Multi Axial Test For Concrete

Concrete behaviour in multiaxial compression :
experimental research
Citation for published version (APA):
Geel, van, H. J. G. M. (1998). Concrete behaviour in multiaxial compression : experimental research Eindhoven:
Technische Universiteit Eindhoven DOI: 10.6100/IR515170
DOI:
10.6100/IR515170
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48
CONCRETE BEHAVIOUR IN
MULTIAXIAL COMPRESSION
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
ERIK VAN GEEL
CONCRETE BEHAVIOUR IN
MULTIAXIAL COMPRESSION
Experimental Research
Proefschrift
ter verkrjging van de graad van doctor aan de

Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, op gezag van de
Rector Magnificus, prof.dr. M. Rem, voor een
commissie aangewezen door het College voor
Promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op
donderdag 2 juli 1998 om 16.00 uur
door
ERIK VAN GEEL
geboren te Roermond
Dit proefschrift is goedgekeurd door de promotoren:
prof.dr.ir. H.S. Rutten

en
prof.dr. -ing. H.-W. Reinhardt
ISBN 90-6814-548-7
© 1998, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Faculteit Bouwkunde,

Capaciteitsgroep Constructief Ontwerpen
"Sit back and relax
Crawl into the maze
Within your mind
Leave it all behind
Now allow yourself to
Slide into a world
As real as you want
it to be
Actual Fantasy"
Ayreon
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to thank the following persons and organisations:
Prof. dr. ir. H.S. Rutten, prof. dr.-ing. H.-W. Reinhardt, dr. ir. J.G.M. van
Mier, ir. H.J. Fijneman and especially ir. J.P.W. Bongers for their support and
discussions throughout the research project
The Dutch Technology Foundation (STW) for financial and scientific support
of the project
Colleagues at the Department of Structural Design and the Pieter van

Musschenbroek Laboratory, in particular mr. Sip Overdijk and ing. Martien
Ceelen, for their assistance
My friends on the World Wide Web
My family and friends
Nancy
Contents
1. Introduction 3
1.1. Why is multiax.ial concrete behaviour investigated? 3
1.2. Aim of research 3
1.3. Method of working 3
1.4. Preview of contents 4
2. Questions at hand 6
2.1. Does localisation of deformations occur in multiaxial 6
compression as observed in uniax.ial compression?
2.2. What is the influence of the test environment on the 11
observed multiax.ial response?
2.3. Is concrete behaviour significantly influenced by its 16
damage history?
2.4. Is the effect of multiax.ial loading similar for other types of 19
concrete?
3. Testing technique 21
3.1. Loading apparatus 21
3.2. Test path control 23
3.3. Measuririg loads and deformations 26
3.4. U1traviolet photographical crack pattem recognition 27
3 .5. Data handling 28
3.6. Materials 29
3.7. Specimen preparation 29
3.8. Tensile tests 31
4. Experimental results 34
4.1. Uniaxial compression 34
4.2. Uniax.ial tension 44
4.3. Biaxial compression - Plane stress 46
4.4. Biaxial compression - Plane strain 48
4.5. Triax.ial compression 53
1
5. InDuence of test environment 63
5.1. Boundary friction 63
5.2. Loading apparatus stiffness 71
5.3. Layout ofloading platens 80
6. Loealisation of deformations in macroscopie cracks 84

6.1. Macroscopie crack development 85
6.2. Post-peak continuum behaviour and size effect 89
6.3. Two-dimensional analytical model for shear cracks in 100
plane strain compression
6.4. Some general considerations about macroscopie cracks 115
7. InDuenee of damage from previous loading 120

7.1. Plane strain test program 122
7.2. Pre-loading experiments 126
7.3. Loading path dependency due to damage at the 134
mesoscopic level
7.4. Macroscopie interpretation of the influence of damage 140
induced at the mesoscopic level
7.5. Loading path dependency due to combined meso- and 150
macroscopie damage
7.6. Finalremarks 151
8. Summary and conclusions 152
References 156
List of symbols 164
Samenvatting 166
2
Chapter 1: Introduction
1. lntroduction
1.1. Why is multiaxial concrete behaviour investigated?
In a large number of concrete structures and structural elements multiaxial

compressive stress states occur. As is generally known, these stress states in
general have an advantageous effect on the behaviour of the material,
compared to the behaviour under uniaxial loading: the load bearing capacity
increases and larger deformations are allowable. Unfortunately, this effect
has not yet been implemented in the building codes, because there are too
many unknowns to describe it in a useful quantitative manner. Therefore
insight in the behaviour of concrete under this type of loading is important
with respect to safety and deformational capacity of several kinds of concrete
structures. At Eindhoven University of Technology (EUT) a research project
was started in the early eighties to gain more insight in the failure behaviour
of concrete in multiaxial compression. The research described in this thesis is
to be regarded as a continuation of the work done earlier at EUT. It deals
with several aspects of concrete behaviour in multiaxial compression that
were not investigated before or from a different point of view, and intends to
answer some remaining questions on the subject.
1.2. Aim of the research

The aim of the present research is to obtain a better understanding of the
failure processes of concrete subjected to multiaxial compression. From
previous research by Vonk [1992] it is well known how concrete failure takes
place in uniaxial compression and how the failure process is influenced by
extemal factors like the stiffuess of the loading apparatus. In multiaxial
compression however different failure modes are observed (Van Mier
[1984]). The present thesis therefore deals with the processes that lead to
failure of concrete in multiaxial compression and the factors influencing
these processes.
The final goal of the research program is to incorporate concrete behaviour
under multiaxial loading in building codes and to provide the structural
engineering practice with a utility to handle this behaviour. This utility will
be the finite element program 'FEMMASSE' in which the recent research
results, both experimental and numerical, will be implemented in the very
near future. The incorporation of multiaxial concrete behaviour in structural
3
Chapter 1: lntroduction
designs will not only optimise the use of the material, but also result in more
effective designs.
1.3. Method ofworking
A large number of uniaxial, biaxial, plane strain and triaxial compression

tests on concrete specimens has been carried out. On the macroscopie level
stress-deformation behaviour and macro-crack patterns have been recorded.
Mesoscopic cracking, i.e. cracking through mortar and aggregates and at the
aggregate-cement paste interfaces, has been determined using the vacuum-
impregnation-technique, developed previously at EUT.
This experimental research is carried out in close cooperation with numerical
research by J.P.W. Bongers. A complete overview of multiaxial concrete
behaviour can only be obtained by a research program incorporating both
numerical and experimental investigations. Whereas experimental results
provide the required input data for numerical modelling, insight obtained
from numerical calculations can specify the emphasis of the experimental test
program. Numerical models at both macroscopie and mesoscopic level are
under development. Initially these models are developed at the two-
dimensional level. Tuis bas led to an emphasis on plane strain experiments,
which are quite close to a 2D situation.
1.4. Preview of contents

In Chapter 2 some background information on the subject is given, taken from a
literature study carried out in an early stage of the research project. From this
survey the goals for this research have been determined.
Chapter 3 describes the loading apparatus used in the present experimental

research. Since this apparatus was modified during the present research,
descriptions of both loading apparatus configurations are shown. Furthermore
specifications of test control, measuring technique and specimen composition
and preparation are given.
Test results from specimens subjected to monotonie loading are shown in

Chapter 4. Because a large number of different types of compressive tests have
been carried out on the same type of concrete, these results form a solid basis for
numerical simulations. Furthermore, these results will be used as a resource for
determining influences of test environment and loading path on the behaviour as
4
Chapter 1: Introduction
will be described in the following chapters. In this chapter stress-deformation

behaviour is emphasised.
The influence of the test environment can be found in Chapter 5. Changes in the
amount of friction at the loading platen-specimen interfaces and in the layout of
the loading platens have been investigated. Deformation measurements at the
loading frame have been carried out to ascertain the origin of the stimulation of
rotations of the loaded specimen boundaries in uniaxial compression.
Chapter 6 deals with localisation of deformations in macroscopie cracks after

peak stress has been reached. The evolution of these cracks has been examined
in multiaxial compression. An important aspect in this is the determination of the
contribution of the 'uncracked' specimen continuum parts to the post-peak
behaviour. A simple model has been developed to describe macroscopie crack
behaviour. Some general considerations are presented with respect to this
behaviour.
In Chapter 7 the influence of damage from previous loadings on the stress-

deformation behaviour is described. Results on specimens loaded via different
stress paths and specimens subjected to several types of pre-loadings are
presented. The particular differences observed between the several test results
are described qualitatively. The observed macroscopie stress-deformation
behaviour is qualitatively linked to two types of damage at the mesoscopic scale
level.
In Chapter 8 the research at hand is summarized and the most important

conclusions are outlined.
5
Chapter 2: Questions at hand
2. Questions at hand
At an early stage of the present research project, an extensive literature study
was carried out in which all attainable studies with respect to the short-term
behaviour of concrete under compression [Van Geel, 1995a] were searched
and analysed. From this study, a number of questions arose concerning
multiaxial behaviour of concrete. These questions and their origin are
described in this chapter.
2.1. Does localisation of deformations occur in multiaxial compression as observed

in uniaxial compremon ?
Concrete is a composite material, consisting of cement, gravel, sand and

water. After hardening of this composite material, the material can be
regarded as a mortar matrix including distributed aggregates. Tuis composite
exhibits a nonlinear stress-strain relation, even at very low loads, and after
reaching the peak load a descending branch, called softening (see for
example Ziegeldorf [1984]), develops, as is shown in Figure 1.
cr Peak stress
So~ening curve
"-
Figure 1: Stress-strain behaviour ofconcrete in axial direction under

uniaxial compression
6
It has been found that the nonlinear pre-peak behaviour is caused by a

progressive growth (Spooner [1975,1976], Carrasquillo [1980], Vonk [1992])
of three different types of mesoscopic cracks:
• Cracks running through the mortar matrix;
• Cracks running through the aggregates;
• Cracks at the bond between mortar and aggregates,
see Blakey [1955], Hsu et al. [1963], Slate and Olsefski [1963], Sturman et
al. [1965], Krishnaswamy [1968], Stroeven [1973], Mazars [1981], Loo
[1995]. To some extent micro- and mesocracks (mostly bond cracks) already
exist before any mechanica! load is applied to the concrete ([Slate and
Olsefski [1963], Shah and Slate [1965], Krishnaswamy [1968], Dhir and
Sangha [1974]). These cracks are mostly due to influences of temperature
and moisture gradients within the material after casting. Cracks running
through the aggregates are found when the difference in aggregate and matrix
properties decreases, for example, in high-strength concrete (Carrasquillo
[1980]). It is observed that the interface between aggregate and mortar has a
very different structure (Scrivener and Pratt [ 1987], Mindess and Shah
[1988]) and represents the weakest link in normal-strength concrete (note: in
the case of other types of concrete this interface strength may be higher than
for example the aggregate strength. In genera} it can be said that the ratio
between aggregate, bond and cement paste strength determinates the
properties of a certain type of concrete, see for example Vervuurt [ 1995].
At about 70 to 90 percent of peak stress these mesocracks join and start to
form continuous crack patterns, accompanied by a transition from volume
compaction to volume dilatation (Hsu et al. [1963], Krishnaswamy (1968]).
The long-term strength of concrete is often related to this stress level, called
'critica! stress level'. At higher stress levels instable crack growth occurs
(Slate and Hover [1984]). At peak stress these crack patterns are developed
so far, that no additional load can be applied to the material. The mesoscopic
crack pattems finally grow into macroscopie cracks which dominate the
behaviour after peak stress (Kotsovos [1983], Van Mier [1984, 1986],
Torrenti et al. [1986, 1989, 1991], Shah and Sankar [1987], Vonk [1992]).
The softening behaviour is then governed on the one hand by the formation
of these macrocracks itself and on the other hand by aggregate interlock and
frictional characteristics of these cracks (Walraven [1980], Vonk [1992]).
Figure 2 shows results from Vonk's numerical model demonstrating this
progressive failure. Deformations tend to localise within these macrocracks
while the more or less uncracked concrete parts show unloading. Therefore it
is more suitable to describe the post-peak behaviour of concrete in terms of
7
(a)
'(d)
Figure 2: Progressive failure of concrete under uniaxial compression
(/rom a to d,for increasing axial deformation) [Vonk, 1992]
displacements rather than strains (Van Mier [1984, 1986], Torrenti [1986,
1989], Vonk [1992]). Van Mier [1984], Van Mier et al. [1997] showed that
this localisation is independent of the size of the test specimen, see Figure
3 (left), resulting in almost identical post-peak stress-displacement curves for
different specimen sizes despite the differences in fracture modes observed
(see also Jansen and Shah [1997]).
However, according to Vonk (1992] the uncracked continuum parts still
contribute to the post-peak load hearing capacity, leading to less brittle
softening (stress-displacement) curves for larger specimens as shown in
Figure 3 (right). This contradiction in experimental results will be discussed
later on.
When subjected to multiaxial compression, the formation of meso- and
macroscopie crack pattems appears to be similar to that in the case of
uniaxial compression (Launay et al. [1970], Kotsovos and Newman [1977],
Newman [1979]). Dependent on the amount of lateral confinement, in
multiaxial tests usually a more nonlinear relation exists between stress and
8
strain. At peak stress very large strains can occur, indicating a highly
deformed specimen. When the level of confinement increases, peak stress
and strain increase, according to Krishnaswamy [1968] caused by a 'slow-
down' ofmicrocracking due to this confinement (see also Robinson [1967]).
1.0 ·::-,,
.. "
,....., 0.8 \\~···································"············
...!...
~ ~
~ 0.6 \
....................." .....................~
\\ """"""
~
~ 0.4
"\
,... .......".
~·
'~~
~ ''-~..:·••l'u~«"••u•"u•• •
0.2 ............
~-------
0
0 -0.2 -0.4 -0.6
Post-peak inelastic disptacement [mm]
1.0
0.8
::!::
""<Il 0.6
~
""0
-~ 0.4
..!!
~
0.2
0
0 -0.2 -0.4 -0.6 -0.8 -1.0
Post-peak inelastic displacement [mm]
Figure 3: Observed post-peak behaviour for different specimen sizes in

uniaxial compression. Top: results by Van Mier ( [1984]), bottom: results by
Vonk {1992]).
9
Like in uniaxial compressive tests Van Mier observed the formation of

localised macrocracks. Two clearly different fracture modes were
distinguished by Van Mier as shown in Figure 4:
• Planar failure mode: A pronounced shear band fracture mode ( a clear
localisation of deformations ), occurring when a preferential direction of
failure was present (two different confining stresses or 'plain-strain' tests
in which the deformation in one direction is completely prevented). Tuis
means the presence of one large positive (i.e. non-compressive)
deformation (in this case in the 3-direction in Figure 4, right).
• Cylindrical failure mode: A more distributed fracture mode, which is the
result of mutually crossing shear bands, occurring in stress regions near the
compressive meridian (equal lateral confining pressures). Uniaxial
compression is also a load case in this region. Tuis means the presence of
two large positive deformations (in this case the 2- and 3-direction in
Figure 4, left). When applying equal lateral stresses, ductility increases
with increasing confinement. Tuis is commonly referred to as the 'brittle-
ductile transition' (Jamet et al. [1984], Willam et al. [1986], Smith et al.
[1989], lmran and Pantazopoulou [1996] ).
Cylindrical mode Planarmode
Figure 4: Multiaxial compression tests on concrete cubes (Van Mier [1984])
10
The planar mode failure is a more brittle failure mode, whereas the
cylindrical mode is a more ductile failure mode. In both modes shear bands
develop in planes where in one direction a large compressive deformation
and in another direction a large positive deformation occurs. In Figure 4 these
are the 1-2 and 1-3 planes in the left figure and the 1-3 plane in the right
figure.
No multiaxial experiments have been carried out so far, in which localisation
of deformations after peak stress is examined including a variation in
specimen size. Because of the larger deformations observed in multiaxial
compression, this might clarify the question raised above, whether there
indeed is a contribution of uncracked specimen parts to the post-peak load
hearing capacity of concrete or not.
2.2. What is the intluence of the test environment on the observed multiaxial
response?
After initiation of the macroscopie cracks the material can no longer be

regarded as a continuum. It becomes a structure consisting of uncracked
elements divided by local fracture planes. It is clear that the behaviour of this
structure is a structural response rather than a material characteristic (Van
Mier [1984], Kotsovos [1983], Torrenti [1986], Vonk [1992], see also Sture
and Ko [1978] and Bieniawski et al. [1967,1969] in the case of fractured
rock). For example, consider a uniaxial compression test where the residual
load hearing capacity at the end of the softening branch appears to be the
result of the presence of a more or less intact specimen core (Van Mier
[1984]). Furthermore, when interpreting test results one should bear in mind
that the load application system -at least those parts directly connected to the
specimen- is in fact part of this structure. Different load application systems
influence the behaviour observed differently.
Layout of the loading apparatus

Researchers at TU Munich (Linse [1978], Winkler [1985]) studied the
influence of the layout of the testing device exhaustively and developed a
'multi-part' loading apparatus. This is an apparatus in which the three
loading axes are able to move independently of each other. Hence additional
shear stresses at the specimen surfaces (especially in the softening regime)
are minimised and non-symmetrie deformations of the specimen are avoided.
These are significant problems encountered in a 'one-part' loading apparatus
with fixed axes. See for example Linse [1978], Van Mier [1984] and Winkler
11
[1985]. Likewise differences in stress-deformation measurement can be

expected when comparing results from a triaxial loading device, in which the
lateral stress is equal in all lateral directions, and the above mentioned
apparatuses. An example of Winkler' s results is shown in Figure 5.
Friction between loading platen and specimen surface

It is known that frictional stresses between loading platens and specimen
boundaries play a large role in the observed behaviour of concrete. In a
uniaxial compression test large frictional stresses prevent the specimen to
deform laterally and result in triaxial stress states near the loading platens.
Increasing boundary friction therefore results in higher peak strains and
stresses and less brittle softening behaviour, see for example Kotsovos
[1983], Vonk (1992], Mansur et al. [1995] and Choi et al. (1996]. Therefore
when analysing experimental data one should be aware of the boundary
conditions present in the experiments. Dry steel loading platens, as used in
standard compressive cube tests, introduce large frictional stresses at the
specimen boundaries. Because the material behaviour becomes more
complex (and thus more difficult to interpret) with increasing boundary
friction, these loading platens are nowadays mostly used for comparative
reasons. E.g. in the cooperative research program by Van Mier et al. [1997]
(for uniaxial experiments using dry steel platens see e.g. Weigler and Becker
[1963], Krishnaswamy [1968], Torrenti et al. [1989, 1993b], Taerwe [1991]).
To eliminate or at least reduce the amount of boundary friction, different
loading platens have been developed. The two most applied types are:
• loading platens with intermediate layers, like chalk (sometimes with
aluminium foil) by Kobayashi and Koyanagi [1972], thin metal sheets by
Erdei [1980], teflon sheets with hearing grease by Vonk [1992], multiple
layers (grease, teflon and aluminium sheets) by Murakami et al. [1994],
etc.
• Steel 'brush' platens. These platens, developed by Hilsdorf in [1965],
consist of a large number of small steel rods assembled in a package.
These loading platens have been used in multiaxial compression tests by
for example Nelissen [1970, 1972], Kupfer [1973] and Van Mier [1984]. A
disadvantage of these loading platens is that due to bending of the steel
rods the resistance against lateral deformation increases with this
deformation and on that account stresses are introduced that can be
considerable when compared to stresses due to friction.
The effect of boundary friction on peak stress and strain is found to bè
similar in the case of multiaxial loading (Gerstle et al. [1978]).
12
5pa11wu•9•vt•hl1LhLa
cr,:o2 :cr1 " t: t:o
---aLnhLUg
-80 -80
Hl-'
t t
a,
-eo -eo
IJl"' L• l'oa.2
-80 -80
Ml-' Hl-'
OM5 Lo f'oo.3 IDH5 Ln l'aa.3
5000 " ....
Figure 5: Biaxial experiments on concrete in a one-part (solid lines) and a

multi-part (dashed lines) loading apparatus (left: dry steel loading platens,
right: brush platens) (Winkler [1985])
13
111 i
i___.,..___
cr,
-
îtttî
Figure 6: lnjluence ofboundary friction decreases with increasing height in
uniaxial compression (afler Van Vliet and Van Mier {1996])
From previous research it is known that this influence ofboundary friction in

uniaxial compression decreases with increasing specimen height 01onk
[1992] Mansur et al. [1995], Choi et al. [1996], Van Mier et al. [1997]). With
increasing height the specimen volume, which is not influenced by local
triaxial stress states, increases (see Figure 6). In the case of cylindrical
specimens, the specimen height needed for the fäilure zone to form
unobstructed by frictional stresses is found to be about three times the
specimen diameter (Rokugo and Koyanagi [1992], Markeset [1993], Jansen
and Shah [1997]).
Besides the friction introduced by the loading platens the rigidity of the
platens needs to be considered. lnfinitely rigid loading platens would
theoretically lead to a constant axial displacement at the specimen surface.
On the contrary, infinitely flexible platens would result in a constant axial
stress distribution over the boundary.
Non-uniform deformations
From the point of view of homogeneous continuum theory, a uniform
distribution of stress or strain in a specimen is thought, resulting in a
'material' behaviour of the specimen. Surely, in a specimen subjected to
uniaxial loading non-uniform deformations develop, particularly after peak
14
stress as a result of the localisation of deformations during the softening

process. This nonuniformity of deformations occurs both in tensile loading
(Willam et al. [1986], Van Mier [1986], Hordijk et al. [1987], Hordijk and
Reinhardt [1989]) and compressive loading (Vonk [1992]). Vonk [1992] has
shown that in the case of uniaxial compression, non-uniformity of
deformations is related not only to the heterogeneity of the material but also
to eccentric loading, imperfect contact between loading platen and specimen,
the stiffness of the loading apparatus, the specimen dimensions and the slope
of the softening curve. In Figure 7 the influence of an initial angle between
loading platen and specimen surface is shown as an example. Both in
uniaxial tension and compression the occurrence of non-uniform
deformations is mainly characterised by an irregular shape of the nomina}
stress-deformation curve.
-50
- tpo=-QOOO 1.0()"""'~---..,
-«> - - - 9'0=0.001
1 -30
- - ço"=0.002
. . . . . tpo=-Q.003
i:
1 -20
· - ,,,"-0.()()4
1
i -10
oa5
o.eo ,___.....__ _ ___,
0.000 0.001 Q.002 Q.003 Q.004
Initia! IOtatiol\ .....

