Construction and Building Materials 285 (2021) 122693

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Comparative study on damage process of concrete subjected to uniaxial

tensile and compression loads based on CT test and improved
differential box counting method
Le Zhang a,1, Faning Dang a,b,c,1,⇑, Weihua Ding a,b,c,1, Lin Zhu a,1
a
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China
b
State Key Laboratory of Eco-hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China
c
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Loess Mechanics and Engineering, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China

h i g h l i g h t s

 X-ray CT tests and IDBC method were combined to analyze the concrete damage process.
 The failure modes of concrete under tensile and compression load were compared.
 The differences of concrete under tensile and compression loads were studied.
 The relationship between fractal dimension, CT number and stress were studied.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Concrete is prone to be damaged due to external forces. Traditional concrete failure analysis and research
Received 20 August 2020 mostly focus on the characterization of macro – mechanical properties, which cannot describe the dam-
Received in revised form 22 January 2021 age of internal structure and the process of concrete failure after being subjected to a load on a meso-
Accepted 11 February 2021
scopic level. Thus, a series of CT tests were carried out on the damage process of concrete under
Available online 11 March 2021
tensile and compression loads, and CT images of the whole process of concrete failure were obtained.
On this basis, the fractal dimension calculated by the Improved Differential Box Counting (IDBC) method
Keywords:
was used to quantitatively study the change of the internal structure of concrete during the loading pro-
Concrete
CT test
cess. Then the mean values of the CT number of concrete CT images were statistically analyzed. The
Tensile load results revealed that the fractal dimension of different stress stages in each section increased with the
Compression load increase of scan times under tensile load, while the fractal dimension increasing first, then decreasing
Fractal dimension and finally increasing with the increase of scan times under compression load. Correspondingly, with
CT number the increase of scan times, the mean values of CT number under tensile load showed a trend of decreas-
Damage process ing, while a trend of decreasing first, then increasing and finally decreasing of the mean values of CT num-
ber was exhibited when the concrete specimen was subjected to compression load, which indicated that
the concrete specimen undergone the process of expansion, crack propagation, and failure under tensile
load, whereas the concrete experienced the process of compaction, crack propagation, and failure under a
compression load. Furthermore, research results have shown that the fractal dimension and mean value
of CT number can be used to quantitatively describe the damage process of concrete, whether it is sub-
jected to tensile or compression load.
Ó 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction is extremely irregular [1–3]. It is of great significance to study

the macroscopic and microscopic changes in the process of con-
Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate, mor- crete damage to analyze the damage mechanism of concrete. Var-
tar, cement, etc. in a certain proportion, and its geometric shape ious detection and theoretical methods have been applied to the
study of the microscopic damage mechanism of concrete [4–6].
At present, the research on the mechanical properties of con-
⇑ Corresponding author at: School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Xi’an crete is mostly based on mechanical tests [7,8]. Mechanical proper-
University of Technology, Xi’an 710048, China.
ties such as tensile, compressive, and shear strength of concrete are
E-mail address: dangfn@mail.xaut.edu.cn (F. Dang).
1 obtained by trial and error to make a qualitative analysis of con-
NO. 5 South Jinhua Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.122693
0950-0618/Ó 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
L. Zhang, F. Dang, W. Ding et al. Construction and Building Materials 285 (2021) 122693

