Fractal and Multifractal Analysis of Crack Patterns in Prestressed Concrete Girders

Abstract

This study investigated the fractal and multifractal characteristics of crack patterns observed in prestressed concrete girders. In particular, it focused on cracks that form in the end regions of prestressed girders during the fabrication phase and attributed to prestress transfer operations (i.e., end-region cracks), and shear cracks that form due to subsequent structural (i.e., mechanical) loading. Synthetic crack patterns and experimental data collected during the fabrication and bending test of two large-scale girder specimens were used in this study. The results supported one of the key contributions of the study, which is using fractal analysis to quantify the extent of cracking that develops in prestressed concrete members. Another contribution of the study is that both fractal and multifractal analyses can be used to identify the development of different cracking mechanisms.