0
0.0 - 0.2 -0.4 -0.6 -o.e -1.0
(a) (b)
Figure 7: Irifluence ofan initia/ angle between specimen surface and loading
platen on the nomina/ stress-deformation curve (a) and on peak stress (b)
from computations by Vonk {1992]
Unfortunately, when trying to eliminate boundary friction by using loading

platens with low friction, the stabilising effect of the boundary restraint
decreases and redistribution of stresses within the specimen becomes more
difficult, thereby stimulating localisation of deformations and consequently
the development of non-uniform deformations (Choi et al. [1996]).
Vonk [1989] showed that in multiaxial compressive experiments the
influence of nonuniform deformations is much smaller because the specimen
15
is completely enclosed by loading platens. In this way rotation of the

specimen boundaries is prevented to a large extent.
2.3. Is concrete behaviour significantly inftuenced by its damage history?
In most multiaxial experiments loading is applied through proportional

loading paths, i.e. constant ratios of stresses cr/cr/cr3 or displacements
w/w/w3 • In practice, however, the occurrence of other loading paths is very
likely. Furthermore, the highly non-linear behaviour observed in multiaxial
compression tests on concrete raised the thought that this behaviour might
very likely be dependent on the loading path followed, in other words on the
amount of damage inflicted to the specimen during its load history.
Therefore several researchers have examined the influence of this damage
history on the observed stress-deformation behaviour. The influence of the
damage history can be examined in many different ways as will be shown in
this section, like subjecting specimens to cyclic loading or to different
loading paths in stress or deformation space (stress and deformation paths).
Because for a long time research into the behaviour of concrete under
multiaxial compression was focussed on ultimate load hearing capacity, most
comparisons between different stress or deformation paths were made
emphasising the effect on peak stress only. See for example Kobayashi and
Koyanagi [1972] (Figure 8) and Taylor and Patel [1974] for biaxial
compression stress paths. In both studies it was concluded that no significant
influence of the followed stress path on peak stress occurred. Recently,
Torrenti [1993a] carried out a similar biaxial stress path comparison, using
two different loading devices. A small influence on the strain levels at failure
was observed, though the difference between the two applied loading systems
appeared to be a factor of major influence.
Triaxial stress path comparisons have been carried out by Gerstle et al.
[1978], Kotsovos [1979], Smith et al. [1989] and recently by Imran and
Pantazopoulou [1996], Figure 9. Again, only small differences have been
observed between the behaviour following different stress paths. Kotsovos
ascribes the differences, observed at stresses larger than 0.8 times the
uniaxial compressive strength, to microcracking under hydrostatic loading.
The fact that no differences are found between the 'envelope curve' of cyclic
loading and the stress-strain curve of monotonie loading in both uniaxial
(Spooner and Dougill [1979]) and multiaxial (Van Mier [1984]) experiments
also indicates that no significant influence of the loading path exists.
16
400
:z
6
N
u..
200
200 400
F1 [kN]
Figure 8: Biaxial loading paths examined by Kobayashi and Koyanagi
[1972]
However, it is shown ·by Van Mier [1984, 1986] that concrete behaviour is
dependent on the damage history in some cases where macroscopie cracks
are already present. Tuis has been shown by carrying out experiments in
which the major principal stress direction is rotated after reaching peak
stress. Tuis is depicted in Figure 10 and Figure 11. It appears that in the case
of the 'cylindrical mode rotation test' .the macrocracks initiated during the
first loading are situated in such directions that they can propagate more
easily under the subsequent loading.
Altogether it can be said that concrete stress-deformation behaviour in
multiaxial compression seems to be quite insensitive to variations in loading
paths. So far a significant influence of the damage history is only observed in
situations, where peak stress is surpassed. The remaining question is: is pre-
peak concrete behaviour always more or less independent of the loading
history?
17
.1 mJ----------
iU ~------
~
11
:
u - - - -
4"4 U.I IU: 2U

Confilling pressure IMPa]
Confining pressure IMP•]
'::=======================:
Muftistep --Mul!lstep
- Monotonie Mon-i<
A>Öal strain [oio] Allialstrain (o/o)
Figure 9: Comparison of 'multistep' and monotonie stress path by Imran and

Pantazopoulou {1996]
<r 2 =-1MPa
<r 3 = - 1 MPa
0 1 =-1 MPa
d(A w3)/dt = C d(A w3)/d! = C

L--'-ll__-"Y'
Second loading Second loading
Planar mode rotation test Cylindrical mode rotation test
Figure JO: Two types ofrotation tests carried out by Van Mier [1984]
18
-70 -D
Cylindrical mode rotatlon test
8 6 4 2 0 ·2 ·4 -6 -8 -10 ·12 4 2 0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10 -12

strain t ,t 1•1-1 strain E1.E3 l°lool
1 3
Figure 11: Stress-displacement results of Van Mier's rotation tests (Van

Mier, {1984})
2.4. Is the effect of multia:xial loading similar for other types of concrete ?
Concrete types that are more homogeneous show a more linear uniaxial
stress-deformation relation before peak stress, because the properties of
mortar, aggregate and aggregate-cement paste interfaces are more alike. An
example of this is high-strength concrete, where due to the addition of e.g.
microsilica the properties of particularly the aggregate-cement paste interface
are improved, resulting in an increase in peak stress.
However, due to the increased homogeneity only a small redistribution of
stresses is possible within the specimen, which results in unstable cracking
soon after the first macrocracks are formed. Less possible fracture surfaces
have been present and the final fracture surface is smoother. High-strength
concrete therefore is also more brittle than normal-strength concrete. See for
example Wischers [1978], Carrasquillo [1980], Dahl [1992] and Taerwe
[1993]. In some uniaxial tests on high-strength concrete even snap-back
behaviour is observed (Rokugo et al. [1986], Glavind and Stang [1991],
Taerwe [1991,1993]). Dahl's results are shown in Figure 12.
Until now no experiments have been carried out in which the influence of
concrete composition is extended to the post-peak region. From multiaxial
tests up to peak stress the results in genera! indicate that the (relative) failure
surface in the stress space is hardly influenced by the concrete composition.
See for example Mills and Zimmermann [1970], Hobbs [1971], Kobayashi
and Koyanagi [1972], Kupfer [1973] and Linse and Stegbauer [1976].
19
Systematic research into the influence of several composition parameters on

the softening response will be necessary. In this thesis a first effort will be
made by examining .the behaviour of a high-strength concrete under
multiaxial compressive loading.
120
(ii'
a..
~ 80
40
0 0.002 0.004 0.006

Strain [o/oo]
Figure 12: The effect of improving the aggregate-cement paste bond on pre-
peak behaviour, peak stress and brittleness (after Dahl {1992})
20
Chapter 3: Testing technique
3. Testing technique
As described in the previous chapter, the test environment can significantly
influence measurements on specimens subjected to compressive loads. It is
not only material behaviour that is measured but in fact a response that is the
result of both material and test environment characteristics. Thus it is
important to know how these measurements are acquired to be able to
evaluate the influence of the test environment on the observations. In this
chapter the loading equipment and the measuring technique in the present
research are presented. In addition, the way in which specimens are prepared
before testing and the test results are handled during and after testing are
shown.
3.1. Loading apparatus

In the present researcb, two configurations of loading apparatus are used. The
first configuration consists of three independent loading axes, which are able
to apply 'true triaxial' stress states on prismatic specimens. Bach axis has a
compressive capacity of 2000 kN and each axis is hung in its own steel frame
by means of steel cables. Tuis is the loading apparatus used at Eindhoven
University of Technology until 1996. For a detailed description of this
apparatus see Van Mier [1984], Vonk [1992] and Van Geel [1994a,1995b].
The second configuration is similar to the first, but in this case the vertical
axis has been replaced by an axis with a compressive capacity of 5000 kN. In
this configuration the vertical axis is placed upon air springs to allow this
axis to translate in vertical direction, as shown in Figure 13.
In both configurations the horizontal axes are identical to the vertical axis in
the first configuration. One loading axis (Figure 13) consists of:
• A hydraulic cylinder. Within the cylinder an internal LVDT is mounted
with a range of ±100 mm. A servo valve is mounted upon the cylinder to
control the movement of the cylinder' s piston;
• A steel frame upon which the cylinder is mounted, consisting of two steel
platens connected by four steel rods. In the case of loading apparatus
configuration 2, the steel rods of one horizontal axis pass through holes in
the rods of the vertical (5000 kN) axis;
• A hinge between the cylinder and the loading platens. The hinges are
always fastened (with steel bolts) during testing and only loosened to
position the loading platens on the specimen;
21
Hydraulic
Cylinder
Endplaten
Piston 1 metre
Hinge
Loading platens
Specimen
Steel rods
Load cel!
Endplaten
Air springs
Figure 13: Layout ofa single loading axis.

Left: 5000 kN axis, right: 2000 kN axis
• Loading platens. To be able to examine the effect of different specimen

size and shape, three different types of loading platens are used, shown in
Figure 14. Using these loading platens, prismatic specimens with a cross-
section of l 00 by 100 mm2 can be tested with specimen heights of 50, 100
and 200 mm. All loading platens are hardened (approximately 50
Rockwell) and all surfaces in contact with the specimen surface are
polished (Ra 0.05 - 0.12 µm). In most experiments, the loading platens are
covered with a very thin layer of hearing grease (Molykote BR2 Plus) and
a 0.05 mm teflon layer to reduce friction between loading platens and
specimen (see Vonk [1989,1992]);
• A load cell, consisting of a steel cylinder upon which four strain gauges
are mounted in a full Wheatstone bridge configuration;
22
• In loading apparatus configuration 2: four air springs on which the vertical

axis is placed. These air springs allow the vertical loading axis to translate
in its axis direction to prevent nonsymmetrical deformations in the case of
multiaxial testing (see e.g. Van Mier [1984]). Tuis means that the
translation of this axis should equal 0.5 times the axial compressive
deformation of the specimen (several millimeters). Within the range of
specimens tested in this research, this translation is feasible.
Figure 14: Shape of the loading platens used to test different specimen
heights multiaxially
3.2. Test path control

Manual test path control
In manual test control (see [Van Geel, [1995b]) the major principal stress
direction (master axis) is always in deformation control. A function generator
(MTS 418.91 MicroProfiler) is used to generate a constant displacement rate.
In the present tests this rate is either -1 µmis (uniaxial and biaxial tests) or -2
µmis (multiaxial tests). This signal is further processed by a Schenck S59
Servo-controller. In the case of multiaxial testing one or two so-called slave
axes are in function. The forces applied by these slave axes are then
dependent on the force measured in the master axis direction. A slave axis is
always in force control, adjusted by dedicated electronics: using
potentiometers the ratio AF. 1av/Mmaster can be controlled manually.
Disadvantage of this manual test control is that the time span needed for
changes in stress path is too large to avoid serious deviations ftom the
desired path. Therefore the automated test path control as described in the
next section has been developed.
23
Test path control software

During the present research a computer program has been developed which
allows for fully automated tests in uniaxial, biaxial, plane strain and triaxial
compression. This program allows the user to define stress paths, in which
one axis (master axis) is in deformation control and -in the case of multiaxial
testing- one or two axes are in force control (slave axes). The loading rate can
be specified per part of the stress path, that consists of a number of linear
branches in stress space. For a detailed description of the computer program
see [Van Geel, 1996].
About half of the experiments has been controlled using this software. The
former half has been carried out 'manually', as described in the previous
section.
Figure 15: Test control panel during a multiaxial test
24
Extreme/y britt/e behaviour

While defonnation-controlled tests in general are a good way to measure the
post-peak response of concrete specimens subjected to compressive stresses,
this control method fails in the case of very brittle post-peak behaviour or
tests in which so-called snap-back behaviour is observed, like uniaxial tests
on high-strength concrete specimens or biaxial compression tests. To be able
to measure the post-peak behaviour of concrete in these tests, an alternative
test control is used as proposed by Rokugo et al. [1986]. The feedback signal
in these experiments consists of both deformation and force signals of the
major principal stress direction, as indicated in Figure 16. In this manner the
force-defonnation graph is in fact translated over a varying distance,
proportional to the force signal, to overcome the problems of a very steep
descending branch or snap-back behaviour. The factor y as shown in Figure
16 detennines the degree of translation.
Control parameter:
w' = w-F tan Y
Axial deformation (w)
w'
Figure 16: Alternative test contra/ used in uniaxial tests on high-strength
concrete specimens and biaxia/ compressive tests
25
3.3. Measuring loads and deformations

Generally the specimen deformations are measured using Hottinger WK20
LVDTs with a range of±lO mm. The LVDTs are fixed to the loading platens
using aluminium frames. In Figure 17 (left) the position of these LVDTs in a
uniaxial experiment is shown. Four LVDTs are used to measure the axial
deformation, while two additional LVDTs are used for both measurement and
test control.
•o~LVDT Strain gauge
0 0
o • ~Control LVDT
Clip gauge
Figure 17: Measured deformations in a uniaxial experiment
26
Figure 18 shows the placement of the LVDTs (both measurement and test
control) in the case of multiaxial testing. While in uniaxial tests strain gauges
and clip gauges (see e.g. Van Mier [1984]) are used to measure lateral
deformations, as shown in figure 17 (right), in multiaxial experiments all
deformations are measured using the LVDTs. Loads are measured using the
load cells mentioned earlier in this chapter.
In the case of manual test path control, all load and deformation values are
read using a HBM UPM 60 data logger, that scans the measuring channels
every two seconds and stores the data on a Tulip PC286. In the case of
automated test path control, the test software not only controls the test but
also writes the actual values of loads and deformations to a measurement file
every two seconds.
• ....._Control LVDT
Figure 18: Measured deformations using LVDTs in a multiaxial experiment
3.4. Ultraviolet photographic crack pattem recognition

At the end of the test, specimens tested multiaxially are taken out of the
loading apparatus and are impregnated with an epoxy resin containing
fluorescent powder, which fills cracks in contact with the outer specimen
surfaces. After hardening of the resin the specimens are sawn into slices. By
photographing these slices using ultraviolet light the failure modes of the
specimens become clearly visible. Tuis technique bas been developed at
Eindhoven University ofTechnology by Vonk and Goudswaard [1989,1992].
To obtain information about the evolution of cracks, series of tests have been
carried out in which similar experiments are halted at different stages of post-
peak loading. This has been done for both plane strain and triaxial tests as
indicated in Figure 19.
27
-
b
Abortion
+--Unloading
W1
Figure 19: Abortion of experiments to examine crack evolution
3.5. Data handling

The measured deforrnations have to be corrected for various reasons:
• initial setting of the loading platens on the specimen surface due to non-
flatness of the specimen, non-parallellness of specimen and loading
platen;
• deforrnations of the loading platens and compression of the teflon/grease
layer between loading platen and specimen.
In most cases, a quadratic regression analysis is applied to obtain the 'final'
load-displacement diagrams. It is found in the plane strain test program (see
Chapter 4) that the initial settings influence the measured deforrnations up to
stresses of about -15 MPa (Van Geel [1995b]). Due to these settings
regression of the initial part of the stress-deforrnation curves can be quite
difficult in tests with small lateral stresses. Therefore specimens used in the
triaxial experiments (with lateral stresses cr2=cr3) have been pre-loaded
hydrostatically up to -10 MPa to avoid most of the difficulties caused by
initia! settings due to compression of the teflon/grease layer.
28
Table 1: Concrete materials (weight percentages)

1
Normal Strength High Strength
Concrete Concrete
PC Cement Type B 15.8% 21.2%
Max. aggregate size 8mm 8mm
(Rounded river 2ravel)
Size S-8mm 17.0% 15.5%
distrib.
3-Smm 5.7% 5.1%
2-4mm 15.3% 14.0%
1-2mm 11.5% 10.5%
0.5-1 mm 11.5% 10.5%
0.2-0.63 mm 9.8% 9.0%
quartz sand 5.3% 4.9%
Admixtures None Microsilica 1.5%
Water/cement ratio 0.5 0.35 plus 0.5%
superplasticizer
3.6. Materials
Two different materials have been used in the present experimental research.
Both a normal-strength (standard compressive cube strength 55 MPa) and a
high-strength (standard compressive cube strength 80 MPa) concrete are
used, both with a maximum aggregate size of 8 mm. See Table 1.
3.7. Specimen preparation

In Table 2 the followed specimen preparation procedure is shown. The
specimens are cast in prismatic moulds of 150*150*450 mm3, stiffened by
extra partitions. From these prisms the specimens are sawn with an oversize
of 2 mm in every direction, necessary for grinding the surfaces. In uniaxial
testing the final cross-section of the specimens is 97*97 mm2 ( equal to the
cross-section of the loading platens), in multiaxial experiments this cross-
section is 100* 100 mm2 to avoid contact between the loading platens. Three
different specimen heights have been applied (axial stress direction): 50, 100
and200mm.
29
Table 2: Specimen preparation

Time: Action:
1st day Casting of 3 prisms and 5 standard cubes (150
mm). Compaction by means of a vibration table (5
kHz) for about 45 (prisms) or 30 (cubes) seconds.
Prisms and cubes covered with plastic, together
with two bowls of water.
2ndday Removing the bowls and covering the speci
with wet clothes.
After 2 days
After 28 days
After 8 weeks and Testing

before 10 weeks
'
'
'
'
0 0.01 mm
-
'
:
1.Smm
'
'
----r-----1~
------ 3
Il 0.01 mm A
100.0 mm
Figure 20: Size and tolerances ofspecimens (multiaxial testing)
30
In Figure 20 the accuracy of grinding the specimens is shown. In the case of

the first multiaxial test series, bevels were grinded at the specimen corners to
avoid large stress concentrations at the specimens corners. However,
comparison between experiments on specimens both with and without bevels
showed that this precaution was not necessary. Therefore, most multiaxial
experiments have been carried out on specimens without bevels.
3.8. Tensile tests

Tensile tests are carried out using a tensile loading apparatus which has been
developed recently at TU Eindhoven and which is capable of keeping the two
loading platens parallel during a test.
Loading apparatus
This apparatus is originally built to perform tensile tests on masonry (brick-
joint bond) by Van der Pluijm [1997]. The parallelism of the loading platens
is guaranteed by a parallelograrn-construction, which is described by Van der
Pluijm [1997]. See Figure 21 and Figure 22.
The ends of the specimen are glued to steel loading platens. The lower steel
platen is bolted into a fixed position, the upper loading platen is fixed to the
loading frame.
Figure 21: Tensile loading apparatus used in the present research (after Van
der Pluijm [1997})
31
Specimens
In six 100 mm normal-strength concrete cubes a notch of 5 mm width is
sawn at middle height of the specimens. The remaining cross-section at the
notch is 57*57 mm2 • See Figure 23.
Measurement and test control

Four LVDTs (Sangamo SM3, full range 3 mm) are mounted over the notch as
indicated in Figure 23. The average signal of these LVDTs is taken as the
control parameter. The tests are controlled by a Schenck S59 servo-
controller. All tests are displacement-controlled at a loading rate of 1.2 µm
per minute. In the lower part of the descending branch this loading rate is
increased to save time.
Figure 22: Tensile loading apparatus used in the present research (after Van
der Pluijm [ 1997})
32
Control LVDT
Figure 23: Tensile test specimen and LVDT positions
33
Chapter 4: Experimental results
4. Experimental results
In this chapter the results from monotonie experiments on both a normal- and
a high-strength concrete are presented. The emphasis is laid on the normal-
strength concrete test results, because initially the numerical modelling at
EUT focusses on this type of concrete and because the high-strength concrete
experiments provide only the basis for further research into the effect of
concrete composition. Experiments carried out on both types of concrete are:
uniaxial, biaxial, plane strain and triaxial compression. All of these
experiments are carried out using a teflon intermediate layer between
specimen and loading platens to reduce the effect of boundary friction on the
observed behaviour. To provide additional parameters for numerical
modelling, some tensile experiments are carried out on normal strength
concrete specimens.
All these different types of experiments have been carried out on the sarne
type of concrete under identical laboratory conditions. Hence, these test
results provide a solid basis for numerical simulations. The influence of the
test environment and boundary conditions, which will be described in
chapter 5, and the influence of darnage from previous loadings, in chapter 7,
will be easier to evaluate because of the availability of these 'standard'
experimental results.
4.1. Uniaxial compr~ion

As mentioned before, building codes generally do not take the advantageous
effects of .multiaxial compressive stress states into account. Even more, the
uniaxial stress-strain diagram is radically schematised, as is shown in Figure
23 in the case of Dutch building code 'VBC 1995' [1995]. Tuis type of
diagram is assumed to be valid in nearly every situation regardless of
boundary conditions, though it is known that stress-strain behaviour of
concrete is dependent on the present boundary conditions too. In the case of
compressive experiments on concrete specimens these boundary conditions
include the layout and stiffuess of the loading apparatus, friction between
loading platen and specimen and the size of the specimen.
A bi-linear diagram is defined by two strain levels and a maximum
compressive stress. Besides the fact that these strain levels are presumed to
be identical for all types of concrete, the uniaxial strength is underestimated
and the concrete' s softening behaviour is disregarded. When comparing the
34
diagram from Figure 23 with, for example, the stress-strain curves shown in
Figure 9, it should be clear that a better understanding of concrete behaviour
under multiaxial stresses can both improve design and reduce costs of
concrete structures.
f'b
E [o/oo]
1.75 3.5
Figure 23: A stress-strain diagram/or concrete in building code 'VBC 1995'
[1995]
However, there still is no international standard test procedure, not even for
uniaxial compression, mainly because of differences between existing testing
machines. In order to establish such a standard test method, RILEM
Committee 148SSC (Strain Softening of Concrete) has set up a round robin
test in which initially two structural aspects are emphasized: boundary
friction between loading platen and specimen and specimen size. The tests
described in this paragraph are part of this round robin test. The results from
all laboratories are gathered in [Van Mier et al., 1997]. lndividual results can
be found in [Bascoul et al" 1994, Choi et al., 1994, Dasenbrock et al., 1995,
Gobbi and Ferrara, 1995, König et al., 1994, Lange-Kornbak and Karihaloo,
1994, Markeset, 1995, Van Geel, 1994a, 1994b, Van Vliet and Van Mier,
1995,1996, Zissopoulos et al., 1994].
Test program
Uniaxial compressive softening tests on two types of concrete have been
carried out, varying the type of loading platen and the specimen size. In total
37 specimens are tested, 18 with polished steel loading platens and 19 with
35
loading platens with a teflon layer. The tests carried out without teflon layer
will be discussed in Chapter 5. Half of the specimens are made of normal-
strength concrete, the other half of high-strength concrete. The specimen
height is varied from 50 mm to 200 mm.
In Table 3 an overview of all tests is presented indicating the loading platens
used in the tests, the specimen size and the concrete type. As can be seen in
Table 3 every variation was carried out in triplicate. From the test results it is
found that the influence of differences in casting batches or position of the
specimens in the casting prisms is negligible (Van Geel [1994a]).
Table 3: Layout of experiments