crete failure. Liu et al. [9] and Guo et al. [10] utilized Hopkinson the concrete damage process and calculated the fractal dimension
tensile bar (SHTB) to conducted dynamic tensile tests on concrete, of the CT scan section, which found that the fractal dimension
and Cao et al. [11] investigated the dynamic response of cement- develops regularly with crack propagation and can better reflect
tailings matrix composites under SHPB compression load. Yan the evolution law of damage cracks of concrete materials.
et al. [12] did a dynamic tensile test of concrete and concluded that In this study, CT technique and fractal theory are coupled to
the results obtained from the traditional experimental analysis study the concrete damage process when the concrete is subjected
could not fully reveal the inherent variation of dynamic character- to uniaxial tensile and compression loads. The self-developed por-
istics, and had unavoidable limitations. From the above explana- table loading equipment is used to perform uniaxial tensile and
tion, in the traditional research of concrete materials, the damage compression tests on concrete specimens. Through CT real-time
characteristics of concrete are mostly studied from the macro- scanning, the CT images of the whole process of concrete damage
scopic point of view, which fails to reflect the macroscopic under two loading types are obtained, and the three-dimensional
mechanical properties of concrete from the internal destruction reconstruction of concrete specimen is carried out by using the
mechanism of concrete, and also cannot quantitatively analyze obtained CT images. Then, the self-editing MATLAB program is
the evolution process of cracks in concrete. used to calculate the fractal dimension of the concrete CT images
Due to the micro-crack damage is a prime cause for deteriora- with different cross-sections and different stress stages. Finally,
tion of concrete structures [13], in recent years, some non- the comparative study on fractal characteristics of concrete failure
destructive testing methods have been used to detect the damage under uniaxial tensile and compression loads is carried out
of concrete materials. And there are two main non-destructive through CT test results and fractal theory.
testing methods: acoustic emission method and CT testing method.
Zeng et al. [14] obtained both structural response and acoustic 2. Materials and methods
emission monitoring results during a four-point flexural test of
an I-section prestressed concrete beam. The change in AE signal 2.1. Materials and specimen preparation
activity during incremental loading cycles was evaluated to deter-
mine the beam’s response in terms of damage generation. Besides, The specification of the concrete cylinder specimen is
the AE technique for detecting different types of damage in the cor- U60 mm  120 mm. The age of the concrete specimen is 300 days,
rosion process was described through the characterization of cor- and the aggregate gradation is the first grade. The mix proportions
responding AE sources in pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipes of concrete are shown in Table 1.
[15]. Ren et al. [16] used AE data to study the fracture process of When making concrete specimens, blocks with a pouring size of
mortar and concrete beams under three-point bending tests. 150 mm  150 mm  450 mm are generally used. After curing at
Reboul et al. [17] employed the AE technique to investigate the room temperature, the concrete specimens are directly drilled on
damage levels and mechanisms of two reinforced concrete wall- these blocks firstly. Then cut the ends to get the required length
slab connections under a cyclic reverse loading. However, the AE of the test specimen, which is 120 mm. During the preparation of
technique has some disadvantages, such as the difficulty in estab- the test specimen, the problems of specimen alignment, adhesion,
lishing a quantitative relationship between the parameters of con- and installation also need to be solved.
crete cracks and frequency and seismic amplitude, as well as the
uncertainty of the research on the evolution process of concrete
2.1.1. Specimen alignment
cracks [18], therefore, CT technique was used to detect the con-
To ensure that the test specimen and the upper and lower con-
crete damage. Tian et al. [19] used X-ray computed tomography
necting rods maintain the coaxial in the process of bonding the test
(CT) to study the concrete damage characteristics under uniaxial
specimen, a V-shaped groove is designed. The process of specimen
compression. The X-CT technique and gray-level co-occurrence
alignment is shown schematically in Fig. 1.
matrices (GLCM) were coupled to analyze the internal damage of
concrete [20,21]. Whereas, neither the acoustic emission technique
nor the CT scanning technique can quantitatively describe the con- 2.1.2. Specimen adhesion
crete damage process, thus scholars have proposed various meth- A type of building structural adhesive developed and produced
ods to quantitatively describe the concrete damage. by the Dalian Institute of Physics and Chemical Engineering is
For quantitatively describing the process of concrete damage, a selected to bond the specimen, commonly known as sticky steel
concrete cube finite element model with an embedded SA sensor adhesive. The performance indexes of the building structural adhe-
was established using a concrete damaged plasticity constitutive sive are listed in Table 2. In the process of bonding the specimen,
model to simulate the damage process under uniaxial compression the V-shaped groove is placed vertically to bond the specimen
[22]. Song et al. [23] proposed a three-dimensional multi-level for reducing the error of the test curve caused by the deformation
stress corrosion model (MSC) to characterize the damage induced of the adhesive.
by the variable cyclic load levels during consecutive loading stages
in numerical simulations. However, as a commonly used engineer- 2.1.3. Specimen installation
ing material, concrete exhibits a series of fractal features during its During specimen installation, the test machine is placed verti-
formation [24]. Hence, more and more scholars have used fractal cally. Meanwhile, the operator holds the connecting rod with his
theory to study the concrete damage process. Rezaie et al. [25] hand and puts it into the pressure chamber while releasing the test
used fractal dimensions to quantitate the cracking pattern on walls specimen, which effectively reduces the probability of the test
after earthquakes. Besides, using the fractal dimension as a math- specimen fracture during installation.
ematical tool, Zamen et al. [26] conducted damage assessment on
concrete materials under different applied loads after being sub- 2.2. Test devices
jected to extreme compression loads. Moreover, the correlations
among the fractal dimension, compressive strength, and perme- To measure the damage process of concrete specimens under
ability of concrete incorporating silica fume were studied, and uniaxial tensile and compression loads, the portable CT real-time
the results showed that increasing silica fume content improves dynamic loading device independently developed by the Xi’an
compressive strength but decreases permeability and fractal University of Technology is used with an X-ray CT scanning device
dimension [27]. Dang et al. [28,29] carried out the CT tests on [30]. In this study, the combination of loading device and the X-ray
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L. Zhang, F. Dang, W. Ding et al. Construction and Building Materials 285 (2021) 122693

