New experimental investigation of 3D cracks propagation in mortar under tension loading

Among the construction materials, the mortar is the weakest component,especially against tensile loading and cracking.We propose in this paper an experimentalstudy of the propagation of 3D internal cracks in the mortar for differentdosages and their effects on the tensile strength of the mortar. We start by determiningthe tensile strength of a non-cracked specimen for five different dosages.After that, as our first contribution, we calculate the tensile strength and thecritical Stress Intensity Factor SIF for the different dosages. Then, as our secondcontribution, we investigate the effect of the crack shape on the stability limit.Finally, we consolidate, through a comparative study, the obtained experimentalresults with the numerical ones.