National Concrete Pavement Technology Center

Project description

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is a class of cementitious composite materials designed to exhibit exceptional mechanical and durability properties, including sustained postcracking tensile strength. Laboratory tests of structural elements have clearly indicated that UHPC components can exhibit tensile mechanical properties far in excess of those expected from conventional or fiber-reinforced concretes. This study developed a material scale direct tension test applicable to UHPC that relates the full range of uniaxial tensile behaviors through strain localization and can be completed on cast or extracted specimens. In order to demonstrate applicability, the test method was carried out in parallel with other UHPC tension test methods. This research model allowed for both development of a practical test method along with direct determination of the tensile mechanical properties of two commercially available UHPC-class materials.