Table 1
The proportion of concrete (kg/m3).

Cement Fly ash Coarse aggregates Fine aggregates Water

233 59 1083 784 190

V-shaped groove

specimen alignment specimen after alignment

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of specimen alignment.

Table 2
Performance index of building structural adhesive.

Name Mixed density (g/cm3) Solid content Colloidal properties (MPa)

JGN-Ⅱtype building structural adhesive 1.6 ± 0.1 99% Tensile strength Bending strength Compressive strength
30 45 65

CT scanning device can monitor the whole process of concrete

damage in real-time, which is the innovation of this study. The por-
table loading device and the X-ray scanning device are shown in
CT scanning
Fig. 2. Moreover, the schematic diagram of the loading device is
shown in Fig. 3.

2.3. Methodology

Previous studies have shown that the fractal dimension can be

used to describe the evolution process of concrete damage [31,32]. PDLE
The introduction of the concept of fractal dimension can change
the problem from qualitative analysis to quantitative analysis. In
other words, the larger the damage is, the larger the fractal dimen-
sion is. The Differential Box Counting (DBC) method has achieved a
Actuator
lot of research results in many concrete damage analyses. Whereas, machine
due to the defects of the DBC method itself (such as the box cannot
accurately cover cracks, etc.), the DBC method cannot faithfully
reflect the concrete damage [33].
In this study, the Improved Differential Box Counting (IDBC) Fig. 2. Portable loading device and the X-ray scanning device.
method proposed in Ref. [34] is used to quantitatively analyze
the whole damage process of the concrete specimen when sub-
3.1. Concrete uniaxial tensile test procedure
jected to tensile and compression loads. The specific steps in the
MATLAB software are shown in Fig. 4.
The loading and scanning processes are summarized as follows:

3. CT test procedures (a) The specimen is installed in the portable CT real-time

dynamic loading device, and then the loading device with
Firstly, the approximate tensile and compression strengths F1 the specimen is placed horizontally on the CT machine. After
and F2 of the specimen are estimated according to its performance that, the first scan before loading is carried out and CT
indexes. Then, four or five strength values are uniformly taken images of the initial state of the concrete specimen are
between 0-F1 MPa and 0-F2 MPa to describe the damage process obtained;
of concrete before fracture. During the CT test, these four or five (b) Turn on the loading controller, and the load control is first
strength values are used as set loads, and scans are performed performed at a loading rate of 0.02 kN/s. The second scan
when the set loads are reached. is conducted when the specimen is pressurized to 2.78 kN;
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Oil cylinder bolt Stress cavity

