Mechanical Properties of Concrete Pipes with Pre-Existing Cracks

Abstract

Concrete pipes are the most widely used municipal drainage pipes in China. When concrete pipes fall into years of disrepair, numerous problems appear. As one of the most common problems of concrete pipes, cracks impact on the deterioration of mechanical properties of pipes, which cannot be ignored. In the current work, normal concrete pipes and those with pre-existing cracks are tested on a full scale under an external compressive load. The effects of the length, depth, and location of cracks on the bearing capacity and mechanical properties of the concrete pipes are quantitatively analyzed. Based on the full-scale tests, three-dimensional finite element models of normal and cracked concrete pipes are developed, and the measured results are compared with the data of the finite element analysis. It is clear that the test measurements are in good agreement with the simulation results; the bearing capacity of a concrete pipe is inversely proportional to the length and depth of the crack, and the maximum circumferential strain of the pipe occurs at the location of the crack. The strain of the concrete pipe also reveals three stages of elasticity, plasticity, and failure as the external load rises. Finally, when the load series reaches the limit of the failure load of the concrete pipe with pre-existing cracks, the pipe breaks along the crack position.