reason a reduced aggregate size was employed. With these materials two types of test were made: Brazilian test (section 2.1), and characterization test to determine the material properties (section 2.2).

2.1 Brazilian test

Cylinders of granite and square prisms of mortar, of different sizes and loaded with bearing strips of various widths were tested. Two kinds of Brazilian test were performed: stable and unstable rupture tests. The latter were conducted only with mortar specimens 2.1.1 Specimens Mortar: prismatic specimens (Fig. la) of square section were tested. The sizes of these specimens were 17, 38, 75, 150 and 300 ram, all of 50 m m thickness. The specimens were cut from precast mortar plates of uniform thickness, and were kept in water to prevent microcracking. Tl'/e specimens were cured in water at 20 + 2 ~ C until the time of the test at 90 days. To reduce scatter, all specimens were

Fig. 1 - Prismatic (a) and Cylindrical (b) specimens for the Brazilian tests.

211

Materials and Structures/Mat&iaux et Constructions, Vol. 32, April 1999

Cell Extensometer ]

1
Spherical "l Seating D

Specimen~

Bearing Strip
Fig. 2 - (a) Scheme of the test device for the stable Brazilian test and (b) Brazilian test o f a granite cylindrical specimen: D = 60 m m and b/D = 0.16

2.1.3 Unstable Tests

These tests were conducted following the recommendations of the ASTM C 496 standard [8]. The testing machine and the bearing device employed were similar to those used in the stable tests. The tests were carried out under displacement control. The load was applied continuously until the rupture of the specimen and during the test only the maximum load was recorded. For each specimen size the displacement rate was selected so that the tensile stress rate dost/dt remained between prefixed limits. The stress rate is defined as:
do'st _ 2 dP

Depending on the relative width of the bearing strip, the mean stress rates employed in the tests were: 1 MPa/minute for specimens tested with a relative width b/D - 0.08, and 3 MPa/minute for specimens with b/D = 0.16

2.2. Determination of material properties

To characterize the materials, independent tests were carried out to determine the properties associated with the cohesive crack model, i.e. the relevant parameters of the softening function and the modulus of elasticityE. As demonstrated by the authors in a previous paper [1], the sphtting strength can be predicted for a wide range of specimen sizes (0.1 m to 3.0 m for conventional concrete) given only the tensile strength and the inifal slope of the

dt rcBDdt were dP/dt is the loading rate, D the specimen size and B the specimen thickness (Fig. 1)

(1)

(a)
)

(b)

0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1

i i i I

- _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . .~

Master curve for J ', linear softening 9

i'i i l l i i ,

"~
, , , ,,

Wl

0.1

!
2f t D / E w 1

]0

Fig. 3 - Graphical construction to obtain w 1. The use of this plot is restricted to the specimen geometry shown. The nominal strength GNu is given by equation (2).

212

Rocco, Guinea, Planas, Elices

softening curve. In this case, two parameters of this function are relevant: the tensile strength ft and the horizontal intercept w 1 of the initial slope of the softening curve (Fig. 3a). These material properties, together with the modulus of elasticity, are sufficient to predict the splitting strength of laboratory specimens. To determine these properties, notched beams were tested in three point bending according to the RILEM TC50 standard recommendations [9]. The tests were stable, and full weight compensation was used. For concrete beams, the nominal dimensions of the specimens were: Depth - 75 mm, thickness - 50 ram, loading span = 300 mm and notch depth = 37.5 mm. For granite beams these dimensions were: Depth = 100 mm, thickness = 30 mm, loading span = 400 mm and notch depth = 50 mm. For concrete, the beams were tested at the same age as in the Brazilian test (90 days) and, to avoid shrinkage, the specimens were maintained in saturated conditions during the test. Stability was achieved by running the tests in crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) control. The CMOD rate during the test was 4 mm/min. The LoadCMOD and Load-Displacement curves were recorded until complete failure. The elastic modulus E was obtained from the initial compliance of the Load-CMOD curve using the expression for the CMOD given by Tada, Paris and Irwin [10]. The tensile strength was estimated from the Brazilian test with narrow load-bearing strips (b/D = 0.04), which are shown to give a result very close to the tensile strength according to the cohesive crack model. For concrete, square prisms 150 x 150 x 50 mm were used, while for granite the specimens were discs 120 mm in diameter and 30 mm in thickness. Finally, w 1 was determined from the size effect curve computed for a linear softening, following the procedure described in [11]. This curve is computed for the notched geometry of interest (three point bending beams in this case), and plotted as shown in Fig. 3 to give what is called the master curve. Note the nondimensional representation and the presence o f w 1 in the expression for the abscissa. To find wl, the nominal strength ONu is obtained from the tests as ~

