Fracture energy evaluation of refractories in wedge splitting tests from notch opening displacements

The work of fracture refractories is commonly calculated from crack mouth opening displacements (CMODs) in wedge splitting tests (WSTs). This paper proposes a methodology for estimating the energy notch displacement (NOD) measurements, which useful setups where CMOD not accessible. NODs and CMODs are both faces two WSTs experiments on castable refractory via digital image correlation (DIC) finite element simulations. A quadratic function fits well non-linear vs. NOD behavior initiation regime, while an affine trend describes propagation regime. Although nonlinearity associated with more complex, can easily be estimated data when cannot measured.