Tensile strength is an important property of concrete because concrete structures are highly vulnerable to tensile cracking due to various kinds of effects and applied loading itself. However, tensile strength of concrete is very low in compared to its compressive strength.
Due to difficulty in applying uniaxial tension to a concrete specimen, the tensile strength of the concrete is determined by indirect test methods: (1) Split Cylinder Test (2) Flexure Test.
It should be noted that both of these methods give the higher value of tensile strength than the uniaxial tensile strength.