Table 2 - Results of the stable Brazilian tests for granite cylindrical specimens
D (mm)
240 120 120 120 60 60 60 30 30

b/D (t) %
16 16 8 4 16 8 4 16 8

TeA
No
3 4 4 4 4 4 4 6 3

fst
(MPa)
10.39 10.41 10.12 10.05 10.76 10.24 10.15 11.03 10.43

s(2) (MPa)
0.26 0.15 0.28 0.18 0.05 0.19 0.07 0.09 0.13

Cv(3) % 4.4 1.5 2.8 1.8 0.5 1.9 0.7 0.8 1.2

(1) relative width of the bearing strip, (2) standard deviation and (3) coe~cient of variation C V = s/fsr

Table 3 - Results of the stable Brazilian tests for mortar prismatic specimens D
(mm)

b/D (1) %
16 16 8 4 16

Test N~
2 4 3 3 4

fst (MPa)
3,87 3.96 3.78 3.70 4.03 3.81 3.73 4.36 3.95 5.04

S(2) (iPa)
0.07 0.18 0.11

CV(3) %
1.8 4.6 2.9

3OO
150 150 150 75 75 75 37 37 17

0.04
0.09 0.15 0.07 0.14 0.13 0.20

1.0
2.1 3.9 1.9 3.3 3.3 3.9

8
4 16 8 16

4
4 3 4 3

(I) relative width of the bearing strip, (2) standard deviation and (3) coe~cient of variation C V ~ s /fsr

3 Pus - 2 BD 2

(2)

where Pu is the peak load, S the loading span, B the beam thickness and D the beam depth. This value is divided by ft to find the ordinate in the plot of Fig. 3b, and from the master curve, the corresponding abscissa (following the arrows). Since all the other values entering the expresTable 1 - Mortar and granite properties a Material Mortar Granite
3.6+ 0.1 11+ 2 56 -+ 3 29.1 + 0.7 10.1 + 0.2 19+ 2 167 + 5 33.9 + 0.5

Property
ft (MPa) w t(prn) GF(N/m) E (GPa)

sion of the abscissa are known, w 1 can be calculated. Additionally the specific fracture energy G F was measured. Although this property is not necessary to predict the splitting strength, it was evaluated as a reference parameter to characterize the material. G F was determined using the procedure described in the RILEM draft recommendation [9] with the corrections proposed by the authors [12-14]. Table 1 indicates the properties obtained for the granite and for the mortar. It includes the modulus of elasticity E, the specific fracture energy GF, the tensile strength ft and the horizontal intercept of the initial tangent of the softening curve w 1. From these data, a char-. acteristics size lch1, associated with the horizontal intercept of the initial slope of the softening curve, can be calculated by means of the next equation [1[:

(a) Errors correspond to 95% confidence interval.

lchl- 2ft 213

tw 1

(3)

Materials and Structures/Mat~riaux et Constructions,Vol. 32, April 1999

lch1 is a material parameter similar to the classical Hillerborg's characteristic size [15] except that a linear equivalent softening function defined by t~ and w I is used instead of the true softening curve. Taking into account the granite and mortar properties, the lch1 values calculated were: 43.7 m m for concrete and 33.2 m m for granite.
Table 4 - Results of the unstable Brazilian tests for mortar prismatic specimens

3. RESULTS OF THE BRAZILIAN TESTS

Tables 2 and 3 indicate respectively the results of the stable Brazilian tests for granite cylindrical and mortar prismatic specimens. The results of the unstable test for mortar are shown in Table 4. In these Tables the specimen size D, the relative width of the bearing strip, the number of tests, the mean value of the splitting tensile strength fst, the standard deviation s and the coefficient of variation C v = s/f~tare included. The results of the stable Brazilian test for granite are presented in Fig. 4 which shows the effect of the width of bearing strips and the size of the specimen on the splitting tensile strength. The open symbols correspond to the mean strength and the error to + the standard deviation. In Fig. 5 the results of the stable and unstable test of mortar specimens are also shown. It is interesting to note the low scatter of the experimental results. With independence of the material, specimen shape and test mode (stable or unstable), the experimental results show that fst decreases as the specimen size increases. For the specimen sizes tested, the splitting tensile strength is a non increasing function of the specimen

