Determination of Tensile Strength and Fracture Toughness of Granite Using Notched Three-Point-Bend Samples

Direct tensile strength and fracture toughness of rock and concrete, important properties for many applications, are cumbersome to measure directly. In this study, granite is chosen as an example to show how the tensile strength and fracture toughness can be measured from small three-point-bend samples of a single size but with different notches. An existing fracture mechanics model has been extended to include the stable fictitious crack growth...