Study on the Relationship between Fractal Characteristics and Mechanical Properties of Tensile Fracture of Reinforced Concrete Structures

In the present study, experiments are carried out to investigate the behavior of the tensile crack of the reinforced concrete structure. Moreover, the fracture morphology and mechanical properties of the tensile crack are analyzed with the fractal geometry theory and reverse engineering. The obtained results show that the axial force of the tensile crack increases with the crack sequence. When the crack reaches a stable state, the number of cracks does not change, while the width of the crack increases. It is found that fractures of the structural tensile crack have distinct fractal characteristics and the fractal dimension shows a decreasing trend as the cracking axial force increases. Obtained results show that the correlation between the crack axial force and the fractal dimension of the fracture follows a power function. It is demonstrated that the fractal dimension of the fracture depends on different parameters, including the tensile strength of the concrete, cross-sectional area of the structure, ratio of the elastic modulus of the steel bar to that of the concrete, and the reinforcement ratio. Moreover, the fractal dimension of the tensile crack is calculated to evaluate the tensile force of the structure. Based on the obtained results, it is found that appropriate and timely measurements can avoid the built-in steel bars reaching yield and causing the structure to lose its bearing capacity completely.