D
(mm) 300 150 75 37 300 150 75 37

b/D 0)
% 8 8 8 8 16 16 16 16

Test No 4 5 8 9 2 4 7 4

fst (MPa) 3.89 3.90 3.73 4.15 4.25 4.32 4.59 5.36

S(2)
(MPa) 0.20 0.26 0.20 0.29 0.21 0.10 0.20 0.16

CV(3)
% 5.1 6.8 5.4 7.5 5.0 2.4 4.4 3.1

(1) relative width tithe bearingstrip, (2) standard deviation and (3) coefficient of variation C v = s/f ~r

12 Granite 1 b/D=0.16 11

12

(b) Granite ] biD=0.08

12

(c) Granite biD=0.04

11
v

11

"~-10

~1~ I

~10

~,I,,,I,,,I,,,I,,,

,,I,,,I,,,I,,,I,,,

, t l i l P l J l l l t , , I , , ,

100 200 D (mm)

100 200 D (mm)

0
specimen size

100 200 D (nun) for different b/D ratios. (stable tests). (c) t Mortar biD=0.04

Fig. 4 - Experimental results of the granite splitting strength as a function of the (a)
#,,

(b) I 5 Mortar ] biD=0.08

t b/M~

51

g~
~4
.... T .......... --o

3
2 iIliI I Ill't'"l II' [ ' i l l 2
,,I,,,I,,,I,,,I*,,I,,,I

3 2 300
the specimen
,,I,,,I~,,I,,,I,,,I,~,

100

200

300

D (mm)

100 200 D (ram)

as

100 200 D (ram)

30G

Fig. 5 - Experimental results of the mortar splitting strength (open symbol) and unstable tests (full symbol).

a function o f

size for different b/D ratios: stable tests

214

Rocco, Guinea, Planas, Elices

size, and the reverse behavior observed by others authors was not detected. The way as the splitting strength varies with the specimen size depends significantly on the relative width of the bearing strips. Note that the size effect is strongest for the largest relative width of the bearing strip (b/D = 0.16). In these cases, variations up to 30% in the splitting strength were registered in the concrete test, whereas for specimens tested with the smallest relative width (b/D = 0.04) the size effect is negligible. Regarding the kind of material, within the range of sizes tested, the concrete specimens show a stronger size effect. It is important to note that as a consequence of the effect of the bearing strip width, the splitting tensile strength measured on specimens of the same size can differ considerably, particularly for small specimens. In 37 mm concrete specimens, when b/D changed from 8% to 16%, differences of up to 10% in splitting tensile strength were recorded. Depending on the material properties these differences can be greater. Examination of the results in Fig. 5a, where the relative width of the bearing strip was 0.16, shows that the splitting tensile strength measured in unstable test series is greater than that obtained in the stable tests, regardless of the specimen size. A mean difference of 15% between stable and unstable splitting strength was measured in this case. On the contrary, in the specimens where the relative width of the bearing strip was b/D = 0.08 (Fig. 5b), the results of the stable and unstable tests were similar To explore the cause of this behavior, additional unstable tests were performed under displacement control at various loading rates in the range 0.5 MPa/minute to 6 MPa/minute. Prismatic mortar specimens of 75 mm were tested with two different widths of bearing strips: b/D = 0.08 and 0.16. The results of these tests as a function of the loading rate, together with the linear regression curves determined from these results (straight lines), are plotted in Fig. 6. The range of the load speed corresponding to the unstable test series are also indicated. As might have been expected, the splitting strength increases with

Table 5 - Coefficient c1, c 2 and c3 for cylindrical specimens (b/D) 0.04 0.08 0.16 cI - 96.96 - 28.41 - 6.73
C2 Ca

362.66 105.53 26.57

1.0017 1.0031 1.0233

Table 6 - Coefficient q , c2 and c3 for prismatic specimens (b/D) 0.04 0.08 O. 16 cI 2.35 -12.53 -4.89 c2 49.75 50.20 18.87 c3 1.0111 1.0198 1.0456

the loading rate. Nevertheless, the more interesting result is that when the speed approaches zero, the values of the splitting strength tend to the splitting strength value obtained under stable test conditions. Note that the difference between the results of the stable and unstable tests depends on the loading rate which the unstable test is performed. According to the results in Fig. 6, only for loading rate smaller than 1 MPa/minute, similar values of fst can be expected with both kinds of test. Taking into account the linear regression curves plotted in Fig. 6 and the mean loading rate of the unstable test series (3 MPa/minute for b/D = 0.16 and 1 MPa/minute for b/D - 0.08), we can estimate the expected differences between the splitting strength of stable and unstable tests. For the specimens loaded with b/D = 0.16 the estimated difference between both kinds of tests is 15% which justify the differences between the results of the stable and unstable tests showed in Fig. 5a.

