Tensile/flexural fracture behavior of composite specimens combining SHCC and concrete

Tensile and flexural fracture behavior of composite specimens made of SHCC and normal concrete (NC) was investigated. Uniaxial tension tests on these materials were successfully carried out without breaking the enlarged ends of dumbbell specimens by a method in which their shoulders are engaged in locks and subjected to tensile loading. Composite specimens under bending action having NC on the tension side underwent early cracking in NC, resulting in a lower load-bearing capacity of specimens and smaller deformation of SHCC. In composite specimens having SHCC on the outside of NC, cracks in NC under tensile and bending action were rendered fine and multiple ahead in the outer layer of SHCC.