Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Mechanoluminescent Visualization of Crack Propagation for Joint Evaluation
Published on: January 6, 2023
Intrinsically anomalous roughness of admissible crack traces in concrete
Alexander S Balankin1, Orlando Susarrey, Rafael García Paredes
1Sección de Posgrado e Investigación, ESIME, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México and Grupo "Mecánica Fractal," México 07738.
Abstract:
We study the roughness of postmortem cracks in concrete plates of different size. We find that the set of admissible crack paths exhibits an intrinsically anomalous roughness; nevertheless, any individual crack trace in concrete is essentially self-affine. We also find that both the local and the global amplitudes of crack traces are distributed according to a log-logistic distribution characterized by the same scaling exponent, whereas the mean-square width distribution is best fitted by the Pearson distribution, while the log-normal distribution also provides quite good adjustments and cannot be clearly rejected.
Related Concept Videos
Microcracking in Concrete
Tensile Strength Considerations of Concrete
The dimensions and shape of a concrete specimen also...
Types of Non-structural Cracks in Concrete
Plastic shrinkage cracks typically form within hours after the concrete is poured. The concrete's surface dries faster than the bottom, creating tensile stress that the still-plastic concrete cannot withstand, leading to diagonal or randomly patterned cracks on the concrete surface.
Plastic...
Behavior of Concrete Under Compressive Load
As the concrete specimen fractures under...
Creep in Concrete
Transition Zone