Normal-stren2th concrete Hi2h-stren1 tb concrete
Specimen Rough Teflon Rough Teflon
hei2ht platens platens platens platens
50mm 3 tests 3 tests 3 tests 3 tests
lOOmm 3 tests 3 tests 3 tests 3 tests
200mm 3 tests 3 tests 3 tests 4 tests
4.1.1. Normal-strength concrete results
In Figure 24 and Figure 25 the axial stress-strain and stress-displacement

curves are presented for all normal-strength concrete specimens loaded with
teflon platens. These figures clearly show the difference between pre- and
post-peak behaviour: before peak-stress different specimen sizes exhibit
almost identical stress-strain behaviour while after the top different specimen
sizes exhibit almost identical stress-displacement behaviour.
It appears that peak stress and strain show a slight increase with decreasing
specimen height. It is suspected that this increase is due to the still present
boundary friction.
It is known (Bazant [ 1984]) that during softening deformations tend to
localise in the smallest volume possible, because in this way the smallest
amount of energy is required for failure. Localisation of deformations is most
pronounced in tests on large specimens resulting in just a few macrocracks,
while smaller specimens show a more distributed crack pattern. See figure
Figure 26.
36
-50
-40
-30
l
........
:Il ! ',, ,, (tj,S~fl
,,,
,,,
b -20
" ~
0 -5 -10 ·15 -20 ·25
e 1 [o/oo]
Figure 24: Axial stress-strain curves/or normal strength concrete loaded

with teflon intermediate layer (3x3 experiments)
-50
-40
....as -30
. IJ
a.. ,~
!. .
.... •.' ,,
,,,
b -20 1
I
~
I
' i•
1
:1
-10 'I
'·
-0.25 -0.50 -0.75 -1.00 -1.25 -1.50

W (mm]
1
Figure 25: Axial stress-displacement curves for normal strength concrete
loaded with teflon intermediate layer (3x3 experiments)
37
Figure 26: Typical macrocrack patterns /or concrete specimens in uniaxial

compression
Closer inspection of the post-peak stress-displacement curves (Figure 27)
reveals that the fracture energy per area increases with increasing specimen
height, similar to the findings of Vonk [1992]. In Figure 27 elastic unloading
of the continuum at peak stress is taken into account. Post-peak load hearing
capacity appears to be not merely a local process. A contribution of the
(microcracked) continuum part of the specimen seems to be present. Tuis
continuum contribution increases with increasing specimen height. Tuis will
be discussed further in Chapter 6.
Lateral deformations
In Figure 28 the lateral deformations measured by the clip gauges mounted at
the specimen sides are plotted for one 100 mm specimen. The figure clearly
shows the typical initial volume compaction and the large volume expansion
after peak stress. Measurements of lateral deformations of all other uniaxial
experiments can be found in [Van Geel, 1994a]. In general these
measurements show graphs similar to Figure 28, but for smaller specimens
the scatter in clip gauge measurements is smaller than for higher specimens.
Tuis can be explained by the difference in failure modes: smaller specimens
show a more distributed crack pattem and therefore a more uniform lateral
displacement (see also Van Mier [1984]).
38
1.00
1
"'"'• '
' \\
0.80 \ "~,
''
\\
.--.-+------~
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00 -0.20 -0.40 -0.60 -0.80 -1.00
wl, postpeak (inelastic) [mm]

Figure 2 7: Post-peak stress-displacement curves for normal strength
concrete loaded with teflon intermediate layer (3x3 experiments)
-50 , 6
,
-40 ,
, 4
1
......
til -30 ,'E
, .s
Q.
1
!. C')
...- N'
1
l'.J -20 , 3::
, 2
-10 ,
,
0 0
0.0 -0.4 -0.8 -1.2 -1.6
w [mm]
1
Figure 28: All lateral versus axial displacements of one uniaxial experiment
39
Furthermore, in the lateral deformation measurements of the higher

specimens large differences occur between clip gauges that cross the
localised (macro)cracks (large lateral deformation) and clip gauges that do
not (small lateral deformation).
The majority of lateral versus axial deformation measurements in Figure 28
(the lines with a maximum lateral deformation of about 4 mm in this graph)
consists of measurements at different height positions, as shown in Figure 17,
and is found to be located in a very small zone. The closeness of these lateral
deformations prove the efficacy of the friction reducing effect of the teflon
intermediate layer. Similar graphs were obtained for all other uniaxial
experiments (Van Geel [1994a]).
4.1.2. High-strength concrete results.
Again both axial stress-strain and stress-deformation results are shown for all
specimen sizes, in Figure 30 and Figure 31. Like in the case of normal-
strength concrete, in the pre-peak region similar stress-strain curves are
observed (though it is not quite clear what causes the somewhat lower
Young's modulus of the small specimens) and similar stress-displacement
curves in the softening regime. As expected peak stress increases and the
post-peak response becomes more brittle. High (200 mm) specimens are so
brittle that the softening curve cannot be completely obtained in displacement
control.
Therefore the altemative test control system (using a combination ofload and
displacement signal as feed back signal as explained in section 3.2. and
Figure 16) bas been applied in the case of high-strength concrete specimens
loaded with teflon loading platens. This method appears to give satisfactory
results, though the number and size of 'control loops' in the stress-
displacement curves are larger than in displacement control. Like in the tests
performed by Rokugo et al. [ 1986], notable control loops start with
significant cracking, just before peak stress. An example of these control
loops is shown in Figure 29.
In Figure 32 the difference between normal test control (displacement
control) and the altemative test control is shown for the large high-strength
concrete specimens. The stress-displacement curves are identical up to peak
stress. In the softening branch only the altemative test control provides a
stable descending curve.
40
Figure 29: Control loops around peak stress as observed in a uniaxial

compressive experiment using the alternative test control
-80
-60
.....
1'11
a.
!. -40
....
b '' 1
' 1
1''
'' '
-20 11 \ \ \
,,", l~-ttt---+-~'~
\ '1
li
\
0 -8 -12 -16
E 1 [o/oo]
Figure 30: Axial stress-strain curves for high-strength concrete loaded with
teflon intermediate layer (3x3 experiments)
41
-80
-60
1
1
,11 /1'"'U
I,'i'
J,
i;,,. r
....
CIS "
1
I' l \
.:' 1"
':/
Q. 11
1. -40 i: 1
.... 1
Il
\~"
it \j
1:) ,, I.',
Il
,,
I '', ,\
Il
1
. ,, 1
'\
,, 1.
,,
1
·20 ;I ,, '
,, 1·
.
\
I , ,'
l1
' \
0
0.0 -0.4 -0.8 -1.2 -1.6 -2.0
w 1 [mm]
Figure 31: Axial stress-displacement curves for high-strength concrete

loaded with teflon intermediate layer (3x3 experiments)
-80
-60
Displacement controlled
tests
'i
!..... -40
b '•
'
1
' 'r-Tests using alternative
-20 '
1
control signal
' 1
'1 '1
'
0.0 -0.4 -0.8 -1.2

w [mm]
1
Figure 32: Experimental results of200 mm high-strength concrete specimens
42
Figure 33 shows all lateral deformations measured by clip gauges in one
uniaxial experiment carried out on a high-strength concrete cube (100 mm).
The difference with a similar experiment on a normal-strength specimen
(Figure 28) is clear. Whereas lateral deformations start to increase rapidly
right after peak stress in the case of normal-strength concrete, this increase
only starts when the remaining load-bearing capacity is very small in the case
of high-strength concrete. Tuis is a reflection of the differences in the fracture
process of both types of concrete: in the case of high-strength concrete, shear
cracks can develop much easier because of the increased homogeneity of the
material, which limits the redistribution of stresses within the specimen.
From Figure 33 it follows that the formation of these shear cracks requires
only small lateral deformations, indicating small openings of these cracks.
Tuis can be explained by the fact that these cracks are smoother than those in
normal-strength specimens and do not have to open that far to develop
around aggregates.
-80 , 3
J
~I
11
-60 , I 1
,
1 1
-
2 1
J
CIS 'Ë
-
tl.
:E
b
.....
-40
ie
,
1
....
f')
ti
J ;i: 1
/
1
1
1
1
1
"
-20 ,
J
0 - 0 - - -- - - -
0.0 -0.4 -0.8 -1.2 -1.6
w [mm]
1
Figure 33: All lateral versus axial displacements in a single uniaxial
experiment on a high-strength concrete specimen
43
Comparison with normal-strength concrete

Qualitatively speaking, the macroscopie behaviour of high-strength concrete
does not differ significantly from the normal-strength concrete behaviour.
Though the difference is large between the way macrocracks develop and
thus between the softening curves of both concretes, no difference in crack
pattems can be detected.
The large brittleness of high-strength concrete makes a stable test control
more difficult, leading to a larger variation in test results compared to normal
strength concrete and to a larger scatter in lateral deformation measurements.
4.2. Uniaxial tension

In Figure 34 the stress-deformation curves are shown from six tensile
experiments. One test could not be kept stable in the descending branch. Two
other tests show much larger stresses in the post-peak region. As a result, the
fracture energies of these tests are much higher. From the other test results, it is
concluded that the tensile fracture energy is about 70 N/m.
4
'ii'
tL
!..... 2
Tension softening aecording to Equation 1
0 40 80 120 160
w 1 [µm]
Figu.re 34: Tensile test results and tension softening model (Eq.l) [1991]
The following equation by Reinhardt et al. [1986] is often used for
implementation of the tensile post-peak behaviour in numerical models.
44
(Eq.1)
with: c 1 =3, c 2 =6.93 and wc=5.14*G1 !ft.

From the experiments carried out it is found that the fracture energy Gr is
about 70 N/m. The tensile strength ~ is taken as the average of all tests (2.96
MPa). From this it follows that wc=121.6 µm. The analytica! curve according
to Equation 1 is also shown in Figure 34.
4
.... Average stress-displacement curve
0 20 40 60 80 100
w [ µm]
1
Figu,re 35: Displacement measured at the specimen corners in a tensile test

(top) and the tortuous fracture surface as observed in a tensile test (bottom)
45
From the four L VDT measurements per experiment it follows that fracture
always starts at one specimen side and that cracking at the other specimen
side only starts at a further stage in the softening curve. See Figure 35. The
fracture surfaces of all specimens are very tortuous. This is also shown in
Figure 35.
4.3. Biaxial compression - Plane stress

Some plane stress compressive experiments have been carried out on normal-
strength concrete specimens in the range cr/cr 1 = 0.1 to cr/cr 1 = 1.0 as shown
in Figure 36. At increasing ratios of lateral and axial stress specimens fail
quite explosively in the out-of-plane (3-)direction. Even using the altemative
test control described in Chapter 3, in some cases no complete descending
branch could be measured. A possible solution in this case might be to select
the out-of-plane deformation as a feedback signal.
1.50
1.25
1.00 ,~ ...
... Present biaxial test results

• Biaxial test results by Van Mier [1984]
_______} Biaxial test results by Kupfer [1973]
! -·-·-·-·- Biaxial test resu lts by Liu [ 1972]
Biaxial test results by TUM in [Gerstle, 1978]
"""""".. " Biaxial test results by BAM in [Gerstle, 1978]
Biaxial test results by CU in [Gerstle, 1978]
-0.25 0.25 0.50 0. 75 1.00 1.25 1.50
· · 1 [-]
cr2/ cr un1ax1a
Figure 36: Biaxial test results compared to previous research
46
Striking is the observed drop in peak stress at crzfcr 1 = 1.0 in Figure 36. Only
at this stress ratio a large number of splitting cracks is observed, while at
lower stress ratios a small number of shear cracks develops in the 1-3 plane
as indicated in Figure 37. The fact that the crack pattem observed at stress
ratio cr2/cr 1 = 1.0 is deviant follows from the fact that in this case there is no
difference anymore between the 1-3 and the 2-3 direction, causing the similar
splitting crack pattems in both planes. The observed drop in peak stress at
this stress ratio is larger than found in previous research (Figure 36). Tuis
might be caused by the amount of friction at the boundaries between
specimen and teflon loading platens, which is lower than in the case of other
end conditions. In fact, an entirely different stress path is followed locally
when the amount of boundary friction is reduced. After all, the lower the
frictional stresses at the boundary, the lower the triaxial stress state
introduced locally into the specimen. Therefore peak stress and ductility
decrease with decreasing boundary friction.
In Figure 38 it can be seen that even at low biaxial stress ratios post-peak
deformations in the third direction increase very rapidly compared to uniaxial
experiments. The main characteristic ofbiaxial experiments is that on the one
hand the presence of a confining stress causes peak stress to increase
compared to uniaxial experiments, while on the other hand failure is
stimulated in the out-of-plane direction exactly because of the presence of
this confining stress in combination with the absence of a confining stress in
the out-of-plane direction. The latter dominates at large ratios of crzfcr 1 and
cancels out most of the advantageous effect of the confining stress.
Figure 37: Biaxialfailure modes. Left: at stress ratios cr/cr 1 < 1.0. Right: at
stress ratio cr/cr / = 1. 0
47
'ii -60
a..
!.
8 6 4 2 0 -2
w 1,2,3 [mm]
Figure 38: Stress-deformation curve fora biaxial test with stress ratio a ja 1
= 0.05
4.4. Biaxial compression - Plane strain

Like in the case of uniaxial compression, plane strain experiments (w2=0)
have been carried out on both normal-strength concrete using the three
different specimen heights of 50, 100 and 200 mm (with a cross-section of
1OOx100 mm2) and on high-strength concrete using only specimens with a
height of 100 mm.
Normal-strength concrete
Per specimen size five different proportional stress paths have been carried
out with stress ratios in the range 0.05 s;; cr/cr1 ~ 0.5. The displacement w2 in
the intermediate direction is kept zero. It should be noted that a compressive
stress of about -15 to -20 MPa is required to complete initial settings due to
compression of the teflon/grease intermediate layer and imperfect specimen
geometry (Van Geel [1995b]). In plane strain experiments this stress level is
often not or only in an advanced stage of the test reached in both the
intermediate and particularly the minor principle stress direction. Hence
curve fitting of the initial part of stress-deformation curves in these directions
is rather susceptible to errors.
Figure 39 shows the stress-deformation response of 100 mm cubes loaded
with constant ratios cr/cr1 ranging from 0.05 to 0.5. Tuis figure shows that at
48
higher stress states larger nonlinear deformations occur resulting in larger

peak defonnations and that the descending branch is similar in these
experiments. Another distinct feature of multiaxial concrete behaviour is
evident from Figure 39; initially only volume compaction occurs, while
during a later stage of the experiment, dependent on the amount of lateral
confinement, also volume expansion might occur. The stress in the
intermediate direction (axis 2) is the result of the Poisson dilatation caused by
the minor and major principal stress. Unloading in the intennediate direction
in the post-peak region indicates unloading of the continuum parts of the
specimen during softening (Van Mier [1984]). Tuis unloading has also been
shown by strain gauge measurements (see Chapter 6).
O' [MPa]
1
-200
\
1
1
O'
3 I O' l = 0.15
6 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6
w [mm] w [mm]
3 1
-80
'i'
D.
....
::&
N
-40
b
0
0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6
w [mm]
1
Figure 39: Stress-deformation curves from plane strain tests carried out on
100 mm normal-strength concrete cubes
49
When comparing the results from Figure 39 with the plane strain results by
Van Mier [1984, 1986] the influence of the boundary conditions is clear:
because steel brush platens introduce less frictional stresses in the pre-peak
region, pre-peak deformations are larger when using teflon platens. In the
softening regime however the tests using teflon platens show more brittle
behaviour and lower residual stresses.
In all plane strain tests, regardless specimen size or stress path, a similar
macroscopie failure mode is observed. A specimen is always divided into
several -more or less- uncracked blocks by shear cracks at an angle of about
24 degrees with the major principal stress direction. See Figure 40. The
ultraviolet photographs in Figure 40 are made using the vacuum-
impregnation-technique mentioned in Chapter 3.
Figu,re 40: Macroscopie crack patterns for different specimen sizes observed
in plane strain experiments
In the case of 200 mm high specimens only one shear crack develops. The
angle from one specimen corner to the corner diagonally opposite is 27
degrees. Tuis means that -if at both specimen corners shear cracks start to
develop at an angle of 24 degrees- the two macrocrack parts will not join in
the specimen center. At the specimen centre additional energy is required to
join the two macrocrack parts into one shear crack. Tuis phenomenon has
been observed in most of the 200 mm experiments. Therefore the last part of
the softening curve in these tests is less steep than in the case of 100 mm
cubes. See Figure 41.
In Figure 41 it is also clear that in the case of small specimens the descending
curve is less steep during the entire softening process, especially in the lateral
50
(3-)direction. This can be explained by the fact that in this case several
macroscopie cracks are formed. Because each of these cracks has to find its
way around the aggregates, the total lateral displacement required for the
formation of these cracks is larger. Note that in this figure the 100 mm
specimen exhibits a higher peak stress, like all specimens taken from the
casting batch from which this specimen is taken. This is probably due to a
better compaction of this batch after casting compared to the other batches.
cr 1 [MPa]
-120
\
\
\
8 6 4 2 0 -2 -4 -6
w [mm] w [mm]
3 1
-40
'ii'
a.
i!. -20
N
t>
0
0 -2 -4 -6
w 1 [mm]
Figure 41: Stress-deformation curve/or plane strain test (cr/cr1 = 0.10) on

normal-strength concrete specimen with h = 50, 100 and 200 mm.
While in the case of 50 and 100 mm high specimens frequently a distinct

residual stress level is observed, in all 200 mm specimen experiments the
stress appears to drop to zero quite fast. The absence of a residual stress may
be the result of the fact that only in the case of 200 mm specimens no
'uncracked' specimen parts are blocked between the loading platens. It is
51
believed that residual stresses are not only the result of residual frictional
capacity of the shear cracks, but also a result of the obstruction of shear
displacements between · (partly) intact specimen parts that are blocked
between the loading platens.
High-strength concrete
Figure 42 shows plane strain stress-deformation curves for three 100 mm
high-strength concrete cubes. The differences in behaviour with normal-
strength concrete are manifest. Peak stress increases enormously due to the
improved bond between the several constituents of the material. Pre-peak
deformations are smaller than in the case of normal strength concrete in the
major principle stress direction. The material has become more
homogeneous. Tuis is also the cause of the increase in brittleness.
cr 1 [MPaJ
-320
- cr 3 1 cr 1 =0.15
;------- ---- cr 3 / cr 1 = 0.10
6 4 2 0 -2 -4 -6
w 3 [mm] w
1
[mm]
-80
'äi'
Q.
i! -40 ,.. · - \
N
b
0
0 -2 -4 -6
w [mm]
1
Figure 42: Stress-deformation curves /rom plane strain tests carried out on
100 mm high-strength concrete cubes
52
Especially noteworthy is the absence of residual stresses at the end of the

descending branch. Though the failure mode in this case is exactly the same
V-like crack pattem as observed in normal-strength 100 mm cubes (Figure
44), no residual stresses are observed. This confirms the assumption that the
combination of specimen and loading apparatus geometry and residual load
hearing capacity of shear cracks is the origin of residual stresses.
Figure 43: Macroscopie crack pattern of a 100 mm high-strength concrete

cube subjected to plane strain compression
4.5. Triaxial compression

Triaxial compressive experiments have been carried out on both normal- and
high-strength 100 mm cubical specimens. In these tests always constant
lateral stresses cr2=cr3 have been imposed on the specimen. The cylindrical
failure mode is not only essentially different, less localised, from the planar
failure mode observed in plane strain experiments, hut also the failure mode
changes with increasing lateral confinement (see section 2.1 ). Therefore the
constant lateral stresses have been varied in the range -1 to -100 MPa for both
types of concrete. An additional test with cr2 =cr3 =-195 MPa has been carried
out in the case of normal-strength concrete.
53
cr =cr =-195MPa
2 3
cr 2 = cr 3 = -25 MPa
~--=-
- -- '-
6 4 2 0 ·2 -4 -6 -8 -10
w
2
=w 3 [mm] w
1
[mm]
Figu.re 44: Axial stress versus axial and lateral displacements in triaxial
experiments on normal-strength concrete (dashed lines represent a uniaxial
experiment from §4. J)
Normal-strength concrete
The axial stress minus lateral stress is plotted against axial and lateral
displacement in Figure 44. Note that in this graph the vertical axis shows the
axial minus the lateral stress instead of just the axial stress, because in this
way the curves for the experiments with small confining stress are more
clear, and that the lateral displacement actually plotted is the average lateral
displacement (w2+w3)/2. The results are very similar to those by Jamet [1984]
and Smith et al. [1989] though the confining stress level where no descending
branch can be detected anymore is found to be higher in the present research.
From this graph it is obvious what huge influence only a small confining
stress has on the post-peak load-bearing capacity; already at a lateral stress of
-1 MPa a large increase of ductility is observed.
54
When considering the term 'brittle-ductile transition' it can of course be

argued whether there is an actual transition to ductile behaviour. The
designation 'brittle-to-less brittle transition' would be more appropriate. In
the case of the -100 MPa lateral stress experiment, for example, it is most
likely that a peak stress would be found if the maximum attainable force and
displacement of the loading apparatus would be higher. Even at stress states
very close to pure hydrostatic loading this could be expected. A preferential
direction for failure still exists there. Only in the case of purely hydrostatic
loading pure compaction of the specimen would occur (see Bazant et
al.(1986]).
A certain amount of compaction is present in all compressive experiments, as
can be seen in the stress-displacement curves shown in this chapter, where
the axial displacements at least in the first part of the ascending branch are far
greater than the lateral displacements. The origin of that initial volume
compaction will be discussed further in Chapter 7.
Similar to the findings by Jamet et al. (1984], in these triaxial tests a quite
localised failure mode has been observed at low lateral stresses (up to -10
MPa). Normally, in one direction (most of the time the direction of casting) a
crack pattern resembling that of plane strain experiments is observed, only
with less distinct shear cracks. In the other direction generally a larger
number of shear cracks is found. Tuis is shown in Figure 45 (a and b ). At
higher lateral stress levels, hardly any damage can be detected with the naked
eye, except for the tremendous change in the shape of the specimens. Figure
45 (c) shows a photograph of a specimen loaded with confining stresses of -
25 MPa, where no clear macroscopie failure mode can be detected, hut a lot
of damage is present at the mesoscopic level.
As mentioned, at lower confining stresses differences exist between the crack
pattems in both lateral directions. In Figure 46 the lateral versus axial
displacement plots are shown for two triaxial experiments, one loaded with
lateral stresses cr2=cr3=-10 MPa, the other with cr2=cr3=-25 MPa. The graph on
the left is representative of the lateral deformations in all triaxial tests with
low confining stresses and shows that there indeed is a preferential direction
for failure, although the lateral stresses in the 2- and 3-direction are equal.
The graph on the right shows that at higher confining stress no differences
exist anymore between the displacements in the two lateral directions. Tuis is
due to the stabilising effect of the relatively high triaxial stress state, identical
to that in the case of increased boundary friction (Vonk [1992]), and suggests
55
that the failure process at higher triaxial stress states indeed differs from that
at lower stress states.
: a) b)
Figure 45: Crack patterns observed in triaxial experiments on normal-

strength concrete: a) specimen loaded with a 2 =cr3 =-3 MPa, view of plane
formed by axial stress direction and casting direction, b) specimen loaded
with a 2 =a3 =-3 MPa, view of plane perpendicular to a, c) specimen loaded
with cr2 =a3 =-25 MPa
Mean 'volumetrie displacement' curves are shown in Figure 47, showing the
increasing level of specimen compaction with higher confining stress. The
curve for the experiment carried out with confining stresses of -50 MPa
demonstrates that even at the end of the softening curve no volume expansion
has occurred. This reveals that volume expansion and localisation of
deformations into macroscopie cracks are not always typical characteristics
of failure under compressive stresses. Apparently, the formation of
macroscopie cracks and dilatant behaviour are in this test not possible due to
the high confining pressures and the softening curve is probably the result of
shearing and compaction at the mesoscopic level.
56
-100 "
W3 /
" I
/
/
-BO " /
/
I
" 1
I
-60 " 'ë'

iE .... I
I
" C')
1N' I
/
b
-40 " ;: /
/
2 /
I
"
-20 "
"
0 - 0 -1--=-~--....---,.---.-----,,..--....---,-------,
0 -2 -4
w 1 [mm]
-160 " 4
..!
; ' ,.,,.
"~" ....... _" ... " ........ ~. ___ _ ,
I
# ... " _ " _ "
-120 " 3 ,' /

