Practical Means for Determination of the Tensile Behavior of Ultra-High Performance Concrete

Ultra-high performance concrete exhibits sufficient tensile strength and tensile toughness that structurally efficient use of these concretes demands that the tensile capabilities be utilized. A means of determining the tensile properties of UHPC is essential to the expanded use of this advanced construction material. However, no simple, practical test currently exists to determine or verify these properties in a production environment. The ASTM C 496 splitting tensile test method presents a starting point for the development of a practical test procedure, as this test method both is comparatively easy to perform and is well regarded in terms of its ability to create a uniform tensile stress field within a concrete sample. This paper presents an adaptation of this test method that allows for quantitative determination of the tensile cracking strength of UHPC and for qualitative verification of the post-cracking tensile behaviors.