Force sensor
Displacement
linkage
sensor
Oil cylinder linkage Sample Force sensor

End cover

Piston Connecting nut

Connecting plate

Fig. 3. The schematic diagram of the loading device.

fracture occurs instantaneously. Therefore, the sixth scan is

performed after the specimen is fractured, at this time, the
load is 3.0 kN.

The load and corresponding displacement during the test are

summarized in Table 3 and the fractured image of CONC-042 is
shown in Fig. 5.

3.2. Concrete uniaxial compression test procedure

The loading and scanning processes are summarized as follows:

(a) The first step is the same as uniaxial tensile;

(b) The load control is performed first at a 0.5 kN/s loading rate.
The second scan is conducted when the specimen is pressur-
ized to 30 kN;
(c) After the second scan, the load control is transformed into
displacement control, and the loading rate is 0.005 mm/s.
The third scan is performed when the displacement is added
to 0.70 mm, meanwhile, the corresponding load is 72.84 kN;
(d) When the displacement is added to 0.85 mm, the fourth scan
is carried out, and the corresponding load is 84.37 kN;
(e) When the displacement is added to 0.92 mm, and the load
reaches 84.37 kN, the specimen is considered fractured.
After the specimen is fractured, the fifth scan is performed,
at this time, the load is 24.60 kN.

Similarly, the load and corresponding displacement during the

test are summarized in Table 4 and the fractured image of CONC-
061 is shown in Fig. 6.

4. CT scanning results and analysis

The layer thickness is 0.8 mm and the layer spacing is 5 mm

during scanning. A total of 29 layers are obtained. The scanned
CT images are reconstructed in the CT image post-processing sys-
tem, and a set of CT images with 351 layers are acquired after
reconstruction. After obtaining concrete CT images, the ENVI and
Fig. 4. Specific steps in the MATLAB software.
MATLAB software are introduced to process the original CT images.
The greater the brightness, the higher the density of the material,
(c) After the second scan, the load control is transformed into that is, in the concrete CT images, the brightest white represents
displacement control, and the loading rate is 0.002 mm/s. aggregate, gray represents mortar, and black represents voids
The third scan is performed when the displacement is added and cracks.
to 0.10 mm, meanwhile, the corresponding load is 4.25 kN;
(d) When the displacement is added to 0.13 mm, the fourth scan 4.1. CT scanning results and analysis of concrete under uniaxial tensile
is carried out, and the corresponding load is 6.05 kN; load
(e) When the displacement is added to 0.17 mm, and the load
reaches 8.86 kN, the fifth scan is performed; It can be seen from Fig. 8 that the CT images of the first and the
(f) Continue to load after the fifth scan, an obvious crack is third scans before the failure of the specimen are almost the same,
observed, which means the specimen is fractured. However, no changes are visible to the naked eye, and no cracks appear. In
the concrete specimen is a kind of brittle material, and its the last scan, i.e., the sixth scan, the specimen is fractured. From
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Table 3
The load and corresponding displacement under tensile load.

Load/kN 0 2.78 4.25 6.05 8.86 3.0

Displacement/mm 0 0.07 0.10 0.13 0.16 0.17

Fig. 5. The fractured image of CONC-042. Fig. 6. The fractured image of CONC-061.