I I
I '
I
..!
w2 /
I
'Ê I / W3
1E I
I
-80 " ...."'!. 2 I

I
1N /
I
..! ;: I
1 I
/
/
-40 " 1 /
/
..!
0 -2 -4 -8
w [mm]
1
Figu.re 46: Lateral versus axial displacement in triaxial experiments on

normal-strength concrete. Top: cr2 =cr3 =-10 MPa, Bottom: cr2 =cr3 =-25 MPa.
57
w [mm]
1 tf
-8 Cl:I .1!
Cl:I
Il g
Q..
:!
....•
:i;
~ "...,
cr 2 = cr 3 • -3 MPa
\ •
Il
t>
C")
Il
t>
C") b
Il
N
t>
cr 2 = cr 3 = -1 MPa
2 1 0 -1 -2
(w +w +w )13 [mm]
1 2 3
Figure 47: Axial displacement versus mean 'volumetrie displacement' in
triaxial tests on normal-strength concrete
High-strength concrete
The differences between high-strength and nonnal-strength concrete are
similar to those observed in plane strain experiments. Figure 48 shows that
ascending branch exhibits less defonnation, that peak stress is higher and that
the post-peak behaviour is more brittle. Localised failure modes similar to
those found in the case of nonnal-strength concrete have been observed for
the present high-strength concrete specimens loaded with confining stresses
up to -50 MPa, though the failure modes are in general more evidently uni-
directional, i.e. a clear localised V-pattern in one lateral direction and hardly
any macroscopie damage in the other lateral direction.
Figure 49 expresses the fact that failure takes place in one direction more
clearly than in the case of nonnal-strength concrete. When only small
confining stresses are present, macroscopie failure takes place almost
completely in one lateral direction only (upper graph in Figure 49). Tuis is
58
due to the fact that the brittleness of the material causes the first macroscopie
crack pattern initiated to develop further immediately. With increasing lateral
stresses, the failure mode is more symmetrie with regard to both lateral
directions, see the lower graph in Figure 49 where initially both lateral
deformations are rather close. At higher levels of confining stress the lateral
deformations are equal, similar to those for normal-strength concrete in
Figure 46. The level of confinement where no volume expansion is observed
anymore is higher compared to normal-strength concrete (Figure 50), because
in this case at larger confining stresses still macroscopie localisation can take
place because of the brittleness of the concrete.
-400
cr
2
= cr 3 = -100 MPa
cr
2
= cr 3 = -25 MPa
cr = cr = -10 MPa
----=--
2 3
~--cr-A2 =cr 3 =-3 MPa
~-- =cr =-1 MPa
6 4 2 0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10
w
2
=w 3 [mm] w [mm]
1
Figure 48: Axial stress versus axial and lateral displacements in triaxial
experiments on high-strength concrete (dashed lines represent a uniaxial
experiment/rom §4.1)
59
·160 ï 10
J
1 I "1
w2
8
-120 ï
1
J
6 '
';' 1
'ë' ' \
-
Q.
::.i -80 ï
1
.5.
,..... C"')
1 N' '
b ~ 4 '•
J
1
~-.
"". - ... "" ... -." ...... ,._ ...." .... """" ....
" -"~
-40
" 2
J
W3
0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
0 ·2 -4 -6
w [mm]
1
-300 6 , """-" ... " ... " .................
~
" ," ·~ .. •,. w2

1
I'
/
..... -..
.J
I ' -..
I
I
I
1 I
-200 4
1
......
:. 'ë'
.s
!..
.... " C")
N'
b
-100 .J
1
• 2 -------w3
/
/
-
/
1
/
1 /
/
0 - 0
0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10
w [mm]
1
Figure 49: Lateral versus axial displacement in triaxial experiments on high-
strength concrete. Top: cr2 =cr3 =-JO MPa, Bottom: cr2 =cr3 =-50 MPa.
60
w [mm]
1
-8 n:s n:s
a.. a..
n:s :i :i
a.. 0 0
0
:i ID
"""'Il
1
1
ID Il
N1
O'
2
= O' 3 = -10 MPa -6 Il
<"')
(")
(")
b b
Il
b Il
N
N
Il b
N b
b
-4
2 1 0 ~ -2
(w +w +w )/3 [mm]
1 2 3
Figure 50: Axial displacement versus mean 'volumetrie displacement' in
triaxial tests on high-strength concrete
Final remarks
In figure 52 the increase of peak stress with increasing confining stress is
shown for the present triax.ial experiments, both for ·normal- and high-
strength concrete. It can be seen that this increase is larger for the high-
strength concrete. Tuis is probably due to the improved qualities of the
aggregate-cement paste interfaces of the high-strength concrete compared to
the normal-strength concrete, which seems to become more significant at
higher compressive stresses.
Furthermore results from similar experiments on normal-strength concrete
cylinders by Newman [1979] and Jamet [1984] are plotted in this figure.
Compared to the present normal-strength results, the increase in strength with
increasing lateral stress is much larger in the case of cylinder tests. However,
it is not clear whether these differences are caused by the differences in
61
specimen (and loading apparatus) geometry, or by the boundary frictions

present in the different loading systems.
4 0
...
0
....
-;
·;c ');
ftS 3
ï:::s 0
.Jli
ftS
Cl>
CL
...
-
/
t) 0
,v
~
0 Normal-strength concrete results
2
ftS
Cl> 0
--v High-strength concrete results
...
CL
t) ... ,
}!' Results by Jamet [1984)
" 0 Results by Newman [1979]
1
0 10 20 30 40
O'
2
= O' 3 [MPa]
Figure 51: Comparison ofpeak stresses in triaxial tests between the present
experiments and results by Jamet [1984] and Newman [1979]
62
Chapter 5: Influence of test environment
5. Influence of test environment

As described in Chapter 2, concrete behaviour as observed in laboratory
measurements is always influenced by the test environment. In the previous
chapter it already has been outlined how the layout of the loading apparatus
in combination with the specimen dimensions can have a significant effect on
residual stress levels. Tuis chapter deals with other effects caused by the
loading conditions. Section 5.1. deals with the influence ofboundary friction,
in section 5.2. the occurrence of non uniform deformations in uniaxial testing
will be linked to the stiffness of the loading apparatus and in section 5.3. the
influence of the prismatic layout of the loading platens will be discussed.
5.1. Boundary friction

When increasing the coefficient of friction of the surfaces of the loading
platens in contact with the specimen, sliding between specimen and loading
platen becomes more restricted due to the frictional stresses at the specimen
boundaries. In the case of uniaxial compression, this leads to the occurrence
of triaxial stress states in regions near the loading platens and because of that
to the formation of the well-known hourglass failure mode. It is clear from
Figure 44 that even small lateral stresses have a significant influence on the
observed stress-deformation behaviour. To obtain insight in concrete's failure
behaviour with and without frictional boundary stresses, it is therefore
important to reduce these stresses as much as possible. In the present
research, two different loading platens have been used: dry steel platens and
the same steel platens with a grease/teflon intermediate layer (see Chapter 3).
Figure 52 shows frictional characteristics of similar loading platens used by
Vonk at EUT (Vonk [1992]). Frictional coefficients were determined by
sliding a concrete cube between two loading platens at constant values of
norrnal stress. In the figure coefficients of friction are shown measured at the
first peak: in the curve of the coefficient of friction versus sliding distance,
which is caused by stick-slip behaviour, and at a sliding distance of 1.5 mm.
Uniaxial compression
Figure 54 and Figure 55 show the measured axial stress-displacement curves
for specimens loaded in uniaxial compression with dry steel loading platens.
When comparing these graphs to those of specimens loaded with a teflon
intermediate layer (Figure 25 and Figure 31) the effect of increased boundary
63
Chapter 5: lnfluence of test environment
0.20
À.
' '
' Dry platen
c: ---.t:
0 '
·-
'&....
:;::::;
u
·c
"+--
"+--
0
0.15
_______ ..__ --- -- --" --· --·-
first peak
Dry platen
w =1.5 mm
.......
c: 0.10
<IJ --+- Teflon platen
·o first peak
!E
Teflon platen
·-
<IJ
u
0
0.05 ---- =
w 1.5 mm
·-·------ --+
1
· - - - - - - - - · - - - -- ---tl
1 1 1 1
0 -10 -20 -30 -40
Axial stress [MPa]
Figure 52: Coefficients offriction/or dry steel platens and teflon
platens (after Vonk {1992)).
Figure 53: Hourglassfailure mode/or two normal-strength concrete

specimens loaded with dry steel platens
64
Chapter 5: Injluence of test environment
friction is obvious; both peak stress and displacements are much higher in the
case of dry steel platens and the post~peak behaviour is more ductile due to
the formation of the hourglass failure mode. This failure mode has even been
observed in the case of the 200 mm high specimens (Figure 53). This
confirms the observations by Rokugo and Koyanagi [1992], Markeset [1993]
and Jansen and Shah [1997], mentioned in Chapter 2, that the height/width
ratio of the specimen, required for failure to be unobstructed by boundary
friction, should be higher than the present value of 2. At this ratio of height
and width, however, the differences with teflon platens experiments are
already much smaller than in the case of 50 or 100 mm high specimens,
primarily with regard to peak stress.
-80
.'
.·~~
~
f '" 1"I~
\
-60 f~ ', \.
~
IJ I
111
....
Cl
D.
i!
b - -40
-20
0.00 -0.50 -1.00 -1.50 -2.00 -2.50

w [mm]
1
Figure 54: Stress-displacement curves for normal-strength concrete
specimens loaded uniaxially with dry steel platens (3x3 experiments)
65
Chapter 5: lnjluence of test environment
-100
-&U
a..
:E
......
-60
I
..... \
b 40 I •m /IJ '
'
~
1 g
1 '
1 •
• '-...
-20
,,,' ' ..__
-~
0.00 -0.50 -1.00 -1.50 -2.00 -2.50

w [mm]
1
Figu,re 55: Stress-displacement curves /or high-strength concrete specimens
loaded uniaxially with dry steel platens (3x3 experiments)
The observed influence of boundary friction on stress-displacement

behaviour and macroscopie cracking (the formation of the hourglass failure
mode) has been found to be similar in the case of normal- and high-strength
concrete.
In general, lateral deformations measured in experiments using dry steel
loading platens are in the same order of magnitude as those measured using
teflon loading platens. In the case of dry steel platens however a large scatter
in lateral deformations is already observed in tests on medium sized
specimens (100 mm cubes). See Figure 56. Tuis is the result of the fact that
sometimes large pieces of concrete are splitting off the specimen.
66
-60 ï 5
J
1
I
"
4 1
\
-40 1
1
......
t1$
1,.....
iE 3 l
0... ie
.....
:E .J -
C")
1
1
~
N'
b 1 3:: 2
-20 j '
1
...
0.0 -0.4 ..0.8 -1.2 -1.6 -2.0

w1 [mm]
Figure 56: Lateral deformations versus axial deformation in a uniaxial

experiment on a normal-strength 100 mm cube loaded with dry steel platens
Plane strain compression

Experiments using dry steel platen have also been carried out in the plane
strain domain. Note that in the intermediate (w2=0) direction, teflon loading
platens are used to preserve the more or less two-dimensional character of
these tests. Tuis bas been done for the sake of two-dimensional (plane strain)
numerical modelling. Stress-displacement results from these tests are shown
in Figure 57. Striking is the closeness of the individual curves in the pre-peak
region while differences in the post-peak region are quite large. The latter is
due to the fact that initially the V-like macroscopie crack pattem is initiated
hut cannot evolve due to the friction at the specimen boundaries; at some
stage a crack pattem resembling the hourglass failure mode is activated. Tuis
interaction between two failure modes that strive to develop simultaneously
causes the large scatter in post-peak results.
67
Chapter 5: Influence oftest environment
cr 1 [MPa]
-160
8. 6 4 2 0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10
w [mm] w [mm]
3 1
-80
::!. -40
N
b
0 -2 -4 -6 -10
w 1 [mm]
Figure 57: Plane strain experiments on 100 mm normal-strength concrete
cubes carried out with dry steel p/atens
Figure 58 shows the macroscopie failure pattems of two specimens tested in

plane strain compression using dry steel platens. The initiation of the V-
pattem is clear in both photographs, while the regions influenced by
boundary friction also can be distinguished very well.
Although in the experiments, both with 5% and 10% confining stress, peak
stress and deformation are larger compared to the teflon loading platens tests,
this difference seems to be smaller in the case of cr/cr,=0.10. Tuis might be
explained by the fact that the introduction of additional triaxial stress states
by boundary friction bas a relatively smaller influence when a specimen is
already subjected toa larger triaxial stress state.
68
Figure 58: Ultraviolet photographs of normal-strength concrete specimens

loaded in plane strain compression (left: cr/cr1=0.05, right: cr/a1 =0.10)
using dry steel platens
Triaxial compression
Triaxial experiments using dry steel platens in all axis directions have been
carried out on normal-strength concrete 100 mm cubes. Overall, the same
tendency can be observed as in the triaxial experiments with teflon loading
platens: at higher confining stresses the behaviour becomes more ductile, see
Figure 59. However, because of the influence of the boundary friction the
behaviour is already less brittle at low confining stresses. Macroscopie failure
modes at low confining stresses are similar to those observed in plane strain
tests using dry steel platens, being a composition of both a localised failure
mode and the hourglass crack pattem (Figure 60). However, in these triaxial
tests this failure mode is found in both lateral directions and the hourglass
failure mode appears to be more dominant in this case than in the plane strain
experiments.
The relatively smaller influence of boundary friction at larger triaxial stress
states becomes very clear when looking at Figure 61. At a confining stress
level of -25 MPa, the differences in both peak stress and displacement
become relatively small for the two types of loading platens. Like in the case
of teflon platen experiments, at this level of lateral stress no macroscopie
failure can be detected with the naked eye but a lot of damage on the
mesoscopic level can be identified.
69
Chapter 5: Influence oftest environment
-140
er 2 =er 3 = -25 MPa
er =cr 3 =-to MPa
-20-
6 4 2 0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10
w =w [mm] w [mm]
2 3 1
Figure 59: Triaxial experiments on normal-strength concrete 100 mm cubes
using dry steel platens
Figure 60: Ultraviolet photograph of a 100 mm cubic specimen subjected to

triaxial compression (er 2 =cr3 =-JO MPa) using dry steel platens
70
-140
•........•. ·······..,
-120",
-:.
!. '
C")
'
1:::)
.... '
-80
1 ,
.. -..-
"" .. -· .~
-20
6 4 2 0 -2 -4 -6 -8
w
2
=w
3
[mm] w 1 [mm]
Figure 61: Comparison oftriaxial experiments on 100 mm normal-strength

concrete cubes using teflon (solid lines) and dry steel (dashed lines) loading
platens
52.Loadingapparatusstiffness
Because localisation of deformations leads to the least energy-demanding
failure mode, the formation of a partial failure mechanism is stimulated,
sometimes resulting in a significant nonuniformity of deformations (rotation
of the loaded boundaries) in uniaxial compression. In some uniaxial tests
(section 4.1) a large non-uniformity of deformations is observed from the
different LVDT-measurements. The nonuniformity increases when using
teflon instead of dry loading platens or when decreasing the size of the
specimen. Following the analytica! model by Vonk [1992] it is found that the
critica! rotational stif:fness is smaller than the rotational stiffness of the
71
loading apparatus only for large (200 mm high) specimens (when comparing
normal-strength concrete teflon tests among themselves), indicating
rotational instabilities for the smaller specimens. In the case of high-strength
concrete specimens deformations are even more non-uniform. Vonk [1989]
showed that non-uniformity of deformations is limited in multiaxial testing
due to the fact that the specimen is enclosed by loading platens in all
directions. As a result the present investigation is limited to the case of
uniaxial compression.
A large non-uniformity of deformations is observed for all uniaxial teflon
platen tests, with the exception of large normal strength concrete specimens,
indicating a lack of bending stiffuess of the loading apparatus. Uniaxial
testing of very brittle concretes (like the high-strength concrete tests in the
present research) seems to be beyond the reach of the loading apparatus. It
still can be questioned to what extend the observed non-uniform
deformations influence the average axial stress-displacement curves.
According to Vonk [1992] the significance of non-uniformity of
deformations (i.e. rotation of the loaded boundaries) is dependent on:
1. The eccentricity e of the compressive load;
2. The initial rotation cp0 of the loading platen;
3. The rotational stiffhess C of the loading apparatus;
4. The cross-section b*d of the specimen;
5. The combination of stress cr and stress-gradient dcrldw. Tuis combination
becomes more critica! for:
5a) more brittle types of concrete;
5b) specimens of greater height.
However, argument 5b is in contradiction with the present test results, in
which a decreasing non-uniformity is observed with increasing specimen
height. See Figure 62. Obviously, the rotational stiffhess of the loading frame
is only sufficient for higher specimens. Therefore, some additional
measurements have been carried out to detect the cause of this increase of
nonuniformity of deformations with decreasing specimen height.
Measurements
A description of the loading apparatus (in this case the 3 x 2000 kN
configuration) is given in chapter 3. To detect the 'weakest rotational link' in
the loading frame, all parts of this frame which can possibly give cause to
rotations (except for the loading platens, because the bending stiffhess of
these platens can be calculated easily) have been mounted with LVDTs or
strain gauges, as indicated in Figure 63:
72
• Three LVDTs measuring the axial deformation of the specimen at three

different positions;
• Four LVDTs measuring the deformations of the (fixed) hinge;
• Three LVDTs measuring the deformations of the piston (relative to the
steel frame);
• Twenty-four 120 mm strain gauges measuring the deformations of end-
platens and steel rods;
One additional measurement was carried out to measure the deformations of
the load cell using four LVDTs.
-50 -50
-40 -40
'ii' -30 'ii' -30

ll. ll.
i!!. i!!.
... -20
... -20
b b
-10 -10
0 0
0.0 -0.4 -0.8 -1.2 -1.6 0.0 -0.4 -0.8 -1.2
w [mm] w [mm]
1 1
-50
-40
'iii' -30
ll.
i!!.
... -20
b
-10
0
0.0 -0.4 -0.8 -1.2 -1.6
w [mm]
1
Figure 62: LVDT measurements in axial direction for three normal-strength

concrete specimens with h= 50, 100 and 200 mm loaded in uniaxial
compression (dashed line average curve)
73
LVDTsat4
positions
2 strain gauges --~

per steel rod
4 strain gauges
per endplaten - - - -
surface
4 strain gauges
on load cell
Figure 63: Measurement of loading axis deformations
Test results
In Figure 64 through Figure 69 the results from a uniaxial compression test
on a normal-strength concrete 100 mm cube are shown. Note that initial
settings are not corrected in these graphs. From Figure 64 the rotation of the
loading platens after peak stress is obvious. Ata certain post-peak stress the
axial displacement at one side of the specimen is larger than the displacement
at the other side, where even unloading takes place temporarily.
74
-50
1
1
1
-40
LVDT positions:
-30
b -20
1
2•
1
\
-10
"
0.00 -1.00 -2.00 -3.00

, LVDT displacement [mm]
Figure 64: LVDT measurements of axial disp/acement at three different
positions around a 100 mm normal-strength concrete cube (solid lines) and
average stress-disp/acement curve measured by two control-LVDTs (dashed
line)
The defonnations of the hinge (Figure 65) are found to be relatively small
compared to the specimen defonnations and are found to be quite uniform. It
can be concluded that these defonnations are no cause for rotations of the
loading platen.
The defonnations of the piston (Figure 66) however show a non-unifonnity
of defonnations already in the ascending branch of the stress-defonnation
curve, which is in the order of magnitude of the non-unifonnity of the
specimen LVDT measurements.
From Figure 67 through Figure 69 it can be concluded that, though some
defonnations occur in the steel frame, these defonnations -as could be
expected- are small compared to the specimen displacements and certainly
are no cause for any rotation.
75
~------1,3,4,2 (left to right)
,"
.' '\
1
''
\
1
1 '
1
L VDT posltions around hlnge:
"iii' -30 1
'"
D.
!. ' •
....
t> ·20 1
1 1
••
1
' 1
''
-10 ' "" "
" """ ....... ______ _
o---------~-~----~
0.0 -0.4 -0.8 ·1.2 -1.8
w [mm)
1
Figure 65: LVDT measurements ofhinge deformations in a uniaxial
experiment (4 solid lines) and average stress-(specimen) displacement curve
(dashed line)
-50
-30
LVDT positions around piston:
0 -20
-10
0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50

LVDT displacement [mm]
Figure 66: LVDT measurements ofpiston deformations in a uniaxial

experiment (4 solid lines)
76
123 4 5 6 7 8
~·]
-40 ' 3
~6
~
'ii' -30
Q.
i!.
....
t:> -20
-10 Cross section of steel rods

with straln gauge posltions
-0.02 o.oo 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08

Strain [o/oo]
Figu.re 67: Strains measured on steel tension rods of the loadingframe

during a uniaxial experiment
-50
4,8 1,5 3,7
2,6
-40
-
CIS
Q.
-....
:E
b
...!L
-30
17;8 3,41
1,2
View on upper endplaten
with strain gauge positions
(1,3,5,7 on top surface,
2,4,6,8 on bottom surface)
-0.40 -0.20 0.00 0.20 0.40

Strain [o/oo]
Figu.re 68: Strains measured on the upper steel endplaten of the loading
frame during a uniaxial experiment
77
-50 'iii' 4,8

a.. 2,6
3,7
1,5 ~
....
b
0
View on lower endplaten

with straln gauge poeltlons
(1,3,5,7 on top surface,
2,4,6,8 on bottom surface)
-0.20 -0.10 0.00 0.10 0.20

