Influence of crack initiation length on fracture behaviors of reinforced concrete

•Under the conditions of the fundamental assumptions to reinforced concrete, the calculating process of fracture parameters for three point bending beam of high strength reinforced concrete is given.•A total of 16 specimens with the same sizes, with the different initial crack length 40 mm to 100 mm on three point bending beam of high strength reinforced concrete, are performed to examine the calculation method.•The fracture features of high strength reinforced concrete is different from normal concrete, both the initiation toughness and the unstable toughness of high strength reinforced concrete gradually increase with the crack-to-depth ratios, and the ratios of initial load to maximum load are different depending on the initial crack length, the bigger the crack-to-depth ratios, the lower the ratio, and the ductility is best to the high strength reinforced concrete.

For the purpose of discussing the fracture features of high strength reinforced concrete, under the conditions of the fundamental assumptions to reinforced concrete, the calculating process of fracture parameters for three point bending beam of high strength reinforced concrete is given, and through a total of 16 specimens with the same sizes, with the different initial crack length 40 mm to 100 mm on three point bending beam of high strength reinforced concrete, it is performed to examine the calculation method. The results show that the fracture features of high strength reinforced concrete are different from normal concrete, both the initiation toughness and the unstable toughness of high strength reinforced concrete gradually increase with the crack-to-depth ratios, and the ratios of initial load to maximum load are different depending on the initial crack length, the bigger the crack-to-depth ratios, the lower the ratio, and the ductility is best to the high strength reinforced concrete.