Effect of specimen sizes, specimen shapes, and placement directions on compressive strength of concrete

The compressive strength of concrete is used as the most basic and important material property when reinforced concrete structures are designed. It has become a problem to use this value, however, because the control specimen sizes and shapes may be different from country to country.In this study, the effect of specimen sizes, specimen shapes, and placement directions on compressive strength of concrete specimens was experimentally investigated based on fracture mechanics. Experiments for the Mode I failure were carried out by using cylinder, cube, and prism specimens. The test results are curve-fitted using least square method (LSM) to obtain the new parameters for the modified size effect law (MSEL). The analysis results show that the effect of specimen sizes, specimen shapes, and placement directions on ultimate strength is present. In addition, correlations between compressive strengths with size, shape, and placement direction of the specimen are investigated.