Strain [o/oo]
Figure 69: Strains measured on the lower steel endplaten ofthe loading
frame during a uniaxial experiment
From the above findings it seems that rotation of the piston, which takes
place already in an early stage of the experiment, further stimulates failure to
initiate at a particular side of the specimen (from the measurements it follows
that this is the left-front side of the specimen). During the descending branch
of the stress-displacement curve the rotation of the piston (Figure 66) is in the
same order of magnitude as the rotation of the loaded boundaries (Figure 64).
Therefore the rotational stiffness of the loading apparatus is found to be not
only dependent on the dimensions of the loading platens and the piston but,
moreover, on the position of the piston within its housing. Since a larger part
of the piston is outside the piston covering with decreasing specimen height,
the rotational stiffness of the loading apparatus is related to the height of the
specimen. Therefore the relation between specimen height and nonuniform
deformations is different from that proposed by Vonk' s modelling of the test
environment influences. These measurements explain why more uniform
deformations have been observed in experiments on large (200 mm)
specimens. In this case a smaller section of the piston is outside the housing
so that it's bending length is smaller. Tuis factor seems more significant than
the fact that the combination of stress and stress-gradient becomes more
critica! with increasing specimen height.
78
-60
LVDT Positlons:
e2
-40
'ii'
Q.
!.
1• .3
t;)
....
-20
.4
0.0 -0.4 -0.8 -1.2

w 1 {mm]
Figure 70: Additional test to measure the deformations of the load cel/
during a uniaxial experiment. The thick grey line represents the average
load-disp/acement diagram as measured by two contro/-LVDTs, lines 1-4
represent the LVDT measurements around the specimen.
-60
... LVDT Positions:

b
•2
0.00 0.04 0.08 0.12

w load cell [mm]
··•··
0.16
.4
0.20
Figure 71: Additional test to measure the deformations of the laad cel/
during a uniaxial experiment. Lines 1-4 represent the LVDT measurements
around the /oad cel/.
79
Figure 70 and Figure 71 show results from an additional measurement in

which the deformations of the load cell are measured at four positions. In
these figures it can be seen that a rotation takes place in an early stage of the
experiment not only in the piston but also in the load cell. The magnitude of
the rotation of the load cell might also be large enough to stimulate the
occurrence of non-uniform deformations. However, the quite uniform
deformations when loading 200 mm specimens, where the possibility to
rotate is prevented for the piston, shows that the influence of the load cell
rotations is small compared to the influence of rotations of the piston.
Even when performing uniaxial pilot experiments with the loading axis of
5000 kN, where the rotational stiffness of the piston is a factor 10.5 greater
and the load cell also bas a larger stiffness, this phenomenon has been
observed, indicating that merely increasing the stiffness of the loading frame
is not sufficient to prevent the heterogeneous structure of the material from
causing the occurrence of non-uniform deformations.
5.3. Layout ofloading platens

As mentioned briefly in Chapter 2, different test results may be obtained
from experiments carried out using different layouts of the loading apparatus.
Previous investigations ·into the influence of the loading apparatus layout
were restricted to the manner in which the three loading axes were connected,
or test results from 'true triaxial' (i.e. three independent loading axes) loading
apparatuses were compared to those from triaxial loading devices. In this
research emphasis is laid on the influence of the layout of the loading platens
instead of the apparatus as a whole.
From previous research (Hansen et al. [1962], Sigvaldason [1966]) it is
known that already differences exist between results from uniaxial
experiments on cylindrical and prismatic specimens, having equal height and
cross-sectional area. Tuis already indicates the importance of the
combination of specimen and loading platens geometries. In the multiaxial
experiments, described in this thesis, it has been observed that macroscopie
cracks often initiate at the specimen corners i.e. at singularities on the
bounding surfaces of the specimen. In multiaxial testing it is necessary for
the loading platens to be smaller than the specimen to avoid contact between
the loading platens and the transfer of stresses via these platens instead of via
the specimen. To prevent the loading platens from piercing into the specimen
and hence introducing additional stress concentrations, the specimen corners
have been bevelled as shown in Figure 20. Because the loading platens are
80
smaller than the specimen shear displacements may occur at the specimen
corners. It is questioned to what degree the localised V-shaped failure mode
(the shear crack angle) in plane strain compressive experiments, for example
the 100 mm cube in Figure 40, is determined by this loading platens layout
instead of actual structural behaviour.
For the investigation of this question additional loading platens layouts have
been manufactured, as shown in Figure 72a through Figure 72c. The
additional layouts prevent shear displacements at the specimen corners.
Singularities are introduced away from the corners. Figure 72d shows the
original loading platens layout in a plane strain test (from here on denoted as
'common plane strain test'). With these additional loading platens, plane
strain experiments with stress ratios cr/cr 1=0.05 and cr/cr 1=0.15 have been
carried out. In the intermediate principle stress direction (w2=0), the regular
loading platens with a cross-section of 97*97 mm2 have been used.
Figure 72: Different loading platen geometries used to investigate the

inj/uence of the loading apparatus lay-out and the macroscopie crack
patterns observed
81
Like the original loading platens, the additional loading platens have been
manufactured extremely accurate with respect to parallelism and
orthogonality. Furthermore they have been hardened and polished as the
regular loading platens (see Chapter 3). A teflon intermediate layer with
hearing grease has not only been applied between specimen and loading
platens, but also between the original and the supplementary loading platens.
Results from these experiments are shown in Figure 73, where the
designations a through d correspond with the labelling of the loading platens
layouts shown in Figure 72.
The stress-displacement results from the experiment with symmetrie
(additional) loading platens layout (labelled a in Figure 72) are found to be
very close to those from the common plane strain test with 5% confining
stress (d). Also a similar crack pattern as in the common experiment has been
observed as shown in Figure 72. Though the possibility for concrete parts to
shear off at the specimen corners is ruled out, shear displacements are now
possible at the center of the lower specimen surface as shown in this figure.
Therefore the failure mode is identical to the regular failure mode, though
macroscopie cracks in this case iniate at the singularity at the tip of the V,
instead of at both ends as observed in the experiments before.
In the case of layouts b and c the formation of an asymmetrie failure mode is
enforced, starting again at the places of singularities on the bounding surface
of the specimen. While in the experiments with 5% confining stress the
differences are not very large, in the case of 15% confinement large
deviations from the common test results are observed. Smaller pre-peak
deformations, a decrease in peak stress and a less brittle softening branch are
found. Obviously it is in these situations easier to attain the mesoscopic
'continuum' damage needed for initiation of macroscopie failure than in the
common test, but more energy is required for further development of the
macroscopie cracks. The brittleness of the descending branch of layout b is
closer to the brittleness in a common test than the one observed in layout c,
because in case b the macroscopie shear crack angle can be identical to the
common situation (Figure 72).
The softening parts of the curves of these two experiments make very clear
that in fact the combined stress-deformation behaviour of the material and the
structure (consisting of both 'uncracked' concrete parts divided by shear
cracks and several loading blocks) is measured. Due to rotation of the
additional loading platens at large displacements in layout c, the stress level
even increases at the end of the descending branch.
82
-160
c)-----
b)-~-r-:.,,.
6 4 2 0 -2 -4 -6
w [mm] w 1 [mm]
3
-60
';'
-40
-
ll.
:&
N
-20
t>
0
0 ·2 -4 -6
w 1 [mm]
Figure 73: Results from plane strain experiments with different loading
platen geometries according to Figure 72
The results from these experiments show clearly that the layout of the
loading platens has a significant effect on the observed macroscopie
behaviour at higher multiaxial stress states and that results from common
experiments (i.e. experiments with the loading platens layout as described in
Chapter 3) may overestimate peak stress and deformations. Tuis again shows
the importance of understanding the influence of boundary conditions on
concrete behaviour under compressive stresses and incorporating this
influence when extrapolating experimental results to other situations. But it
also shows the necessity for numerical models to be able to simulate concrete
behaviour based on sufficient experimental verification for many different
boundary conditions, because the actual failure behaviour of concrete is very
dependent on the boundary conditions.
83
Chapter 6: Localisation ofdeformations in macroscopie cracks
6. Localisation of deformations in macroscopie cracks

Near the peak of the stress-displacement curve of compressive experiments a
macroscopie failure mode is initiated. The development and growth of these
macroscopie cracks govems the mechanica! behaviour in the softening region
to a great extent. Macroscopie crack evolution in triaxial experiments has
already been determined by Hallbauer et al. [1973] in the case of quartzite
specimens and Sture and Ko [1978] for rock specimens, see Figure 74. Sture
and Ko showed that during the descending branch the rock specimen consists
of relatively intact specimen pieces divided by sbear zones and that these
zones in particular determine the post-peak stress-displacement behaviour. In
section 6.1. the formation of macroscopie cracks in concrete specimens in
multiaxial compression will be discussed.
PEAK STREJ«;TH, ENVEl.OPE
@ o- r .
~t--
n
/ @
® 0-
AXlAL STRRAIN
Figure 74: Schematic description ofmacroscopie crack evolution in a rock

specimen subjected to triaxial compression (Sture and Ko [1978])
According to Van Mier et al. [1997], a perfect localisation of post-peak
deformations in these shear cracks takes place in uniaxial compression.
However, the uniaxial test results by Vonk [1992] indicated that the more or
less uncracked 'continuum' parts of the specimen still contribute to the load
84
hearing capacity in the softening region. In the present research a technique

has been developed to measure the continuum deformations in multiaxial
compression. Because of the large nonlinear pre-peak deformations observed
in multiaxial compression, the alleged contribution of continuum parts to
post-peak load-bearing capacity is easier to detect than in uniaxial
experiments. Tuis will be outlined in section 6.2.
Section 6.3. shows a simple two-dimensional analytical model that describes
the mechanica! behaviour of macroscopie shear cracks in plane strain
compression. This model shows that concrete's post-peak behaviour might
very well be described numerically in terms of shear crack displacements.
In section 6.4. some genera} considerations are made with respect to the
behaviour of macroscopie cracks in genera!.
6.1. Macroscopie crack development
-120
a)
b)
6 5 4 3 2 1 0 •1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6
w [mm] w [mm]
3 1
-40
'ii'
ll.
.....
:E -20
N
t?
0
0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6
w [mm]
1
Figure 75: Six plane strain experiments an 200 mm specimens laaded with
a/cr1=0.10 to detect the evolution ofmacroscopic cracks
85
Chapter 6: Localisation of deformations in macroscopie cracks
Both in the plane strain and the triaxial test program, experiments have been
carried out to obtain insight in the development of macroscopie crack
pattems. To achieve this insight several tests have been carried out, following
an identical stress path, that have been interrupted at different stages of post-
peak: loading. This was already shown schematically in Figure 19.
Figure 75 shows the stress-displacement results of six experiments, carried
out on 200 mm high normal-strength concrete prisms, loaded in plane strain
configuration with cr/cr 1= 0.10. One experiment was interrupted just hefore
peak: stress, while the other five tests were interrupted at different levels of
post-peak: stress in the major compressive direction. Tests were interrupted
by unloading the specimen, i.e. applying a positive displacement in the major
principle stress direction.
.
0
a) b) c)
e) f)
Figure 76: Evolution ofmacroscopic cracks in a plane strain experiment.

The labels a through f correspond with those in Figure 75
86
In Figure 76 photographs are shown from cross-sections of the six specimens

tested. These photographs have been made using the technique described in
section 3.4. From these results it appears that the localisation of deformations
starts right after peak stress has been passed (photograph b). At that stage
macroscopie shear cracks are initiated at the specimen corners (see also
Chapter 5). Note that in quite some cases not only those cracks are initiated
that will eventually form the final macroscopie crack pattern, but also other
cracks that might form this pattern equally well (photograph b, lower right
corner). Tuis has also been observed in other experiments. Such an example
is shown for a 100 mm cube in Figure 77, where the V-shaped crack pattem
is in fact initiated in all four specimen corners but only one of the two
possible V-shapes is finally formed completely.
Figure 77: Ultraviolet photograph ofa 100 mm cube loaded in a plane strain
test with o/o1=0.10
During the steep part of the descending branch of the stress-displacement
curve the macroscopie cracks start to extend towards the center of the
specimen (photographs c and d in Figure 76). When the two parts of the
macroscopie crack have joined (photographs e and f), the deformational
behaviour of the now completely formed macroscopie cracks largely
determine the measured stress-displacement behaviour. The stress-
deformation curves corresponding with photographs e and f clearly show the
increased ductility due to the necessary bridging between the two
macroscopie cracks.
87
;f' -80
i!.
C")
b )
....
e)
6 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6
w =w [mm] w [mm]
2 3 1
Figu.re 78: Five triaxial experiments on 100 mm cubes loaded with cr2 =cr3 = -
3 MPa to detect the evolution ofmacroscopie cracks
. .."' . . ~ ... " "'.. '.

~
,:.-
•
•
.l . • .
a) b)
e)
Figu.re 79: Evolution of macroscopie cracks in a triaxial experiment. The
labels a through e correspond with those in Figu.re 78 (c almost identical tob
andd)
88
Similar experiments have been carried out on a 100 mm cube in triaxial

compression. Five specimens were tested with constant lateral stresses
-3 MPa. Figure 78 and Figure 79 show results from these
experiments. Note that the photographs in Figure 79 have been taken from
the plane formed by the axial stress direction and the casting direction
(compare to Figure 45). Again, the macroscopie cracks are found to initiate at
the specimen corners (photograph b and d in Figure 79). In plane strain
experiments on 200 mm prisms it was found (Figure 76) that the two
macroscopie cracks, that eventually join into the final shear band, are
initiated at opposite specimen edges. In the case of both plane strain and
triaxial experiments on 100 mm cubes two macroscopie cracks start at the
same specimen side, growing towards the middle of the opposite specimen
edge where they join (photograph e in Figure 79). It should be mentioned that
this occurs in both lateral directions in triaxial experiments. Besides that, the
crack pattem observed in these triaxial tests is not as localised as found in
plane strain experiments (compare Figure 79e with Figure 77). It should be
mentioned here that in triaxial experiments both lateral stresses are kept
constant, while in plane strain experiments in genera! the minor principle
stress is proportional to the major principal stress.
6.2. Post-peak continuum behaviour and size effect

Using the same loading apparatus, Van Mier (using steel brush loading
platens, [1984]) and Vonk (using teflon loading platens, [1992]) observed
quite different behaviour in the post-peak region when testing specimens of
different height under uniaxial loading. Tuis has already been outlined in
section 2.1. Whereas Van Mier found identical post-peak stress-displacement
curves for different specimen heights, indicating a perfect localisation of
deformations in macroscopie shear bands, in the experiments carried out by
Vonk the more or less uncracked specimen blocks between these shear zones
seemed to contribute to the post-peak load-bearing capacity, expressed by a
decreasing brittleness of the softening branch with increasing specimen
height (and toa lesser extent also with increasing specimen width). Figure 80
shows a comparison of the observed post-peak stress-displacement
behaviour, as observed by Vonk, with the present uniaxial test results, as
described in Chapter 4. The grey areas representing the results from the
current research are the zones bounded by the individual lines in Figure 27.
In this graph unloading of the continuum is taken into account by assuming
linear elastic unloading at peak stress.
89
It is striking that again results obtained from the same loading apparatus are
different from each other. However, in this case the differences are even more
surprising because the loacling platens and testing technique used in the
present research are almost identical to those used by Vonk. The only known
clifference between Vonk' s test setup and the present setup is the way in
which the loading platens are hardened, but it seems most unlikely that the
clifferences observed originate from this relatively small difference. Besides
differences in test setup, differences in concrete mix or specimen preparation
might be the origin of the differences observed. However, differences in
concrete mix are considered to be quite small (see Vonk [1992] and Chapter
3). Making statements with regard to clifferences due to the applied specimen
preparation would be mere speculation. Systematic experimental
investigations into the influence of varying specimen composition and
preparation on concrete behaviour should be subject of future research.
1.0
-......
1
rlJ 0.8
m
bCtl
& 1.6
-:=~
-!i::ii=
0.4
0.2
0
-0.2 -0.4 -0.6 -0.8 -1.0
Post-peak inelastic displacement [mm]
Figure 80: Comparison of uniaxial post-peak stress versus inelastic
displacement curves by Vonk (lines) with the present results (grey areas)
90
In the case of the experiments by Vonk it is clear from Figure 80 that the
brittleness of the post-peak curve decreases with increasing specimen height.
In the present test results almost equal slopes of the curves for the different
heights are oberved. The largest difference between the different specimen
sizes is observed right after peak stress, where stress levels are higher at a
certain post-peak displacement for higher specimens (the shapes of the
curves for the different specimen heights at relative stress levels lower than
approximately 0.9 are almost equal). Though in the cooperative research by
Van Mier et al. [1997] it is concluded that a perfect localisation of
deforrnations takes place in the softening region, a sirnilar trend as observed
here can be detected in the results from tests with teflon platens by Van Vliet
and Van Mier [ 1996], as shown in Figure 81.
1.0
\
Cf} t\
Cf}
t'.,
(IJ
J:l
0.8 '\•
\ .\
Cl.l
"'C
'\'
\ ,\
'\'
h/d
-·-e 0.5
(IJ \ ·\
N 0.6 '\'
c..s
\'
'\
\'
1.0
' \
\. 2.0
0 0.4
s::
0.2 -~:::..-_-::...-_~-
-- -----
0 250 500 750 1000

post-peak deformation [µm]
Figure 81: Uniaxial post-peak stress versus displacement results after Van
Vliet and Van Mier [1996]
Therefore experiments have been carried out, in which it was attempted to

measure the behaviour of the continuum parts of the specimen after peak
91
stress in multiaxial compression, in order to clarify the alleged post-peak

load-bearing contribution of these continuum parts.
Figure 82 shows the measured post-peak response in plane strain experiments
(cr/cr 1=0.15) on three normal-strength concrete specimens with varying
height. In this figure no continuum behaviour bas been accounted for. Tuis
graph, which is representative for all plane strain experiments, shows that
large differences are observed between the individual post-peak curves. But
there does not seem to be a direct link between the path of these curves and
the . specimen height, because the highest stress at a certain post-peak
deformation is observed in the case of the specimen with a height of 100 mm.
The fact that in the case of the batch, from which this 100 mm specimen was
taken, peak stress was also found to be higher (see Figure 41) than in the
other experiments, revealed the possibility of a better compaction after
casting of this batch. Therefore the suspicion arises that the differences
observed in Figure 82 might also be caused by differences in specimen
quality (i.e. differences in casting batches) instead of differences in size.
1.0
Post-peak response in plane strain
experiments wlth 15% lateral confinement
0.8
.....x:
'i""
.,.
CD
a. 0.6
--
b
0.4
''
0.2 -+----~---,...-----.----,---~-----,
0 -2 -3
w 1, postpeak [mm]
Figure 82: Measured post-peak stress-displacement curves in plane strain
compressive experiments on three specimens with varying height
92
To determine the behaviour of the more or less intact continuum specimen

parts after peak stress, specimens have been manufactured containing
grooves on those surfaces that are in contact with the loading platens in the
intermediate principal stress direction (w2=0 direction), as shown in Figure
83. The width and depth of the grooves is 7 and 4 mm, respectively.
Figure 83: Specimen with grooves in order to determine the post-peak

continuum behaviour by means of strain gauges.
In these grooves strain gauges have been applied (eight per groove) to
measure the post-peak continuum behaviour with 24 strain gauges in both the
major (axis 1-direction) and minor (axis 3-direction) principal stress
directions. The measuring length of these strain gauges is 6 mm, the
maximum strain 2%, in the case of these 100 mm cubes corresponding with a
maximum axial specimen displacement of 2 mm.
Similar specimens were fabricated with heights of 50 and 200 mm. Because
the results obtained from these experiments were similar to those from tests
on 100 mm cubes (Van Geel [1995b]), only the cube results will be discussed
here.
Figure 84 shows a comparison between the observed macroscopie stress-
displacement curves for specimens tested in plane strain compression, both
with and without the grooves sawn into the specimen surfaces. The closeness
of the results in this graph, and in those obtained from specimens with other
heights (Van Geel [1995b]), is reason to believe that not only a qualitative
but also a quantitative comparison between these specimens is justified. Note
that the displacements in the experiment with 15% confinement are too large
for the strain gauges to measure. Therefore here only the results from the
experiment with 5% confining stress are discussed.
93
-200 'ii'
ll.
:iiE
.._.
- --~160 ....
\
b
·•
I
I
- - _ O' I O' l = 0.05

3
r
6 5 4 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6
w [mm] w [mm]
3 1
-60
'ii'
ll. -40
i!.
N -20
b
0
0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6
w Imm]
1
Figure 84: Macroscopie stress-displacement curves obtained/rom
experiments in plane strain compression on specimens both with and without
grooves sawn in specimen surfaces.
Figure 85 and Figure 86 show the results in axial direction from the strain
gauge measurements in the case of the plane strain experiment on a 100 mm
cube with cr/cr1= 0.05. Note that in these graphs the strains have been
multiplied by a factor l 00 to facilitate comparison with the macroscopie
stress-displacement curve. Figure 85 shows the strain gauge measurements at
their position on the specimen surface. The observed macroscopie crack
pattem bas been sketched roughly in this figure. It is obvious from this graph
that, while measured strains in those strain gauges that are in the localised
shear zone remain increasing (until they fail), the strain gauges active on
specimen parts free from macroscopie cracks show steep post-peak. unloading
behaviour.
94
0 ·2 0 ·2 0 ·2
....
\? 1 ...
·80n,
LVDI-measurement:
-40
0
1 \_
w 1 [mm]
0 ·2
Figure 85: Strain gauge measurements in axial direction on a 100 mm cube

in plane strain compression. Note that the strain readings have been
multiplied with a factor 100 to compare them to the macroscopie specimen
displacement (lower right corner).
95
-80
....
"'
0..
!.
b- 1
-20
1 \ '
' ", ...
0.0 -0.5 -1.0 -1.5 -2.0 -2.5 -3.0 -3.5

w [mm]
1
Figure 86: All strain gauge measurements in axial direction /rom a plane
strain test on a 100 mm cube in plane strain compression gathered (dashed
line represents the macroscopie (L VDT) stress-displacement curve).
The observed crack pattem is sketched in this graph. Though a large scatter is
observed in the local pre-peak stress-strain curves, as shown in Figure 86, the
measured local post-peak responses appear to be quite uniform. The scatter in
the pre-peak region might be caused by the fact that the measuring length of
the gauges (6 mm) is even smaller than the maximum aggregate size (8 mm)
or may be even solely because the strain gauge measurements are surface
measurements. The fact that the strain gauge readings in general show
smaller deformations than the average macroscopie measurement might also
originate here from. It was already observed by Van Mier [1984] in the case
of uniaxial compression that surface strain measurements showed smaller
deformations than LVDT measurements between the loading platens.
However, Van Mier attributed this toa curvature of the applied steel brush
loading platens.
96
In Figure 87 the continuum and local behaviour, as derived from the strain
gauge measurements, are shown for this particular experiment. Note that to
derive the pre-peak continuum behaviour only those strain gauge readings
have been used that were close to the overall stress-displacement curve as
measured by the LVDT' s. The shape of the post-peak curve has been
determined by using all strain gauge measurements showing unloading
behaviour. Figure 87, like the other strain gauge measurements not shown
here (Van Geel [1995b]), shows that the continuum parts of the specimen
only start unloading after a certain post-peak deformation.
-80
Continuum contribution derived

-60 from strain gauge measurements
-
cv
ll..
Measured stress-deformation curve
i!. -40 Local macrocrack contribution derived