4. COMPARISON OF EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND THEORETICAL PREDICTIONS

As mentioned in the Introduction, the effect of the specimen size and the boundary conditions in the splitting test was analyzed theoretically by the authors in a previous paper. From the numerical results obtained with a cohesive crack model they proposed the following closed form analytical expression to estimate the splitting tensile strength:
f-st =

Cl + c 2 D / l c h l

+ c3)ft

(4)

Fig. 6 - Effect of the loading rate on the splitting tensile strength measured in unstable tests.

where q, c2 and c3 are coefficients that depend on the specimen type (cylindrical or prismatic) and the relative width of the bearing strip. The applicability of equation (4) is only valid for characteristic sizes, D/lch1 between 0.40 and 10.0. When the material properties are known, i.e. lch1 and are determined, the variation of the splitting tensile strength with the specimen size can be estimated from equation (4). Substituting in this equation the properties of the granite and concrete determined in the characterization tests (Section 2.2), the following equations are obtained:

215

Materials and Structures/Mat6riaux et Constructions, Vol. 32, April 1999

(a)
1.30 -cohesive crack model predictions rq O A experimental results 41, 1.20 b/D=0.16 1.10 D~ ~ 1.10 b_,... (a)
1.20

o A o

D/lch l 3.60 1.80 0.90

!
i

1.00

1.00
t I 1 1 I ~ ~ I I I I I I ' I , , ,

0.5

1 D/lch 1

10

0.00

0.05

0.10 b/D

0.15

0.20

Co)
1.40 ~-"

cohesive crack model predictions [] o A experimental results

1.30

Co)
[] ,x o D/lch 1 3.48 1.74 0.85

1.30 1.20

i
~ b/D=0.16 ~-

b.L_

"-1--

1.20

1.10 1.10
1.00
I ~ ~ I I I I I I I I I I I

1.00

0.5

1 D/lc h 1

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

b/D
Fig. 8 - Predictive curve from strength limit theory and experimental results of the splitting tensile strength for: granite specimens (a) and mortar specimens (b).

Fig. 7 - Predictive size effect curves from the cohesive crack model and experimental results of the splitting tensile strength for: granite specimens (a) and mortar specimens (b).

fst = 3.66

~-c3 / (for concrete specimens) (5a)

+c2 7

fst = 10.1

D c 1 + c2 - 33.2

t- C3

/)

(for granite specimens) (5b)

firms the predictive capacity of this model and suggests that it is appropriate for evaluating the size effect in the Brazilian test. The extrapolation of the experimental results shows that the sphtting strength tends asymptotically to a minimum value for large size. When the width of the bearing strip approaches zero, this minimum value converges to the tensile strength. The asymptotic large size limit of the splitting tensile strength can be estimated by the following equations [1]:

The values of the coefficients Cl, % and c3 for the relative width of bearing strip used in the tests are given in Tables 5 and 6. Fig. 7a and 7b compare the experimental results of splitting tensile strength with the theoretical predictions obtained by equation (Sa) and equation (5b). Only the mean values of the strength are plotted together with the error bars that correspond to + the standard deviation. It is seen that the theoretical predictions for both granite cylindrical and concrete prismatic specimens are very good. Note that the theoretical results were obtained from the material properties measured by independent fracture tests. The experimental validation of the theoretical results obtained from the cohesive crack model estimations con216

(1 't;2
ft
fst-(1_132)5/3_0.0115

(for cylindrical specimens) (6a)

(for prismatic specimens) (6b)

These equations were obtained by applying a classical strength limit theory for materials with linear elastic behavior. Strictly speaking, these values are asymptotic and hence only reached for infinite specimen size. However, it was proved by comparing the classical strength limit approach with the cohesive crack model predictions that for specimens with D _>51ch I the asymptotic values can be used.

Rocco,Guinea,Planas,Elices
Fig. 8a and 8b compare the experimental results off'st and the theoretical predictions obtained from equation (6a) and equation (6b). As the specimen size increases, the experimental results approach the theoretical asymptotic predictions for large specimens. In 150 mm concrete specimens (D/lch 1 = 3.48) and 120 mm granite specimens (D/I&I = 3.6), the experimental and theoretic values are very close. experimental results for specimen sizes above 3.5 lch1 the strength limit approaches can be used to estimate the splitting tensile strength.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge support for this research provided by DGICYT and CICYT, Spain, under grants PB93-0031, MAT97-1022 and MAT971007-C02-02, and by the Ministry of Education and Science, Spain, with collaboration from the Foreign Scientific Program.