4.3. 3D reconstruction of concrete structure

Figs. 5 and 8(c), it can be seen that a transverse crack perpendicular
to the loading direction penetrates the specimen, which shows that To reflect the internal structure of concrete more realistically,
the specimen is more brittle under uniaxial static tensile load, and this study uses the three-dimensional image processing software
the fracture is sudden without any signs. This phenomenon MIMICS to reconstruct the concrete structure in three dimensions
explains why the cracks are almost invisible in the scanning under tensile and compression loads. The specific steps are as
cross-sections in Fig. 7. According to Section 3.1, the stress-strain follows.
curve of the concrete specimen under uniaxial tensile test can be
obtained, as shown in Fig. 9. 4.3.1. Import images
Fig. 9 shows the complete stress-strain curve. Before the peak When importing a DICOM file, MIMICS will automatically
stress, the stress-strain curve is basically linear. After reaching match the corresponding image. Import 301 high-definition image
the peak stress, the curve changes abruptly and the stress drops files in DICOM format into the project, and after automatic regis-
suddenly. At this time, the specimen has been damaged. tration, which is shown in Fig. 13. Fig. 13 shows the front, left,
and top views, respectively.

4.3.2. Threshold segmentation

Draw a profile line on the two-dimensional image of the con-
4.2. CT scanning results and analysis of concrete under uniaxial
crete specimen to get the change of CTN along the straight line,
compression load
where the CTN in Hounsfield units (Hu) represents the mean X-
ray absorption associated with each area of the CT image. When
It is evident from Fig. 10 that the CT images of several stress
the straight line passes through the pore area, CTN decreases
stages before the fracture of the specimen are basically unchanged
rapidly, and when passing through the aggregate area, CTN
when the concrete specimen is subjected to compression load.
increases sharply to a maximum. As CTN is in the range of
While, the cracks can be seen in the CT images of the last scan,
1050Hu-1450Hu, the threshold is defined to represent the mortar
which is because the concrete specimen has been completely frac-
area, which is the yellow area in Fig. 14(a). In this way, the areas
tured at this time. Meanwhile, it can be seen from Fig. 11 that the
of aggregate, mortar, pores, and cracks in the specimen can be
crack shape of the specimen after fracture is in the form of split.
easily identified.
According to Section 3.2 and Table 4, the stress-strain curve of
the concrete specimen under compression load can be acquired,
as shown in Fig. 12. 4.3.3. Three-dimensional reconstruction
It is similar to the stress-strain curve of the concrete specimen After determining the threshold of each area, three-dimensional
under tensile load, in the initial stage of loading, the curve is rela- reconstruction can be performed. The three-dimensional distribu-
tively flat and grows linearly. As the displacement increases, the tion of aggregate, mortar, etc. of concrete under tensile and com-
stress-strain curve appears an inflection point, and the stress cor- pression loads is obtained by MIMICS software, as shown in
responding to this point is called peak stress. When the stress Figs. 15 and 16. Figs. 15 and 16(a)–(c) are the three-dimensional
exceeds the peak stress, the concrete specimen is fractured. images of the concrete specimen before being stressed. Figs. 15

Table 4
The load and corresponding displacement under compression load.

Load/kN 0 30 72.84 84.37 24.60

Displacement/mm 0 0.31 0.70 0.85 0.92

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Fig. 7. Scanning CT images in each stress stage of 4 cross-sections in uniaxial tensile test: (a) 1st cross-section; (b) 2nd cross-section; (c) 3rd cross-section; (d) 4th cross-
section.

and 16(d) are the three-dimensional images of the specimen after 4.4. Segmentation results of CT images using IDBC method
failure.
It can be seen from Figs. 15 and 16 that the concrete specimens Before using MATLAB software to calculate the fractal dimen-
show heterogeneity. When the concrete specimen is damaged by a sion of CT images, it is processed by binarization first to provide
tensile load, the crack is roughly perpendicular to the loading more accurate crack morphology. As shown in Figs. 17 and 18,
direction, and after being damaged by a compression load, the the areas of aggregate and mortar are black, and the areas of pores
crack appears parallel to the loading direction. and cracks are white.

