Woodhead Publishing Understanding the Tensile Properties of Concrete (Woodhead Publishing Series in Civil and Structural Engineering)

The response of concrete under tensile loading is crucial for most applications because concrete is much weaker in tension than in compression. Understanding the response mechanisms of concrete under tensile conditions is therefore key to understanding and using concrete in structural applications. Understanding the tensile properties of concrete summarises key recent research in this important subject. Key Features: summarises key recent research in the areas of understanding the response mechanisms of concrete under tensile conditions; provides a summary of the most important parameters that affect the tensile response of concrete and shows how multi scale modeling is used to relate concrete composition to tensile properties; highlights the dynamic behaviour of concrete from different viewpoints and provides practical examples of how detailed knowledge on tensile properties is used by engineers in structural applications. Contents: Introduction to concrete: A resilient material system. Part 1 Concrete in static tensile loading: Factors affecting the tensile properties of concrete; Modelling the effect of material composition on the tensile properties of concrete; Modelling moisture transport in intact and fractured concrete. Part 2 Concrete in dynamic tensile loading: Modelling the response of concrete structures to dynamic loading; Dynamic test devices for analysing the tensile properties of concrete; Response mechanisms of concrete under impulsive tensile loading; Modelling the dynamic response of concrete with mesoscopic heterogeneity; Mesoscopic modelling of concrete under different moisture conditions and loading rates; Modelling the response of concrete structures from strain rate effects to shock induced loading; Understanding the dynamic response of concrete to loading: Practical examples.