T'"
b from strain gauge measurements

Continuum behaviour derived from
-20 strain gauge measurements
0.0 -0.5 -1.0 -1.5 -2.0 -2.5 -3.0 -3.5

w [mm]
1
Figure 87: Derived post-peak continuum behaviour from the strain gauge
readings
In Figure 87 the light grey area represents the continuum behaviour,
accompanied by isolated damage at the mesoscopic level only, whereas the
dark grey area represents the localised macroscopie (shear) crack behaviour.
Damage at the mesoscopic level means inelastic deformations within the
cement paste and at the aggregate-cement paste interfaces (and exceptionally
within the aggregates). Numerical simulations at the mesoscopic level by
Bongers [1998] indicate that irreversible damage within the cement paste is
mostly damage at interfacial zones. This means that, when aggregates do not
fail, most continuum damage is concentrated at aggregate-cement paste
97
interfaces. Hence, when the quality of these interfaces is improved, which

seems to be the case for the 100 mm specimen in Figure 41 and Figure 82,
the maximum load hearing capacity of the specimen increases. Right after
peak stress macroscopie cracks are initiated, hut are not covering the entire
cross section of the specimen yet (see e.g. Figure 76b). Tuis means that at
this stage of the stress-displacement curve part of the load is still being
transferred by the continuum. Combination of Figure 41 and Figure 82
supports the thought that the extent of this continuum contrihution is also
related to the casting and compactation quality of the concrete of the
specimen.
Similar measurements and derivations have been carried out in the minor
principal stress (3-) direction, with similar results (Van Geel [ 1995b]).
The derived post-peak stress-displacement curves for the localised cracks in
the major principal stress direction from the findings herefore are shown in
Figure 88 and Figure 89 for several specimen heights, with cr/cr1= 0.05 and
cr/cr 1= 0.10, respectively. lt is evident that the differences in the initial part of
the softening curve, as visible in Figure 82, disappear completely when
taking the measured continuum post-peak behaviour into account. Therefore
it is concluded that those differences are to a large extent due to the fact that
the continuum parts of the specimen do not unload immediately at peak stress
hut remain contributing to the load-bearing capacity until unloading of these
parts starts at a certain level of post-peak displacement. As already
mentioned, the extent of this continuum contribution is thought to be highly
related to the properties of the aggregate-cement paste interfaces, thus also to
the degree of compaction of the material after casting. When taking this
continuum behaviour into account, as is done in Figure 88 and Figure 89, a
perfect localisation of deformations occurs.
In the case of uniaxial compression, Figure 80, differences in concrete
casting quality do not reveal themselves as strongly as in multiaxial testing
because the continuum strains are much smaller and hardly nonlinear. The
differences in the uniaxial post-peak stress-displacement curves seem to be
merely the result of not taking the actual post-peak continuum behaviour into
account, hut assuming linear unloading at peak stress. Though the continued
loading of the continuum right after peak stress is identical for all specimen
sizes in terms of stress-strain behaviour, this is not the case when converted
to stress-displacement behaviour. Therefore higher specimens show higher
stresses at displacements right after the peak.
98
1.0
0.8
50 mm specimen
....
'i"'
.Il: 0.6
100 mm specimen
lll
!.
b
.... OA
b
0.2
0.00 -OAO -0.80 -1.20 -1.60

w 1, local [mm]
Figure 88: Post-peak stress-deformation curves for plane strain experiments
(a/a1= 0.05) when actual continuum unloading behaviour is considered
1.0~
. '\
\
~\
0.8
f,
....
"';"'
\'',
.Il: 0.6 \ ', 50 mm specimen
l
b
- 0.4
,,
\" 1
',
200 mm specimens
\\'-,
'\ '·,,
0.2 \,
0 ~ ~ ~ 4 ~
w 1, local [mm]
Figure 89: Post-peak stress-deformation curves for plane strain experiments
(a/a 1 = 0.10) when actual continuum unloading behaviour is considered
99
6.3. Two-dimensional analytical model for shear cracks in plane strain

compression
An analytical model is developed, based on a recent model by Murakami and
Ohtani (1994], which is described in subsection 6.3.1. In subsection 6.3.2. the
adaptions are outlined that have been made to the Murakami model.
Subsection 6.3.3. shows some model results compared to laboratory
experiments and conclusions drawn from the model calculations.
The model is used to:
• obtain a better insight in the post-peak behaviour of concrete and the
processes that dominate the observed behaviour during that stage;
• investigate the sensitivity of concrete's post-peak behaviour to changes in
stress path;
• investigate the possibility of modelling macroscopie shear cracks
numerically using interface elements.
6.3.J. Murakami model

A simple two-dimensional analytical model for post-peak behaviour of
concrete has been developed by Murakami and Ohtani [1994], based on
experiments, in which always a localised shear crack developed that could be
interpreted as a 2D-ftacture, similar to the present plane strain experiments.
In the model the continuum parts of the specimen are assumed to be rigid
bodies, all deformations are assumed to take place within the macroscopie
shear cracks. A Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion is assumed for these shear
cracks, defined by a cohesion C and a friction coefficient µ at both peak
stress and a 'final stable stage' (residual stress level). This is shown in Figure
90.
The parameters C and µ are assumed to be linearly dependent on a damage
index a, which itself is dependent on the crack shear deformation, as shown
in Figure 91, together with the assumed distribution of shear strain along the
axis perpendicular to the shear crack. Note that in the figure B50 is the
mimimum width of the shear band (corresponding to zero confinement cr 1=0,
note that Murakami et al. denote the major compressive stress with cr3 and the
confining stress with cr 1 in Figure 90!) and mYt is the averaged shear strain
over the shear band width B5 .The tangential displacement öt within the shear
band is given by:
(Eq.2)
100
Residual strength criterion

't, = cfigal + µfinalO'n
Mohr-Coulomb's
fracture criterion
't' = cpeak + µpeak O' n
cpeak ~c~ciinal
f.\eaic $; µ < JJmai
Figure 90: Fai/ure and residual strength criterionfor macroscopie shear
cracks according to Murakami and Ohtani [1994]
in which B. is the shear band width (Figure 91) and ~ the nondimensional
width of the shear band i.e. B/Bso- From Equation 2 it follows that a is a
function of the shear displacement at.
At residual stress µ is larger than at peak: stress, because ~eak may be
dominated by friction between cement paste and aggregates in mesoscopic
cracks, whereas µfinai may be the result of interlocking between two sliding
surfaces (separation of crack surfaces, crushing of material). From the
experiments, in which the lateral compressive stress cr 1 is constant, Murak:ami
and Ohtani concluded that the residual strength is mainly dominated by
friction.
The angle of the shear band is assumed to be constant during the fracture
process:
(Eq. 3)
101
The ratio between normal and tangential displacements within the shear
band, on/01 , during the entire fracture process is assumed to be equal to the
ratio ön,finai/81,final and only dependent on the lateral compressive stress cr 1•
1.0
Bso mÎt final = 3.6 mm
\ "'".1.
:c B, ~ 0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
Shearband
Figure 91: Assumption ofshear strain distribution and the damage
parameter a as a fanction of the shear strain and shear band width
according to Murakami and Ohtani (1994]
6.3.2. Modified model

In the modified analytica! model the following assumptions are made:
Shear crack angle

The shear crack angle 0 is assurned to be constant: 25 degrees. Tuis shear
crack angle is based on the observed angle in the present plane strain
experiments.
Failure criterion
From three plane strain experiments on 100 mm cubes with different
confining stress cr3 (0.05, 0.10 and 0.15 times the major compressive stress cr 1
as shown in Figure 39) in which also a 2D fracture proces takes place, it is
found that the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion is only applicable for low
compressive stress levels. At higher stress levels Murakarni's model largely
overestimates both cr3 and cr 1 • See Figure 92. Note: to obtain these results
Murakarni's parameters were used, except the uniaxial compressive strength
which was taken as 37.5 MPa in order to fit the test with cr/cr1= 0.10 (while
the actual compressive strength of the concrete used was about 44 MPa).
102
' ' -- -- -Calculations according to

-200
" Murakami's model [1994)
" --Present test results
'
0'1 "
[MPa] " \
\
\
\
-100 \
\
\
" " ___

\
'-
0
2 4 6 8
W 1 [mm]
Figure 92: Comparison ofMurakami 's model, using a linear Mohr-Coulomb
failure surface with present plane strain test resu/ts (with conjining stresses
cr/cr1= 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15 /rom bottom to top respectively)
Therefore a curvilinear failure criterion has been assumed for the shear crack.
Tuis criterion is defined at peak and residual stress. During softening the
failure surface transforms from the state at peak stress to the state at residual
stress. The following failure surface is proposed by Bongers [1994]:
(Eq. 4)
in which a(;;::O) is related to the angle of friction, b(;;::l) is a measure for the
curvature of the failure surface and ~ is the tensile strength of the material. In
Figure 93 and Figure 94 the fits of Equation 4 to the three plane strain test
results mentioned are shown for both peak and residual stress. These fits have
been obtained graphically, not numerically. It will be shown that these fits
suffice for the purposes of the model.
103
-140
-120
-100
êi
~
-80 ~
/
/ - ~
-60 ~
0
--~
/ /
/
-----\- -40
/ I -20
I I
\
-200 -150 -100 -50 0
cr0 [MPal
Peak stress: a=0.2, b=l.4,J;=4 Nlmm 2 (Equation 4)
Figure 93: Bongers' curvilinear failure criterion used in the present model
(solid line) and Mohr 's stress cire/es at peak stress for three plane strain
experiments
-50
-40
";'
~
-30 ~
......
0
1:-..lf
-..: -20
/ ---
/ -10
I /-\-
1
-60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0
cr0 (MPa]
Residual stress: a=0.54, b=J.19,J;=O Nlmm 2 (Equation 4)
Figure 94: Bongers' curvilinear criterion at residual stress used in the
present model (solid line) and Mohr 's stress cire/es at residual stress for
three plane strain experiments
104
Softening parameter
The transformation of Bongers' criterion from peak to residual stress level is
defined by a softening parameter a, similar to the damage parameter used by
Murakami and Ohtani. The failure criterion parameters are chosen linearly
dependent on this damage parameter:
a =aa peak +(1-a )a final

b =abpeak +(1-a )bfinal (Eq. 5)
ft = aft,peak +(1-a )!t,fmal
with 0 :c:;; a :c:;; 1 (apeat = 1, afl1101 =0).
Unlike in the Murakami model, this parameter a is chosen dependent on both

the shear and normal displacements within the macroscopie crack (w1 and wn
respectively):
(Eq. 6)
From Equations 4 and 5 and the following equilibrium equations:
't t=-(er l -er 3)sin8 cose

(Eq. 7)
er n =cr1 sin 2 e +cr3 cos 2 e
in which 0 is the angle of the shear band, as well as the values for a, b and ~
from Figure 93 and Figure 94, the following implicit relation between a and
cr 1can be derived:
J
(4a -er 1(sin 2e + rcos 2 e))0.2la+l.l9
.
-cr1(1-r)sm0 cose = -034a +054 (Eq. 8)
in which ris the stress ratio cr/cr 1. Equation 8 is used to evaluate the three
plane strain test results to find the relationship between a and the shear crack
displacements. From this evaluation it appeared that the softening parameter
a in all cases is the same function of K, as can be seen in Figure 95.
105
0 2 4 6
K =w n + w t [mm]
Figure 95: Softening parameter a. as a function of total macroscopie crack
displacements for three different plane strain tests and curve fit (thick line)
The following curve fit is used:
(-4soo( ;J J
5
K < 25mm: a =e
(Eq. 9)
K:;:: 25mm:
In this case it proved to be easier to use these two functions instead of trying
to find one function describing the entire curve ofFigure 95.
Coupling ofstresses and displacements

In the Murakami model the ratio between the shear band displacements on/ot
(in the present model denoted as w/w1) is assumed to be equal to the ratio
On,finalöt,final during the entire fracture process and dependent only on the
lateral compressive stress. Though -using this assumption- good results were
obtained with the Murakami model, simulating experiments with constant
106
lateral stress, this relation between macroscopie stresses and displacements

appeared to be insufficient in the case of varying confining stress. Therefore
in the modified model a more detailed relationship is formulated, in which
the ratio w/w1 is directly related to the ratio cr/cr 1• Tuis assumption seems
valid, because the dilatant behaviour of the macro-crack seems mainly
dependent on the ratio of normal and shear stress acting in the crack zone. A
coupling between wn and w1 in three stages is assumed during the softening
proces, depending on the stress ratio r=cr/cr 1:
Stage 1:
Awn 1
wn s (0.20+r): ---
Awt 1 + lO*r
1 (Eq. 10)
Stae;e 2:
wn > (0.20+r)andw, s (l.6-2r): Awn = 1.1

Aw,
(Eq. 11)
~ wn = wn,end ofstagel + l.l(w, - wt,end ofstagei>
Stage 3:
w, > (1.6- 2r): Awn = 1-3r

Aw,
(Eq. 12)
~ w n = wn, end of stage2 + (1- 3r)( w, - w,. end of stage2)
in which ris again the stress ratio cr/cr1• These relations between shear and
normal displacement are shown in Figure 96.
Calculation ofstresses and deformations

The transformation from stresses and deformations within the shear crack to
specimen displacements can be obtained from a simple geometrical
calculation, see Figure 97.
From the geometry of the cracked specimen, the following relationships can
be derived:
107
~ ~
3 /
()"
{
)
<::)' /
t:::JJ'
" / /
//
/
()•
""' / 6 ~/
ó /
6 ' / 6 " "

'
I
".J;
'
/
"?: / / /
ó 7 / 6 ">
-E
E
-
.......
==
1
0
0 1 2 3
w n [mm]
Figu,re 96: Shear versus nonna/ displacement observed in three plane strain
experiments (solid lines) and Equations 9-11 used in the present model
(dashed lines)
Wn = -W1 sin0 -W3 COS0

wt = w1 cos0 - w3 sin0 (Eq.13)
in which 0 is the angle of the shear band. In Equation 13 the nurnber of

macroscopie cracks (n) as shown in Figure 97 is not taken into account
because here the total crack displacements are calculated. Similar equations
for the specimen and shear crack stresses have already been shown in
Equation 7.
108
6.3.3. Model results
In Figure 98 the results from the calculations with cr/cr 1=0.05, 0.10 and 0.15
are shown, compared to the experimental results on 100 mm cubes. Of
course, since these three experiments have been used to determine the model
parameters, the calculation results fit the experimental curves quite well.
0'1
--+-
W3/n
Figure 97: Shear crack and specimen stresses and deformations (n
designates the number of macroscopie shear cracks, in the case of 100 mm
cubes in plane strain experiments n=2)
However, the validity of the model assumptions, in particular the relationship

between wn and w1 depending on the stress ratio cr3/cr 1, in fact depending on
the normal and shear stresses acting at the macroscopie crack (this will be
discussed further in the next section), can be confirmed by tests with other
(e.g. constant) confining stresses.
As will be outlined in more detail in the next chapter, besides proportional
tests experiments have been carried out with non-proportional post-peak
stress ratio's. In Figure 99 through Figure 103 some model calculations are
shown for loading paths with other post-peak stress ratio's, compared to
experimental results. Only in two cases significant deviations from the
experimental results are found: in Figure 101 and Figure 102 a higher peak
stress is found in the model calculation.
109
-200
4 2 0 -2 -4
w3 [mm] w 1 [mm]
Figu,re 98: Calculated (dashed lines) and measured (solid lines) stress-
displacement curves for three proportional plane strain experiments on 100
mm cubes
But the observed deviations in peak stress can be explained easily. As already
mentioned in Chapter 4 and in the previous section the casting batch, from
which the three proportional tests on 100 mm cubes were taken, appeared to
be of a quality different from the other batches, resulting in higher peak
stresses than in the case of the other batches, see also Figure 41. Because the
failure criterion of the modified model has been fit to those proportional tests,
all peak stresses calculated in Figure 99 through Figure 103 are
overestimated. The fact that this only leads to significant differences between
model and experimental results in the case of constant confining stress can be
explained using Figure 105. Tuis figure qualitatively shows the shape of the
mean failure surface of concrete as observed in plane strain compression (see
110
Chapter 6: Loca/isation of deformations in macroscopie cracks
Van GeeJ [1995b]), as well as some possible test results corresponding to that
mean failure surface. Furthermore, a statistica} distribution of the test results
is shown. Suppose that some specimens show peak stresses that are larger
than those corresponding to the mean failure surface, like the three
proportional tests used to fit the model. Then it is obvious that the observed
difference in peak stress in the major principal stress direction between these
tests and tests with a 'mean' peak stress is dependent on the stress path
follow ed. Figure 105 shows why for experiments with constant confining
stress (like in Figure 101 and Figure 102), denoted by 'stress path 1' in the
figure, this difference is larger than for experiments with a post-peak stress
ratio of dcr3=-dcr 1 (like in Figure 100 and Figure 103), labelled 'stress path 2'
in the figure.
-120
00
-80
'ëi
~
~
-60
-40
-
.........
b
-20
3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3
w 3 [mm] w 1 [mm]
Figure 99: Experimental (so/id lines) and model results (dashed lines) fora
100 mm cube loaded with post-peak stress ratio dcr 3 =-0.25*dcr1 (this means
that during the softening process cr3 increases) starting at cr 1 =-105 MPa
111
-100
-80 ~
b
-60
3 2 1 0
W3 [mm)
Figure 100: Experimental (solid lines) and model results (dashed lines) fora
100 mm cube loaded with post-peak stress ratio do3=-do1 ( again o3
increases during the softeningprocess) starting at 0 1 =~96 MPa
'
,....., ''
-80 <1S
t:I...
:E
"-
.......
-60
-40
-20
t--~~-t-~~-r~~~t--~~-;---~~-+-~~~1
3 2 1 0 -1 -3
w 3 [mm]
100 mm cube loaded with post-peak constant lateral stress of o1 =-13 MPa,
starting at 0 1 =-113 MPa
112
-160
"-140
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20 1
3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3
w3 [mm] w1 [mm]
100 mm cube loaded with post-peak constant lateral stress ofcr3 =-20 MPa,
starting at cr1=-l 35 MPa
-140
." ......
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -3
W3 [mm) w
1 [mm]
100 mm cube loaded with post-peak stress ratio dcr3 =-dcr1 (again cr3
increases during the softening process) starting at cr1=-134 MPa
113
Probability distribution of test results

'
Mean failure surface
(Acr1)1 cr 1
Figure 104: Two-dimensional representation of the injluence ofdifferences
in specimen strength due to the quality ofspecimen preparation when
following different stress paths
The model appears to describe the experimental results quite well. In the first
place this means that the assumed behaviour of macroscopie shear cracks,
being composed of a varying failure surface dependent on the normal and
tangential displacements in a shear crack, leads to a satisfactory description
of concrete's post-peak behaviour. When comparing the shapes of the
(w1,wn)-curves used in the model (Figure 96) to the evolution of macroscopie
cracks in Figure 76 and Figure 79, it can be seen that in the model it is also
assumed that there is a dominance of 'sliding' (shear) displacements during
the final stage of the softening curve (stage 3 in the model) and a relatively
larger importance of normal crack displacements (opening of shear cracks)
during the steep part of the softening curve (stage 2). The validity of these
assumptions is confirmed by the calculation results in Figure 99 through
Figure 103, where different (post-peak) stress paths are described with
satisfactory accuracy. Comparing the results of the analytica! model with the
experimental results, hearing in mind the origin of the deviations found, it
can be said that the simple way of modelling shear cracks as is done here
indicates that discrete modelling of macroscopie shear cracks in finite
element models is an acceptable approximation. Within the range of
experiments at hand, it is shown that different post-peak stress paths can be
simulated by the model without adjustment of model parameters, indicating
114
that a similar fracture mechanism occurs independent of the loading path.

Furthermore, the model shows that this post-peak failure mechanism is
highly insensitive to variations in the followed pre-peak loading path, even
though in some of the simulated experiments large inelastic displacements
occur. Tuis will be discussed further in the next chapter.
One should bear in mind, considering the results from section 6.1., that in
fact the macroscopie cracks are not formed completely until an advanced
stage of softening. In the model these cracks are assumed to have been
completely formed already at peak stress. The model actually describes the
behaviour of the completely developed macroscopie cracks instead of the
behaviour as a result of both formation and development of these cracks, hut
this simplification of observed behaviour seems to be valid when comparing
experimental and analytical results.
In a sophisticated numerical model several conditions should be taken into
account that have been neglected in this section for the sake of the simplicity
of the model. In this chapter, 'material behaviour' is determined from plane
strain experiments with teflon loading platens and the results are only
compared for this type of tests. In a numerical model, discrete crack elements
should be able to describe macroscopie crack behaviour regardless of loading
and boundary conditions. Secondly, the unloading behaviour of the
continuum as shown in section 6.2. bas not been taken into account in the
model. All post-peak specimen deformations have been assumed to take
place within the macroscopie cracks. However, incorporating post-peak
continuum behaviour would mostly influence the shape of stage 1 in the
(w1,wn)-curves (Figure 96). This would mean only a slight adaption of the
modified model. Finally, the analytica! model only considers the case of 100
mm cubical specimens. This means that only one crack pattem and one
macroscopie crack length have been taken into account.
6.4. Some general considerattons about macroscopie cracks

In Figure 105 a qualitative overview is given of shear versus normal
displacement curves of macroscopie cracks. The curves at cr/t1 = -0.76, -
0.61 and -0.47 are the curves of the three plane strain compression tests used
to fit the analytica! model in the previous section.
According to this diagram the shear- versus normal displacement curve is
highly dependent on the ratio of normal and shear stress, if this ratio is
relatively small (about lcr n I t 1 1< 1). As the modulus of the ratio of normal
and shear stress increases, the magnitude of the displacements in both
115
directions decreases and differences in the shear- versus normal displacement

curve become smaller and smaller. In the compression!shear region this is
due to an increasing normal compressive stress acting on a crack surface,
obstructing the development of both opening and shear displacements within
the crack. In the tensile/shear region this is due to an acceleration of
macroscopie tensile failure. Furthermore, differences in the tension/shear-
region are thought to be smaller than differences in the compressionlshear
region. Tuis can for example be observed when comparing uniaxial and
biaxial tensile tests on concrete specimens: in the shape of the descending
branch of these two tests hardly any differences can be noticed.
~
Compression/shear
3 t
Shear/Ten si on
Compression 0
0 1
CJn/'Ct= +et:)
Tension
Figure 105: Qualitative representation of the relation between shear and

normal displacements within a macroscopie crack under varying stress states
As can be distinguished in Figure 39, the post-peak stress-displacement
curves are somewhat more brittle for specimens loaded with higher confining
stresses. In general, brittleness is directly related to the homogeneity of the
116
material. It seems that a larger lateral (macroscopie) confining stress results

in a more homogeneous mesoscopic stress distribution (see also Bongers
[1998b]). Furthermore, if the assumption is made that dilatancy is merely the
result of the fact that macroscopie shear cracks have to go around the
aggregates, this behaviour implicates that at higher confining stresses the
macroscopie cracks have to be less tortuous. At a high level of confinement,
this can only be achieved when these macroscopie cracks do not go around
the aggregates but go through them. With increasing confining stress, crack
propagation through the aggregates instead of around them could be a less
energy-demanding failure mode, dependent on the size, mutual distance and
strength (related to the strength of the bond zone and cement paste) of the
aggregate grains (Bongers [ l 998b]). Macroscopie cracking through the
aggregates has been observed to occur at higher confining stress levels in the
present experiments. In Figure 106 the difference between cracking at low
and high confining stress is depicted schematically.
ooo
0
Figure 106 : Different crack mechanisms at different levels of confining

stress. Left: at low confining stress macroscopie cracks generally jind their
way around the aggregates, right: at high confining stress macroscopie
cracks more often run through the aggregates
Figure 105 shows that with increasing confining stress smaller normal
deformations occur. Tuis means that macroscopie cracks in tests with higher
confinement have to be less open. Note that the macroscopie cracks in an
experiment with higher confining stress as shown in Figure 107 are also
clearly less wide than in the case of a test with lower confining stress, see
Figure 77.
117
Chapter 6: Loca/isation ofdeformations in macroscopie cracks
Figure 107: Ultriaviolet photograph ofa specimen loaded in plane strain

conjiguration with cr/a 1=0.15
In Figure 109 close-up photographs are shown of specimens loaded with

higher confining stresses, clearly showing fracture through the aggregates.
Figure 108 indicates at what locations on the specimen surfaces these
photographs were taken.
1,5,6
2,3
Figure 108: Indication of the locations of the photographs shown in Figure
109 on 100 mm cubes loaded in plane strain conjiguration with cr/cr /=0.15
118
Figure 109: Examples of cracks running through the aggregates in plane

strain experiments with cr /cr /=0.15
119
Chapter 7: lnjluence of damage /rom previous loading
7. Influence of damage from previous loading