Fig. 8. Concrete scanning longitudinal section under tensile load: (a) 1st scan; (b) 3rd scan; (c) 6th scan.

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The IDBC method combined with CT numbers will be used in

Section 5 to quantitatively analyze and compare the concrete dam-
age process under tensile and compression loads from the meso-
scopic level, which will provide a certain reference for further
research on the failure mechanism of concrete materials.

4.5. Damage process comparison between uniaxial tensile and

compression loads from CT images

At the initial scanning, the aggregate, mortar, and voids inside

the concrete specimen can be seen from the cross-sectional views
of the CT scans in Figs. 7 and 10. As the load continues to increase,
there is no change in the CT image observed by naked eyes, but the
specimen has actually changed from the microscopic view.
It can be seen from the longitudinal cross-sectional views of the
CT scans in Figs. 8 and 11 that when the concrete is subjected to a
uniaxial tensile load, the failure surface is basically parallel to the
cross-section of the specimen (perpendicular to the loading direc-
Fig. 9. The stress-strain curve under uniaxial tensile load.
tion), as shown in the part circled in white in Fig. 8(c). On the con-
trary, when the concrete is subjected to a uniaxial compression
load, the failure surface of the specimen is split, which is approxi-

Fig. 10. Scanning CT images in each stress stage of 4 cross-sections in uniaxial compression test: (a) 1st cross-section; (b) 2nd cross-section; (c) 3rd cross-section; (d) 4th
cross-section.

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Fig. 11. Concrete scanning longitudinal section under uniaxial compression load: (a) 1st scan; (b) 3rd scan; (c) 5th scan.

mately perpendicular to the cross-section of the specimen, as

shown in the part circled in white in Fig. 11(c). This is the biggest
difference between tensile and compression failure of concrete.
However, when the concrete specimens are subjected to these
two different loads, the cracks are formed through the weak area
of the aggregate and mortar, and gradually expand to the adjacent
weak area. Finally, a through macroscopic crack will be formed.
Moreover, from Figs. 9 and 12, the failure strength of concrete
specimens under tensile and compression loads are 3.77 MPa
and 31.03 MPa, respectively. It can be concluded that the failure
strength of the concrete specimen under static tensile load is about
1/10 of the static compression load.

5. Quantitatively analysis of the concrete damage process under

uniaxial tensile and compression loads using IDBC method and
CT numbers

5.1. Calculation of fractal dimension and CT numbers of concrete CT

images under uniaxial tensile load

Fig. 12. The stress-strain curve under uniaxial compression load.

The calculation program of the IDBC method is compiled in
MATLAB software to calculate the fractal dimension of CT images
in each stress stage of 4 cross-sections under uniaxial tensile load.

Fig. 13. 301 images imported by DICOM format.

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Fig. 14. Threshold segmentation by using Line-Probe method: (a) the result of threshold segmentation; (b) change of CTN along the straight line.

Fig. 15. Three-dimensional reconstruction of the concrete specimen under tensile load: (a) three-dimensional reconstruction of the complete specimen before loading;
(b) corresponding aggregate; (c) corresponding mortar; (d) three-dimensional reconstruction of the complete specimen after fracture.

Fig. 16. Three-dimensional reconstruction of the concrete specimen under compression load: (a) three-dimensional reconstruction of the complete specimen before loading;
(b) corresponding aggregate; (c) corresponding mortar; (d) three-dimensional reconstruction of the complete specimen after fracture.