5. C O N C L U S I O N S
The results of 110 stable and unstable Brazilian tests, performed on specimens of mortar and granite of various sizes, loaded through load-bearing strips of various widths, have shown that: 9 The splitting tensile strength measured in the Brazilian test depends on the specimen size and on the width of the load-bearing strip. According to the specimen size and loading conditions, differences of up to 30% in the value of the splitting tensile strength can be found for a given material. However as the size of the specimen increases and the width of bearing strip decreases, the splitting strength tends asymptotically to a minimum limit value which, according to the cohesive crack model, coincides with the true tensile strength. Moreover, when the relative width of the bearing strip decreases, the size effect tends to disappear. In the range of specimen sizes typical in laboratory testing, an approximately constant value of the splitting tensile strength can be obtained when the relative width of the bearing strip is less than 8% of the specimen diameter (for cylinders) or side (for square prisms). 9 The stable and unstable test results show that the splitting tensile strength measured in unstable tests, as usually found according to standard recommendations, is higher than that obtained in the stable tests. This difference can be attributed to the different loading rate at which the maximum load is reached in the two types of tests. In stable tests, where the speed of the crack opening displacement is controlled, the loading rate near the maximum load tends to zero. On the contrary, in unstable tests, conducted in load control or bearing strip displacement control, the loading rate near the peak load is not zero, and so a higher value of the splitting tensile strength results. The experiments show that as the loading rate in the unstable tests is reduced, the splitting tensile strength approaches the values obtained in the stable tests. 9 Experimental results indicate that the analytical expressions obtained from the cohesive crack model are a very useful tool for predicting the effect of both specimen size and width of bearing strip on the splitting tensile strength. The theoretical values obtained with the model, from the material properties determined in an independent test, agree notably well with the experimental results. The theoretical size effect curves show that the asymptotic value of the splitting strength for larger specimens coincides with the strength value obtained from the classical strength limit theory. According to the

REFERENCES
[1] Rocco, C., Guinea, G. V., Planas, J. and Efices, M., 'Size effect and boundary conditions in the Brazilian test: theoretical analysis', Mater. Struct. (Submited for publication), 1998. [2] Sabinis, G. M. and Mirza, S. M., 'Size effects in model concrete's?', Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE 105 (ST6) (1979) 1007-1020. [3] Hasegawa, T., Shioya, T. and Okada, T., 'Size effect on spfitting tensile strength of concrete', in Proceedings Japan Concrete Institute 7th Conference, June 1985,309-312. [4] Kim, J. and Eo, S., 'Size effect in concrete specimens with dissimilar initial cracks', Magazine of ConcreteResearch42 (1990) 233-238. [5] Ba~ant, Z. P., Kazemi, M. T., Hasegawa, T. and Mazars, J, 'Size effect in Brazilian split-cylinder test: measurements and fracture analysis', A CI MaterialsJournal 88 (3) (1991) 325-322. [6] Chen, W. F. and Yuan, R. L., 'Tensile strength of concrete: the double punch tests', Journal of the Structural Division ASCE 106 (ST8) (1980) 1673-1693. [7] Rocco, C., Guinea, G. V., Planas, J. and Elices, M., 'Mechanisms of rupture in the Brazilian test', to appear in ACIJoumal (1999). [8] ASTM C 496-85, 'Standard Test Method for Splitting Tensile Strength of Cylindrical Concrete Specimens', Annual Book of ASTM Standards 4 (04.02) (1986) 337-342. [9] RILEM Draft Recommendation, 'Determination of fracture energy of mortar and concrete by means of three-point bend test on notched beams', Mater. Struct. 18 (1985) 285-290. [10] Tada, H., Paris, P. and Irwin G., 'The stress analysis of cracks handbook', Del Research Corporation, St. Louis, Missouri (1985). [11] Guinea, G. V., Planas, J. and Elices, M., 'A general bilinear fitting for the softening curve of concrete', Mater. Struct. 27 (1994) 99-105. [12] Guinea, G. V., Planas, J. and Elices, M., 'Measurement of the fracture energy using three-point bend test: Part 1-Influence of experimental procedures', Mater. Struct. 25 (1992) 212-218. [13] Planas, J., Elices, M. and Guinea, G. V., 'Measurement of the fracture energy using three-point bend test: Part 2-Influence of bulk energy dissipation', Ibid. 305-312. [14] Elices, M., Guinea, G. V. and Planas, J., 'Measurement of the fracture energy using three-point bend test: Part 3-Influence of cutting the P-8 tail', Ibid. 327-334. [15] Hillerborg, A., Mod&r, M. and Petersson, P., 'Analysis of crack formation and crack growth in concrete by means of fracture mechanics and finite elements', Cement and Concrete Research 6 (1976) 773-782.

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