In section 2.3. it was already outlined that it is not yet clear whether damage
inflicted to the concrete specimens in the pre-peak region of compression
tests has a significant influence on the material' s stress-deformation
behaviour or not. In this context the term 'damage' compromises all
irreversible deformations at mesoscopic level within a specimen, e.g.
crushing and cracking within the aggregate-cement paste interfaces, cracks
through the cement paste or through the aggregates, wbich result in the
nonlinear pre-peak stress-deformation behaviour. On the macroscopie scale
'damage' consists of irreversible deformations within macroscopie cracks in
the post-peak stage of loading. An increase in damage in general therefore
means an increase of the irreversible deformations within those zones and
cracks, be it at the meso- or macroscopie level due to, for example, continued
shear or tensile action effects in the zones of the cracks. A classification of
types of damage occurring in multiaxial compression tests is developed in
this chapter.
In the past most researchers have examined the influence of damage
evolution on macroscopie concrete behaviour by following different stress
paths up to peak stress and then comparing differences in the peak stress
values corresponding to the different types of stress paths. An example of this
was already shown in Figure 8. However, it is also important to know if and
how damage, already inflicted to the material in an earlier stage of loading,
influences its deformational behaviour and, especially with respect to the
safety of structures, its post-peak load hearing capacity. Therefore not only
the effect of the load history on peak stress should be examined, but the
effect on the stress-deformation behaviour as a whole.
The behaviour of a material is said to be 'loading path dependent' in the
present research if the macroscopie stress-deformation behaviour of the
material changes significantly when the load history of the specimen alters.
In this case 'load history' refers to the loading states, i.e. (quasi)static stresses
or deformations, the material bas been subjected to during it's lifetime.
Dynamic loadings and changes in material behaviour due to shrinkage, creep
and different temperatures are not included here. Loading path dependent
behaviour is closely related with physical and geometrical nonlinearities.
Because of the large pre-peak nonlinear deformations occurring in
multiaxially loaded concrete, loading path dependent behaviour is likely to
occur in concrete even before macroscopie cracks have been initiated.
120
Chapter 7: Influence ofdamage from previous loading
Load histories can be defined in stress space or in deformation (strain or

displacement) space. For several reasons, it is easier to define loading paths
in stress space. Firstly, absolute values of stresses are much easier to interpret
than those of deformations. A positive stress for example is definitely a
tensile loading, while a positive specimen deformation (be it displacement or
strain) in a certain direction might be accompanied by a compressive stress in
that direction. Besides, after peak stress deformations tend to localize in a
limited number of macroscopic cracks as shown in the previous chapter. The
specimen then can be regarded as a discontinuum, whose behaviour is
govemed by displacements instead of strains, as is the case before peak stress
is reached. This means that stress-deformation behaviour is dependent on the
specimen size in the pre-peak region if it is regarded in terms of
displacements, and in the post-peak region if regarded in terms of strains.
Therefore the easiest way to detect loading path dependent behaviour is to
carry out different loading paths in stress space and then to compare the
deformations of the specimens at loading path intersections in stress space. In
the present research this is done in an exhaustive plane strain test program
which will be discussed in section 7.1., where (per specimen size)
displacements at stress path intersections have been compared. This is shown
schematically in Figure 110.
,WA =Wa?
\
)
"......./Stress Path B
·-------~ O'l
Figure 110: Two-dimensional representation of comparing deformations at a
stress path intersection
121
Chapter 7: Injluence ofdamage from previous loading
In section 7 .2. a different approach to unveil loading path dependency is

chosen: specimens are loaded in uniaxial, plane strain and triaxial
compression after they first have been subjected to different types of pre-
loading. It will be shown that due to these pre-loadings significant loading
path dependent behaviour can occur. In section 7.3. results from the
experiments carried out are considered more closely and the influence of
damage inflicted to the material at the mesoscopic level, in particular
cracking at the aggregate-cement paste interfaces, on stress-deformation
behaviour is emphasised. Two different mesoscopic damage mechanisms,
softening and strengthening of aggregate-cement paste interfaces, appear to
be the main causes of loading path dependency observed. In section 7.4. a
macroscopie interpretation of these mesoscopic darnage mechanisms is
undertaken.
Lastly, in section 7.5. the influence of combinations of meso- and
macroscopie darnage, i.e. macroscopie cracks, is analysed.
7.1. Plane strain test program
The above idea of comparing deformations at stress path intersections has

been carried out in a plane strain test program. In this program proportional
tests are carried out at stress ratios (cr/cr 1) of 5, 10, 15, 25 and 50%.
Furthermore the test program consists of two 'random', two 'deviatoric' and
two '25%' tests, which will be described further on. Identical stress paths
have been followed per specimen size. This is shown in Figure 111 in the
case of 100 mm cubes. In this figure the stress path intersections where both
pre- and post-peak deformations have been compared are denoted by 'A' and
'B'. Pre-peak deformations have been compared at all other path
intersections.
Figure 112 shows stress-displacement results for three different stress paths
(100 mm cubes). In the 'deviatoric' test initially a stress path is followed
according to cr3=cr 1• From a certain stress point -defined in advance- this
stress ratio is changed in dcr3=-dcr 1, which is maintained until the end of the
test. As can be seen in Figure 112, the steep softening branch as observed in
the proportional tests disappears in a 'deviatoric' test. The failure behaviour
observed has changed from a very brittle one into a quite ductile one, due to
the stress ratio imposed on the specimen. Tuis is a result of the increase in
confining stress in axis 3 when peak stress bas been passed and cr 1 decreases,
hindering the formation of the final macro-crack pattem. Though the major
and minor principal stresses (cr 1 and cr3) were kept equal very precisely in the
122
Chapter 7: Influence of damage from previous loading
first stage of these 'deviatoric' tests, in all tests the displacement in the 3-
direction was not exactly equal to the displacement in the 1-direction. lt is
not clear whether this is a result of the loading conditions (the orthogonality,
parallellism and the positions of the loading platens were checked regularly)
or of the way in which the specimens were casted or prepared. In the
intermediate stress direction (axis 2) no descending branch bas been observed
at all in 'deviatoric' tests. The experiments denoted with '25% tests' are very
similar to these 'deviatoric' tests: in these tests initially a stress path is
followed according to cr3=0.25*cr 1• From a certain stress point -defined in
advance- this stress ratio is changed in dcr3=-0.25*dcr 1, which is maintained
until the end of the test.
Proportional tests 'Random' tests

-100 'Devlatoric' tests '25%'test
l
!. C")
-50
t?
o~,~~~~===-r--,-----.--------.---~
0 -40 -80 -120 -160 -200
O' [MPa]
1
Figure 111: Plane strain stress path test program
The 'random' test stress paths consist of several linear branches, in which
either cr 1 or cr3 is kept constant. Before reaching the failure surface, cr3 is kept
constant until the end of the test. As expected, the steepness of the
descending branch of the stress-displacement curve lies somewhere between
that of the proportional and the deviatoric test (in the random tests cr3 is kept
constant after the peak while in the proportional and deviatoric tests this
stress decreases respectively increases).
123
Chapter 7: Injluence of damage from previous loading
In Figure 112, stress path intersection 'B' (see Figure 111) is indicated in the
case of 100 mm cubical specimens. In this graph no '25%' test is shown
because this type of test was not carried out at stress path intersection B.
Similar graphs have been produced for stress point A, also for the other
specimen sizes. See [Van Geel, 1995b] for more details. From these graphical
comparisons one could conclude that there is not much difference between
the deformation results of the different stress paths at the examined stress
path intersections.
-200
-160
B
ca
Q.
-120
:&
......
et?.
T"'
b -80
Proportional test
- 'Deviatoric' test
'Random' test
4 2 0 -2 -4 -6
w , [mm]
13
Figure 112: Comparison of different stress paths at a stress path intersection
124
Chapter 7: Injluence of damage /rom previous loading
Only some proportional paths showed larger deformations than the non-
proportional paths. The reason for the deviation of these proportional tests
might be found in the essential difference between these tests and the others:
the proportional test is the only test in which from the start of the test positive
deformations in the 3-axis occur. In the other tests always the initially
developed negative deformations have to be counterbalanced first, in order to
reach the positive deformations in the 3-direction necessary to form the
macroscopie crack pattem. However, when comparing the peak stresses of
the deviating proportional paths, originating from the same casting batch (see
also Figure 41 ), it is found that these tests show a larger peak stress,
accompanied by larger deformations than expected. It is therefore suspected
that the observed deviations are caused primarily by differences in the quality
of specimen preparation instead ofloading path dependent behaviour.
-6
•
-4
•
••
. . Wu [mm]
(proportional tests)
2
0 - - - - - Line x = y
.·o
o w3. 50mm specimens a w1, 50mm specimens
4
• w3, 100mm specimens • w1, 100mm specimens
• w3, 200mm specimens • w1. 200mm specimens

6
6 4 2 0 -2 -4 -6
Figure 113: Comparison ofdisplacements ofproportional and 'random'

plane strain tests at all stress path intersections (Van Geel [1995b])
Figure 113 shows a comparison of measured displacements, compared for

two different stress paths at every stress path intersection. In this graph the
displacement of one stress path is displayed on the horizontal axis, the
displacement of the other stress path on the vertical axis. If no loading path
125
Chapter 7: Injluence of damage /rom previous loading
dependency would exist at all (and if no material variations would exist at

all), all data points would be situated on the line x=y. Thus, the distance
between the data points and the line x=y provides an indication of the
phenomenon of loading path dependency. These comparisons have been
carried out for all types of tests and for all specimen sizes [Van Geel, 1995b].
Again, the only trend that might exist is that the proportional tests show
larger displacements in both directions when compared to other stress paths.
However, this trend is not very clear to distinguish and could even be
rejected when comparing the displacement w1 of the proportional and the
•random' paths in Figure 113.
Deviations between several stress paths might very likely originate from
variations in material properties, like peak strength, due to the variability
(heterogeneity) of concrete and from variations in specimen preparation.
Furthermore, the large running-in effects due to the presence of the
teflon/grease intermediate layer might have their effects on the material
response (e.g. the stress in the intermediate direction). Finally some
difficulties are encountered when handling the measured data, like curve-
fitting initia} parts of stress-displacement curves.
When considering all these factors that can have a significant influence on
the observed displacements, it is remarkable that the differences in Figure
113 are as small as they are. From these test results the occurrence of
significant loading path dependent behaviour of concrete can therefore not be
confirmed. As will be shown in the next section, more extreme types of
loading paths have to be applied to reveal a behaviour as such.
7:1.. Pre-loading experiments
7.2.1. lnfluence ofmacroscopie damage

To gain more clarity about whether or not significant loading path
dependency occurs, some experiments are carried out in which a pre-loading
is applied. From Van Mier's rotation tests it is clear that loading path
dependency does exist: peak stress can decrease significantly if a specimen is
pre-loaded into the post-peak region in one direction and consequently
loaded in a direction perpendicular to the previous loading direction. Tuis
loading path dependency is then the result of the presence of macroscopie
cracks and occurs only when these cracks are oriented in a favourable
position for further growth under the subsequent loading. Some multiaxial
tests have been carried out in the present research to confirm these
observations. Figure 114 shows a plane strain rotation experiment (w2=0) in
126
which initially axis 3 is the major principal stress direction and the specimen
is loaded with cr/cr3 = -0.05/-1. Right after peak stress, the major principal
stress direction is rotated to axis 1 and the specimen is subsequently loaded
with cr/cr1 = -0.05/-L It can be seen in this figure that the macroscopie
behaviour after rotation of the principal loading axis has barely changed. A
new V-shaped macroscopie crack pattern is formed in a direction
perpendicular to the direction of the V-pattern initiated during the first
loading. Tuis confirms the observation by Van Mier, that macroscopie
cracks, located unfavourably for further growth under subsequent loading, do
not affect the macroscopie stress-deformation behaviour significantly.
Even in a triaxial rotation experiment with cr2 = cr3 = -10 MPa as shown in
Figure 115, pre-loaded with axis 2 as principal loading axis (cr 1 = cr3 = -10
MPa), the stress-deformation behaviour is hardly influenced by the pre-
loading. Tuis means that even when the macroscopie cracks (initiated before
rotation of the loading axes) are located favourably for further growth, the
material bas to be subjected to loading further into the softening region than
is done in this triaxial test to have a significant influence on the behaviour
after rotation.
Likewise, the response in plane strain experiments (no rotation of loading
axes) seems hardly affected by macroscopie damage inflicted in the post-
peak regime in a uniaxial test (Figure 117).
7.22. Intluence ofmesosoopic damage
lt may be clear that even when significant macroscopie cracking bas occurred
within a specimen, this severe damage might not influence the behaviour of
the specimen in a consecutive loading. Whereas macroscopie cracks have a
distinct orientation with respect to the loading directions and therefore can be
of small influence in some loading cases, concrete's size-independent pre-
peak crushing and cracking at the mesoscopic level is arranged more
distributedly throughout the specimen and might therefore -if the extent of
this mesoscopic damage is large enough- influence the material behaviour
regardless of the loading case.
Following this line of thought a number of experiments has been carried out
in which the specimens are pre-loaded hydrostatically, so that relatively large
pre-peak deformations occur and thus a substantial amount of mesoscopic
damage is introduced in the specimen. Figure 116 shows the results of
uniaxial experiments pre-loaded triaxially up to three different lèvels of
hydrostatic stress.
127
Chapter 7: /nfluence of damage /rom previous loading
-200 l
1 \
4 0 -4
w , [mm]
13
Regular plane strain test (CJ t cr

3 1
0.15) =
Plane strain rotation test
-60
2 0 -2 -4 -6
w [mm]
1
Figure 114: Result of a plane strain rotation test compared toa regular
plane strain test with cr/cr1 = 0.15
128
Chapter 7: Jnjluence of damage from previous loading
-120
'ëi' Regular triaxial test (cr lat= -10 MPa)
ll.
Triaxial rotation test
.....
:E
b -
""!.
-80 J
/
,
,,.. ,.... -......... -
-40
• w
w
2
1
- cr
- cr
2
1
(before rotation)
(after rotation)
f
2 0 -2 -4 -6
w 1,2 [mm]
'E'
.5.
CW)
N'
~ 4
/
//
' r'
,/
2
t'
,,< -
I
I
,,.-
-- /
-2
w
1
[mm]
-4 -8
Figure 115: Result of a triaxial rotation test compared to a triaxial test with
cr2 = cr3 = -10 MPa
129
Chapter 7: lnfluence ofdamage from previous loading
The effect of increasing the level of hydrostatic pre-loading on uniaxial peak

stress is a very clear example of loading path dependent behaviour, though
not very surprising: due to the in some cases relatively large triaxial pre-
loading the specimen is damaged quite severely at the mesoscopic level.
During subsequent uniaxial loading macroscopie failure is reached at an
earlier stage of loading because continuous cracks are easily formed via the
mesoscopic cracks created during pre-loading. The decrease of initial
stiffness with increase of pre-loading can be explained by the closure again
of the crushed zones at the mesoscopic level, created during the first loading
and opened during unloading.
It is very striking that the difference between the experiments with pre-
loading levels of -92 and -132 MPa is quite large, while the difference
between the experiments with levels of -132 and -192 MPa is much smaller.
Obviously most damage is induced within the former range of hydrostatic
stress. Tuis damage rnight consist of the formation of shear and tensile cracks
at the mesoscopic level, while the damage induced at higher hydrostatic
stress might be characterised by further development of mesoscopic cracks
already formed before.
-40
Regular uniaxial test
Uniaxlal test after hydrostatlc
'Il"" -30 pre... oading up to -92 MPa
b Uniaxial test after hydrostatlc
pre-loadlng up to -132 MPa
Uniaxial test after hydrostatic
-20
pre-loadlng up to -192 MPa
-10
0 --+--------.-------__._,..--------1
0.00 -0.50 -1.00 "1.so
w 1 [mm]
Figure 116: Uniaxial experiments after triaxial pre-loading
130
Chapter 7: Injluence of damage from previous loading
-160
-. ~"
··.. " '•,
6 4 2 0 -2 -4 -6
w 3 [mm] w [mm]
1
Regular proportional plane strain tests
Plane strain test with er 3 I er 1 =0.05 after uniaxial pre-loading 1

Plane strain test with er Ier =0.15 after uniaxial pre-loading 2
3 1
-40 -
0 End of uniaxial pre-loading 1 (cr
1
=-39 MPa)
.... \
CIS
-
Q.
:E
.....
-20 - I End of uniaxial pre-loading 2 (cr
1
=-25 MPa]
b
'
I
0 1 1
0.0 -0.5 -1.0

w 1 [mm]
Figure 117: Plane strain tests after uniaxial pre-loading
131
Regular proportional plane &train test (cr I cr = 0.05)

3 1
Plane strain test (cr 1er = 0.05) after plane straln pre-loading up to cr = cr = -92 MPa
3 1 3 1
Plane strain test (Cl' Ier 1 = 0.05) after plane strain pre-loading up to er = er = -132 MPa
3 3 1
Plane straln test (er
3
1cr
1
= 0.05) after plane &train pre-loading up to cr = cr
3 1
=-192 MPa
-200 l
l'
' ....
1 b
-160 l •
,,
•
'"1
2 1 0 -1 -2 -3
w [mm) w [mm]
3 1
-20
w [mm]
1
Figure 118: Plane strain tests after plane strain pre-loading compared to a
regular plane strain 5% proportional test
132
Chapter 7: Jnjluence ofdamage /rom previous /oading
Figure 118 shows the results of three plane strain tests with stress ratio
cr/cr1= -0.05/-1, pre-loaded similarly to the uniaxial tests discussed above.
Note that for practical reasons the pre-loading in this case has in fact not been
hydrostatically but plane strain with stress ratio cr3=cr 1• This figure shows that
the effect of pre-loading is completely different from that in the uniaxial case.
Instead of a decrease an increase in peak stress is observed. The stiffness
during the reloading branch of the stress-deformation curve is also greater
than the initial stiffness. Similar results have been obtained for triaxial tests
with lateral confinements of cr2=a3= -3 and-10 MPa (an example is shown in
Figure 119) with varying levels of hydrostatic pre-loading.
Regular triaxial test with er 2 =er 3 =-3 MPa

Triaxial test with er 2 =er 3 =-3 MPa
after hydrostatic pre-loading up to -132 MPa
-150
/ ,'1
/
-100
'ii' /
,
a..
!.
b - -50
/
!. '
, '1
"-....
0 -2 -4 -6
w [mm]
1
Figure 119: Axia/ stress-displacement curve ofa triaxial test with a 2 =a3 = -3
MPa after hydrostatic pre-loading compared to a similar triaxial test without
pre-loading
133
Clearly the damage induced during pre-loading does not have the negative
effect during consecutive plane strain loading as observed in consecutive
uniaxial loading. This increase in peak stress cannot be explained by the
higher intermediate principle stress at the start of reloading (see Figure 118,
cr2-w1 diagram) because this higher stress would merely accelerate failure in
the minor principal stress direction. Furthermore it seems logical to think that
the negative deformations, that initially develop in the minor principle stress
direction during pre-loading, can only have their effect on the magnitude of
deformations at peak stress instead of on the peak stresses themselves.
Therefore it is concluded that besides the way in which damage at the
mesoscopic level causes the reduction in peak stress in the case of uniaxial
loading after pre-loading, there must be a different phenomenon with an
advantageous effect in the case of a multiaxial loading-unloading-reloading
cycle as shown in the experiments.
7.3. Loading path dependency due to damage at the mesoscopic level
From the experiments described in the preceding sections and the results
obtained previously by Van Mier [1984] it appears that two types of loading
path dependency can be distinguished in the case of concrete behaviour:
1. Loading path dependency related to macroscopie damage. This is the case
when a specimen is loaded until localisation of deformations is initiated
and hence a macroscopie failure crack pattern has been formed. More
generally this means loading beyond peak stress, like in the described
rotation experiments. If the macroscopie cracks are situated in such
directions that they can develop easily under further loading and if they
already have developed sufficiently, the macroscopie stress-deformation
behaviour will be dependent on the already present amount of damage by
the macrocracks. This type of loading path dependency bas been
described earlier in section 7.2.1.
2. Loading path dependency related to mesoscopic damage. If no
macroscopie failure pattem has been initiated (pre-peak loading), an other
type of loading path dependency can occur. This dependency is then
caused by distributed damage at the mesoscopic level This type of
loading path dependency is only observed if a specimen has been
subjected to relatively high multiaxial compressive stresses. Tuis has been
shown in section 7.2.2.
In the following this loading path dependency related to mesoscopic damage
will be discussed.
134
Chapter 7: lnjluence ofdamage from previous loading
Strengthening effect due to mesoscopic damage

