Cracking Sensitivity Analysis of Red Clay With Pre‐Crack Under Three‐Point Bending

ABSTRACT Red clay is highly susceptible to cracking due to its nature, and the reduction in strength caused by cracking can lead to engineering disasters. To investigate the cracking sensitivity of red clay, a homogeneous fracture model of red clay based on the cohesive zone model was established using ABAQUS in this work, the reliability of the model was verified through a three‐point bending test, and then the crack propagation process and sensitivity to test factors of red clay were further analyzed. The results show that the fracture simulation of the cohesive zone model is in good agreement with the test results, confirming by the high reliability. The depth of prefabricated cracks and fulcrum spacing had the significant effects on the crack path, and the decrease of prefabricated crack depth and fulcrum spacing led to the increase of critical load. Meanwhile, the loading rate had little effect on the load–displacement curves.