Shape and size effects on the compressive strength of high-strength concrete

In this paper we investigate the influence of the shape and of the size of the specimens on the compressive strength of high-strength concrete. We use cylinders and cubes of different sizes for performing stable stress–strain tests. The tests were performed at a single axial strain rate, 10− 6 s− 1. This value was kept constant throughout the experimental program. Our results show that the post-peak behavior of the cubes is milder than that of the cylinders, which results in a strong energy consumption after the peak. This is consistent with the observation of the crack pattern: The extent of cracking throughout the specimen is denser in the cubes than in the cylinders. Indeed, a main inclined fracture surface is nucleated in cylinders, whereas in cubes we find that lateral sides get spalled leading to the so-called hour-glass failure mode. The remaining cube core gets fragmented due to crushing, in some cases exhibiting a dense columnar cracking in the bulk of the specimen. Finally, we investigate the relationship between the compressive strength given by both types of specimen for several specimen sizes.