The variation of fractal dimension with the stress of four cross- tion of fractal dimension fully reflects the brittle fracture charac-
sections is shown in Fig. 19. teristics of concrete [29].
It can be seen from Fig. 19 that when the concrete specimen is Fig. 20 shows the mean values of the CT number which belong
subjected to uniaxial tensile load, the fractal dimension D shows a to the four CT scanning sections, and all mean values of the CT
continuously increasing trend. Taking cross-section 1 as an exam- number are calculated by ENVI image processing software. As
ple, the fractal dimension D = 2.2758 at the first scan, however, can be seen from Fig. 20, the variation trend of the mean values
there is no significant change on the fractal dimension D before of CT number in the four cross-sections is consistent, but the mean
the sixth scan with the increase of stress. The fractal dimension values of CT numbers do not change significantly, which is because
D of the fifth scan is 2.2763, which is 0.022% higher than that of the tensile damage process of the concrete specimen is very short,
the first scan, which is because the stress level of the previous and it is difficult to capture the CT image when the concrete is frac-
scans is relatively low and the damage development of concrete tured. There are almost no cracks in the cross-sectional view of the
specimen is slow. At the sixth scan, the fractal dimension CT scan, therefore the mean values of the CT number do not change
D = 2.2865, which is an increase of 0.0120 compared to the fifth obviously. However, from the perspective of the mean values of the
scan. This change is caused by the concrete specimen is completely CT number in the longitudinal section, it can be seen that with the
fractured after the peak stress. The roughness of concrete reaches a scan times (stress) increase, the mean values of the CT number
maximum, thus the fractal dimension increases greatly. The varia- basically decrease linearly before the sixth scan. At the sixth scan,

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Fig. 17. Segmentation images in each stress stage of 4 cross – sections in tensile test: (a) 1st cross-section; (b) 2nd cross-section; (c) 3rd cross-section; (d) 4th cross-section.

the mean values of the CT number in this scan stage are signifi- increases gradually. After the peak stress, the specimen has been
cantly reduced. Tian et al. [35] and Lei et al. [36] both studied fractured and the roughness of the specimen is relatively large,
the mesoscopic damage process of concrete under tensile load which leads to the fractal dimension reaches a maximum.
and the same conclusions were reached. Fig. 22 shows the mean values of the CT number in the cross
and longitudinal sections of the CT scan after the concrete speci-
5.2. Calculation of fractal dimension and CT numbers of concrete CT men is subjected to a compression load. As can be seen from this
images under uniaxial compression load figure, the change law of the mean values of the CT number in
the cross and longitudinal sections is the same. When the stress
The curves of the fractal dimension with the stress at each is in the range of 0–10.6 MPa, the mean values of the CT number
stress stage in the four cross-sections of the concrete specimen in the cross and longitudinal sections are decreased, but the
under the compression load are acquired as shown in Fig. 21. decrease range is not large. During the subsequent stress growth
From Fig. 21, it can be seen that the change of fractal dimension of 10.6–25.8 MPa, the mean values of CT number in the cross
with the stress under compression load is different from that under and longitudinal sections increased, indicating that the specimen
tensile load. In the first two scanning stages, the fractal dimensions has experienced a short compaction stage, the voids and micro-
of the four cross-sections all increase slightly with the increase of cracks in the specimen are closed, which is reflected in the CT
stress. With the increase of stress, the fractal dimension D image that the mean values of CT number increase significantly.
decreases a little bit at the third scan, which is because the con- In the next stress in the range of 25.8–29.9 MPa, the mean values
crete specimen has experienced a compaction stage, that is, the ini- of CT number in the cross and longitudinal sections are reduced,
tial voids and micro-cracks in the specimen are closed due to the and the reduction is large, which illustrates that the cracks start
external load. After the third scan, the fractal dimension D to penetrate and expand at this stage. When the stress exceeds
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Fig. 18. Segmentation images in each stress stage of 4 cross – sections in compression test: (a) 1st cross-section; (b) 2nd cross-section; (c) 3rd cross-section; (d) 4th cross-
section.

Fig. 19. The relationship between fractal dimension and stress of four cross- Fig. 20. Variation of the mean CT number in the cross and longitudinal sections
sections at different stress stages under tension load. under tensile load.

