Reinterpretation of Karihaloo's size effect analysis for notched quasibrittle structures

Karihaloo recently published an analytical study of the size effect in conc rete based on large-size asymptotic approximations of the cohesive crack mo del. From this analysis, he concluded that the nominal strength can be dete rmined only for sizes above a certain lower bound, large enough to invalida te, at least for concrete, all the existing experimental methods based on s ize effect measurements, such as the size effect method of Bazant or the ge neral bilinear fit method of Planas, Guinea and Elices. The purpose of this paper is to show that this conclusion is misleading, and to explain why.