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the mean values of CT number of each section decrease greatly,

which indicates that the density of the concrete material decreases
faster at this stage, namely, the voids and micro-cracks inside the
concrete specimen deform greatly under tensile load. After the
stress exceeds 3.14 MPa, the macro cracks appear, and the mean
values of the CT number reach the minimum.
However, the variation of the mean values of CT number of con-
crete specimens under uniaxial tensile and compression is quite
different. When the concrete specimen is subjected to uniaxial
compression load, the mean values of CT number at different stress
stages in each section have experienced a changing trend of first
decreasing, then increasing, and finally decreasing, which is related
to the change of the internal structure of concrete specimen under
compression load. That is to say, the specimen has experienced the
process from compaction and expansion to crack penetration.
Through the quantitative analysis and comparison of the fractal
dimension and the mean values of CT number, the concrete speci-
mens have undergone several development processes of com-
Fig. 21. The relationship between fractal dimension and stress of four cross- paction, expansion, crack propagation, and failure under
sections at different stress stages under compression load. compression load. However, the specimen only experienced the
development process of expansion, crack propagation, and failure
under tensile load.

6. Conclusions

In the present study, a series of CT tests are conducted on con-

crete specimens under tensile and compression loads. For compar-
ing and analyzing the damage characteristics of concrete under
tensile and compression load, fractal dimension and CT numbers
are used to quantitatively analyze the difference between these
two conditions. The main conclusions are summarized as follows.

(1) From the perspective of failure form, when the concrete

specimen is subjected to tensile load, the specimen shows
a main crack perpendicular to the loading direction, and
the two sections of the fractured specimen are respectively
complete and the concrete surface is intact. However, when
the concrete is subjected to compression load, the shape of
the specimen after failure is more complicated than that
Fig. 22. Variation of the mean CT number in the cross and longitudinal sections
under compression load.
under tensile load, and the main crack is generally parallel
to the loading direction. From the stress–strain curve and
the failure displacement, the failure strength of uniaxial ten-
29.9 MPa, the specimen is completely damaged and macroscopic sile is about 1/10 of the compression, and the displacements
cracks are generated, meanwhile, the mean values of CT number after tensile and compression failure are 0.18 and 0.92 mm,
drop sharply. respectively. The failure displacement when the specimen is
subjected to compression load is about 5 times of that under
tensile load.
5.3. Quantitative analysis and comparison of concrete damage process (2) The IDBC method is used to calculate the fractal dimension
under uniaxial tensile and compression loads of concrete specimens in different stress stages of each sec-
tion. The results show that the fractal dimension decreases
By comparing Figs. 19 and 21, it can be seen that the fractal with the increase of scanning times when the concrete is
dimension D of each section at different stress stages increases subjected to tensile load, whereas the fractal dimension
when the concrete is subjected to tensile load, while the fractal shows a tendency of first increasing, then decreasing, and
dimension shows a tendency of first increasing, then decreasing, finally increasing as the scan times increase.
and then increasing when subjected to compression load. These (3) By a quantitative analysis of mean values of CT number, it is
patterns of change indicate that the specimen damage undergoes obtained that the mean values of the CT number of the scan
the process of compaction, expansion, and cracks propagation to section have been showing a decreasing trend under uniax-
the formation of macro cracks under compression load. However, ial tensile load. Before peak stress, the mean values of the CT
the specimen only undergoes the process of expansion and cracks number have a large decrease, which is because a large
propagation to the formation of macro cracks under tensile load. amount of energy is suddenly released at the initial stage
From the perspective of the mean values of CT number, when of loading, resulting in a large number of micro-cracks are
the concrete specimen is subjected to tensile load, the mean values rapidly generated inside the concrete specimen, and then
of the CT number of the images under different stress stages of expand and penetrate. After the peak stress, the concrete
each section generally show a decreasing trend. In the initial stage specimen is completely damaged, the density decreased
of loading, that is, when the stress increases from 0 to 3.14 MPa, rapidly, and the mean values of the CT number decreased

12
L. Zhang, F. Dang, W. Ding et al. Construction and Building Materials 285 (2021) 122693

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