Mesoscopic loading path dependency occurs, if a specimen is subjected to a
relatively large multiaxial compressive stress state. From both plane strain
and triaxial tests pre-loaded multiaxially (pre-peak pre-loading), it is found
that the peak stress increases with increasing levels of compressive pre-
loading. Obviously, a mesoscopic strengthening effect develops when
applying high multiaxial compressive pre-peak loads.
It has generally been accepted, that the aggregate-cement paste interface
forms the weakest link in concrete specimens for low and medium strengths.
Larbi [ 1991] showed that the interfacial zone around aggregates bas a
thickness of about 50 µm and occupies quite a large part of the total cement
paste volume (30 to 50%). Bourdette et al. (1995] furthermore showed that
this transition zone is very porous. Therefore it seems incorrect to assume
that this interface is a surface that is only damaged under tensile or shear
loading: one could assume that the transition zone volume can be deformed
also under compressive loading.
Figure 120: UV-Photographs of 100 mm specimens tested in plane strain

configuration at lower (left, 5%) and higher (right, 15%) confining stress.
Figure 120 shows two photographs taken from 100 mm cubes, loaded (plane
strain) proportionally according to cr3/cr 1=0.10 (left) and cr/cr1=0.15 (right).
These photographs are taken at the end of the softening branch. Besides the
macroscopie crack patterns the difference in amount of mesoscopic damage
between both tests is clearly visible. It should be mentioned that in these
pictures only cracks in contact with the outer specimen surfaces are visible.
Closer inspection of the mesoscopic cracks showed, that the aggregate-
cement paste interfaces perpendicular to the direction of major principal
135
Chapter 7: lnjluence ofdamage /rom previous loading
stress are often heavily damaged, especially in the zone around the
macrocracks (shear band). From Figure 120 it is obvious that this amount of
damage is larger in the case of higher lateral stress.
Figure 121 shows an example of a damaged aggregate-cement paste
interface, taken from Figure 120. It is postulated that interfaces, as shown in
Figure 121, are damaged during loading due to a compressive load
('crushing') and tend to open during unloading.
Figure 121: Microscope photograph of compressive interface damage
This crushing effect might account for:

• larger nonlinearities at higher multiaxial compressive stress levels;
• the observed initial plastic volume compaction in compressive
experiments;
• a strengthening effect leading to a loading path dependency related to
mesoscopic damage only.
It is believed that this type of damage is the primary cause of the
strengthening behaviour observed in multiaxial compressive experiments on
concrete. Therefore this effect can be regarded as mesoscopic hardening.
Closure and collapse of the pore system, indicated by Bazant et al. [ 1986] to
be the major cause of nonlinearities in hydrostatic tests, seems to take place
primarily within the aggregate-cement paste transition zone.
Considering the stress-deformation behaviour of multiaxial compressive
tests, the crushing of the transition zone seems to start at a compressive stress
of about -30 to -40 MPa. This might also explain why in uniaxial
compressive tests no significant hardening behaviour is observed.
136
In the case of the pre-loaded plane strain tests mentioned in the previous
section, crushing appears to have a positive influence on the further load
hearing capacity of a specimen. According to Bongers [1998b] this
strengthening effect is also a result of the decreasing distance between the
aggregates due to crushing. Tuis means that at contact areas of continuous
mesoscopic cracks, as shown in Figure 122, the deviation from the ideal
crack angle of such a crack increases, resulting in an increase of energy
needed for further development of the crack.
Figure 122: Contact area ofa continuous crack and regions of compressive
crushing in aggregate-cement paste interfaces (Bongers [1998b])
Softening effect due to mesoscopic damage

Whereas triaxial pre-loadings have an advantegeous influence on peak stress
in the case of plane strain and triaxial reloading, in the case of uniaxial
reloading a decrease in load hearing capacity due to the same preloading is
observed. Besides the profitable hardening effect caused by crushing of the
aggregate-cement paste interfaces, as described above, some tensile and shear
damage at the mesoscopic level is induced under high multiaxial compressive
stresses, i.e. softening of aggregate-cement paste interfaces. Tuis mesoscopic
softening was already implemented in the mesoscopic numerical model by
Vonk [1992], which showed that implementation of this softening at the
mesoscopic level suffices to describe macroscopie softening of concrete in
uniaxial compression quite well.
137
Chapter 7: lnjluence ofdamage from previous loading
Combined mesoscopic hardening and softening

Suppose that most of the nonlinear pre-peak deformations are concentrated at
the aggregate-cement paste interfacial zones and that (mesoscopic) hardening
and softening of the failure surface of these interfaces occurs as indicated in
Figure 123, as proposed by Bongers [1994]. Then the stress-deformation
behaviour of concrete in a monotonie multiaxial test can be explained as
follows. During the first stage of loading no nonlinear behaviour occurs. Tuis
means that at the aggregate-cement paste interfaces no significant crushing,
shear and/or tensile damage has taken place yet and that in this stage of
loading the 'elastic' properties of the material constituents determine the
stress-deformation behaviour. With increased loading inelastic deformations
occur, in combination with the occurrence of inelastic compaction indicating
a compressive failure of the interfaces. At peak stress the combination
mesoscopic hardening/softening of all interfaces has reached a critica! stage,
resulting in the maximum load at the macroscopie level. Right after peak
stress mesoscopic softening behaviour dominates in the aggregate-cement
paste interfaces and this mesoscopic softening damage has become so large
that continuous macroscopie cracks are initiated. Tuis results in a localisation
of deformations in macroscopie cracks and softening behaviour at the
macroscopie level.
... " ....... " ... " ... """""""" ___ .., _____ "_"""" __
,.,,-- --
....
'
Figure 123: Hardening and softening of the failure surface of an aggregate-

cement paste interface (after Bongers {1994])
A similar line of thought has been described in detail by Bongers [1998b].

See Figure 124, where a monotonie multiaxial compression test is analysed
by dividing the stress-deformation behaviour in four stages:
138
:······· ··········:········-200 ················ ................................. .
II 111
4 2 0 -2 -4 -6
wlateral [mm] waxial [mm]
Figure 124: Stages in a multiaxial compression test (Bongers [1998b])
Stage 1: Elastic stage, where the influence of growth of already present and
the formation of new mesoscopic cracks is negligible.
Stage II: Inelastic hardening stage, where crushing of the interfacial bond
zones at the mesoscopic level results in macroscopie hardening
behaviour accompanied by inelastic volume compaction.
Stage 111: Around peak stress, where mesoscopic cracks are formed into
continuous cracks and still a strengthening effect occurs due to
crack arrest, which are highly dependent on the relative strength
and size of the aggregates and their mutual distance.
Stage IV: Softening stage, where macroscopie cracks determine the
macroscopie stress-deformation behaviour and gradually loose
their load hearing capacity.
A numerical model developed by Bongers [1998], in which both mesoscopic
hardening and softening mechanisms as described in this section have been
incorporated, appears to be able to describe the behaviour of concrete in
multiaxial compression very well.
139
In the case of hydrostatic preloading, hardening behaviour dominates and the

effect of the crushing of interfaces results in an inflation of the failure surface
of these crushed interfaces. After unloading and re-loading in, for example, a
proportional plane strain test this leads to amore linear pre-peak behaviour,
because it takes longer to reach the failure surface where nonlinear hardening
behaviour is taken up again, and a higher peak stress.
In uniaxial loading most interface loading paths are close to the axis 0'0 =O
(zero stress normal to the interface), i.e. compression/shear and tension/shear,
as a result hardening is hardly observed in uniaxial tests and softening
dominates strongly. This is also the reason why Vonk's numerical model
[1992] was able to simulate uniaxial compression tests very well without
taking mesoscopic hardening (crushing) into account. When loading a
specimen uniaxially after triaxial pre-loading, part of the softening has
already taken place resulting in a decrease of peak stress.
In Table 4 the types of damage in concrete under multiaxial compressive
stresses are summarised.
Table 4: Types ofdamage occurring in multiaxial compression
MACROSCOPIC MESOSCOPIC
DAMAGE DAMAGE
After peak stress Due to crushing of the Due to tensile and shear
macroscopie cracks are aggregate-cement paste cracking m the
formed, which gradually interfaces under a aggregate-cement paste
loose their load hearing compressive load a interfaces and in the
capacity strengthening effect cement paste itself a
occurs at the softening effect occurs
mesosco ic level at the mesosco ic level
7A. Macroscopie interpretatlon of the influence of damage induced at the

mesoscopic level
Because in the pre-peak region the stress-deformation behaviour of concrete
has been found to be to a large extent independent of the specimen size, the
mesoscopic damage induced to the material during this stage of loading can
be regarded as damage distributed equally well over the entire specimen
volume. This means, when considering the effecs of mesoscopic hardening
and softening at the macroscopie level, that the observed nonlinear
macroscopie behaviour in the pre-peak region might be expressed in terms of
140
Chapter 7: Influence ofdamage /rom previous loading
an integration over the entire volume of the mesoscopic deforrnations due to

mesoscopic hardening and softening.
In this section therefore a macroscopie interpretation of these two types of
mesoscopic damage and the way in which they affect the macroscopie
behaviour is outlined.
Levels of equal total mesoscopic hardening and softening damage

Because crushing of the aggregate-cement paste interfaces perpendicular to a
compressive load is the main cause of hardening behaviour, the hardening
effect in a certain direction is closely related to the compressive stress in that
direction. Furtherrnore, the presence of confining stresses obstructs the
development of mesoscopic softening damage and meanwhile increases the
amount of crushing of interfacial zones. Therefore a certain level of total
hardening damage (i.e. the total of the hardening darnage in all bond zones
within the volume) is reached at a lower axial stress when the amount of
confining stress increases. Close to the hydrostatic axis crushing is
accomplished most easily. The assurnption of levels of equal total hardening
damage in axial direction as shown in Figure 125 (two-dimensional
representation) seems justified, as an approximate qualitative indication of
hardening damage. Note that in this figure these lines are only drawn in the
region cr1>cr3 , because crushing of the aggregate-cement paste interfaces in
fact is directional dependent: closer to the hydrostatic axis mesoscopic
hardening darnage will be distributed more equally around the aggregates,
while in the region closer the the cr 1-axis most crushing will take place in the
interfaces perpendicular to the cr 1-direction.
Whereas it is easy to imagine that levels of equal total hardening are closely
related to the axial stress, it is also imaginable that levels of equal total
mesoscopic softening damage are more closely correlated with the ratio of
lateral and axial stress. As mentioned before, if the confining stress
decreases, lateral expansion of the material becomes easier and hence a
certain amount of shear and tensile cracking at the mesoscopic level can be
accomplished at a lower level of axial stress. Close to peak stress
mesoscopic softening damage increases rapidly. Even under pure hydrostatic
compression some softening damage might occur due to the heterogeneous
structure of concrete, which causes the levels of equal total softening darnage
to be approximately located in two-dimensional stress space as indicated in
Figure 126.
141
.. · · hydrostatic axis
increase of mesoscopic ,
hardeningdamage .-~
onset of (crushing) /
mesoscopic
hardening
Figure 125: Qualitative representation oflines ofequal total mesoscopic

hardening damage in axial direction (2D case)
increase of mesoscopic , , , ·, hydrostatic axis

softening damage
onset of (•~g
mesoscopic
softening
.-·-·-·-·-·-"c.;;ventional plane strain

·-·-·--·- failure surface
Figure 126: Qualitative representation oflines ofequal total mesoscopic

softening damage in axial direction (2D case)
142
Chapter 7: Injluence ofdamage from previous loading
Measured macroscopie quantities representative of total mesoscopic

hardening and softening
When. for the sake of simplity of macroscopie interpretation, the correlation
between the damage induced at the mesoscopic level with its location (as a
result of the direction and magnitude of the stresses acting on the material) is
disregarded, it can be conceived that mesoscopic hardening is closely related
to a volume change of the material. See Figure 127 (left), where a schematic
representation is shown of an aggregate embedded in a cement paste volume.
Cement paste
Interfacial zone
Aggregate
Initial situation
l 1
......................................
.: ...................................:
Interface crushing Interface shearing and
due to volume change opening due to
shape change
Figure 12 7: Idealised concrete volume element and two types ofmesoscopic

damage related to changes in the elements' volume and shape
143
If the volume of the material decreases without a change in shape of the

original volume (and if it is assumed that all nonlinear deformations take
place within the aggregate-cement paste interface) crushing of the bond zones
without shear and tensile cracking within these zones is mostly responsible
for this pure volume change. Likewise, if the shape of this volume element
changes, as is shown in Figure 127 (right), this is mainly a result of shear and
tensile deformations within the bond zone. However, the latter deformations
may be accompanied by a very ·small amount of interface crushing at the
upper and lower surfaces of the aggregate, depending on the ratio between
lateral and axial stress.
From all different plane strain stress experiments carried out on 1OOmm
normal strength concrete cubes, following the stress paths as shown in Figure
111, the inelastic hydrostatic and deviatoric strains have been determined, as
well as the energy required to achieve these nonlinear deformations.
Following the above line of thought, the inelastic hydrostatic strain and
energy can be regarded as a measure of mesoscopic hardening damage and
the inelastic deviatoric strain and energy as a measure of mesoscopic
softening damage. In Figure 128 and Figure 129 levels of equal hydrostatic
and deviatoric strains and energies are plotted in plane strain stress space.
The qualitative levels of equal total hardening and softening damage as
presented in the previous subsection are also drawn in these figures.
The depiction of damage levels in Figure 125, Figure 126, Figure 128 and
Figure 129 indicate that at every point in the stress space a different
combination of mesoscopic hardening and softening damage exists. The fact
that every point in the stress space corresponds with a different combination
of the two types of damage is thought now to be the main cause of loading
path dependent behaviour, as observed in the experiments in the previous
sections. How this loading path dependent behaviour could be related to the
two types of damage will be outlined in the following where the influence of
mesoscopic hardening and softening damage on failure stress and loading
path followed is considered.
Failure surface
Normally the failure surface for concrete is determined by carrying out a
series of multiaxial compressive tests in which always the same type of stress
path is followed, e.g. proportional stresses. The line or small zone through
the measured peak stresses then is considered to be the authentic failure line
or surface of the material.
144
But the results from the experiments in which a pre~peak pre-loading bas
been applied indicate that the failure surface is not the conventionally
assumed statie shape in stress space, hut that it is a shape that evolves
constantly with increasing damage at the mesoscopic level.
E 0, inelastic [-] -0.001

-0.001
-0.002
60 -0.002
-0.002
-0.003
50
ro
c. !
-0.004
-0.004
~ 40-i
..
' ''
-0.004
0 ~ ' ' -0.005
:<: ~: ':',~ ~~ ~ \
\
{-..> -0.005
3
20 .. :>N;~t·· ~
~
-0.006
·0.007
-0.007
-0.007
-0.008
-110 -100 -90 -80 -70 -60 -60 -40 -30 -20
-0.009
-0.009
O' O [MPa]
Y 0, inelastic M
0.012
0.011
0.010
5 0.009
ro
0. 0.008
~ 4 0.007
0 0.006
~
30 0.005
' 0.004
20 ~
0.003
~
0.002
-110 -100 -90 -80 -70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 0.001
'o.ooo
O' O [MPa]
Figure 128: Inelastic hydrostatic and deviatoric strains as measured in plane

strain experiments on 1OOmm cubes following different stress paths up to
peak stress. The upper boundary of the shaded surfaces corresponds with the
conventional plane strain failure surface.
145
Hydrostatic inelastic damage energy [MPa]
60
50
0.35
0.30
30 0.25
20 0.15
0.10
-110 -100 .go .ao .70 -eo .50 -40 -so -20 0.05
0.00
O' O [MPa]
:f _ ' ' ' ' ' ' '

Deviatoric inelastic damage energy [MPa]
'iii'
a..
::a:
~0
40~
I ____ " ••
-· " - ·
""'
20
0.10
-110 •100 -90 -80 -70 -60 -50 -40 ·30 ·20 0.05
0.00
O' O [MPa]
Figure 129: lnelastic hydrostatic and deviatoric damage energies as

measured in plane strain experiments on 1OOmm cubes following different
stress paths up to peak stress. The upper boundary of the shaded surfaces
corresponds with the conventional plane strain failure surface.
From the test results discussed and the measures of total mesoscopic
hardening and softening introduced it is deduced that increasing mesoscopic
softening damage leads to a shrinkage of the macroscopie failure surface,
146
mostly in those regions where mesoscopic tensile and shear cracking can
develop relatively easily (like uniaxial compression tests after a triaxial pre-
loading), while increasing mesoscopic hardening damage leads to an
expansion of the failure surface, especially in the regions where mesoscopic
tensile and shear cracking are obstructed, i.e. the presence of lateral stresses,
like plain strain tests after a triaxial pre-loading (these are the regions below
and above the 'rotation point' in Figure 130 respectively). The shape of the
failure surface then always is a function of the highest levels of mesoscopic
hardening and softening reached in a particular case. Tuis is qualitatively
shown in Figure 130.
Increasing mesoscopic softening and
-ns
hardening damage during preloading
@-------------------------®
expansion of the
macroscopie failure
surface due to
-
ll.
mesoscopic hardening
:E
®
-- -- --
_,, , ,. ,.,.@__ }
_,,,,,,. _,,,,,,.
'rotation point' ~...::;:::... --
-- ,;::::r- .......
er 1 [MPa]
shrinkage of the macroscopie failure
surface due to mesoscopic softening
Figure 130: Movingfailure surface as a fanction ofmesoscopic hardening

and softening levels (2D case), at stress point B higher levels ofmesoscopic
hardening and softening damage are reached
Figure 131 shows that from this point of view the failure surface, as
determined by for example three 'deviatoric' plane strain tests, is in fact a
line connecting points on three different failure surfaces, each corresponding
with a specific pair of values of measures of mesoscopic hardening and
softening darnage. It means that in principle to each cross section of lines of
equal mesoscopic hardening and softening darnage (see Figure 125 and
Figure 126) in the zone where peak stresses are attained, a particular failure
line (or surface) belongs.
147
Chapter 7: /nfluence ofdamage from previous loading
However, the concept of the 'moving' failure surface can only be valid if the
rotation point, indicated in Figure 130, is situated above the cr3=0 axis. lf this
would not be the case, mesoscopic hardening would dominate even in
uniaxial experiments. But it is easy to conceive why this rotation point can
not be situated below the cr3=0 axis: in this region (at least) in one direction a
tensile stress occurs. Tuis means that mesoscopic softening dominates
strongly and the amount of crushing is negligible. Therefore here only a
shrinkage of the failure surface can occur at the macroscopie level. Though
the rotation point most likely is not a fixed point (or line in the 3D case) in
stress space either, it can never be situated outside the domain of multiaxial
compression.
CJ' [MPa]
1
Figure 131: Apparent failure surface composed of three different failure
surfaces corresponding with different levels of hardening (2D case). With
increasing levels ofmesoscopic damage the macroscopicfailure surface
develops from state A to C (corresponding with stress paths A to C)
Loading path dependency

As described above the failure surface expands or shrinks dependent upon the
combination of the amount of mesoscopic hardening and softening attained
in a particular case. Using this concept, the behaviour in the pre-loading tests
described in section 7.2.2. can be evaluated as shown in Figure 132 and
Figure 133. In the case of plane strain reloading, the level of mesoscopic
hardening reached causes the macroscopie failure surface to expand resulting
in a higher peak stress (Figure 132). In the case of uniaxial reloading, the
148
level reached of mesoscopic softening of identical pre-loading becomes the

dominant factor, i.e. the macroscopie failure surface now shrinks and thus
leads toa lower peak stress (Figure 133).
C")
er 1 [MPa]
Figure 132: Higher peak stress as a result of mesoscopic hardening during

preloading, 'A ' denotes a regular proportional plane strain stress path and
the failure surface at which peak stress is reached, 'B ' denotes a plane strain
pre-loading stress path and the failure surface at which peak stress is
reached
....ns
Q.
.....
:E
C")
@
b
·········································®
er 1 [MPa]
Figure 133: Lower peak stress as a result ofmesoscopic softening during

preloading, 'A ' denotes a regular uniaxial compression, 'B' denotes a
uniaxial test after a plane strain pre-loading. 'A ' and 'B ' also denote the
failure surfaces at which peak stress is reached in each case.
149
7.S. Loading path d.ependency due to combined meso-- and macroscopie damage
Whereas the macroscopie failure surface can shrink and expand due to
mesoscopic damage in the pre-peak region as outlined above, in the post-peak
region the failure surface only can shrink. The analytica} model in Chapter 6
explicitely showed this. In this section it will be shown that this post-peak
shrinkage of the failure surface may be influenced in certain cases by
mesoscopic damage inflicted before peak stress.
As can be seen in Figure 11, the second peak in a triaxial rotation experiment
can be significantly lower than the first peak, whereas the shape of the
descending branch does not seem to change. Because in the case of this
experiment (Figure 11) relatively low triaxial stresses occur, it is concluded
that in the case of this rotation test no significant damage at the mesoscopic
level is involved. Tuis can also be concluded from the rotation tests as a part
of the research project at hand, where loading before rotation is continued
untiljust after the peak and almost no decrease in peak stress after rotation is
found. Tuis means that the loading path dependency found in Figure 11 is a
result of macroscopie (local) damage instead of mesoscopic, distributed
damage.
The decrease in peak stress in Figure 11 can be explained easily. If a stress
path reaches the failure surface this failure surface will start to shrink, due to
the gradual loss of load hearing capacity of the macroscopie cracks. Refer
also to the analytical model in Chapter 6. Tuis shrinkage of the macroscopie
failure surface is accompanied by a descending branch in the stress-
deformation diagram. Tuis macroscopie softening continues until the residual
stress surface, i.e. the 'final failure surface', is reached. The analytica! shear
crack model described before shows how this shrinkage advances with
increasing macroscopie crack deformations in the case of plane strain tests.
This shrinkage is relatively insensitive to mesoscopic damage, because the
model is able to describe macroscopie softening behaviour both at low and
high stress levels (i.e. low and high levels of mesoscopic damage) and
because the post-peak curves of proportional tests both at low and high stress
levels are almost identical. Only in the case of high multiaxial pre-loading
(Figure 115) damage at the mesoscopic level increases the brittleness of the
macroscopie descending branch. One should bear in mind that at least in the
first part of the descending branch macroscopie cracks are formed by growing
through mesoscopic cracks already present. It is therefore logica! that the
behaviour of macroscopie cracks changes if the mesoscopic cracks already
present are developed further. This signifies that the behaviour of
150
macroscopie cracks in extreme cases can also be influenced by damage at the

mesoscopic level.
If macroscopie cracks are already present in a specimen, shrinkage of the
macroscopie failure surface towards the residual surface only occurs in those
regions of stress space where the already present macrocracks are situated in a
favourable position for further crack growth (note that this is obviously true
fora regular proportional test). This is for example not true in the case of a
plane strain rotation test, in which a V-shaped macrocrack pattem has to be
formed perpendi.cular to the existing V-shaped macrocrack pattem (Figure
11 ). The only possible loading path dependency that might occur in this type
of test would be due to mesoscopic damage, e.g. in the case of a plane strain
rotation test with relatively high confining stress before rotation.
7.6. Final remark.s.

The actual quantitative influence of mesoscopic hardening and softening
damage as outlined in this chapter can not be gained from experimental
research in which only macroscopie quantities are determined, i.e. forces and
deformations. Without this lack of ascertainment it would be improper to
regard the concept of mesoscopic hardening and softening levels outlined
before as 'material behaviour'. The concept carne out of the process of
interpretation and understanding of the phenomena controlling loading path
dependent behaviour. It proved to be a convenient conceptual tool to
comprehend macroscopie concrete behaviour. Nevertheless, the numerical
model by Bongers [1998] -a quantitative model- supports the ideas presented
here on the influence of damage at the mesoscopic level, inflicted in the
material in the pre-peak region.
151
Chapter 8: Summary and conclusions
8. Summary and Conclusions

Background ofthis research
The present research is part of an exhaustive investigation into the
mechanica} behaviour of concrete in compressive loading. It aims at
answering some questions (described in Chapter 2) that were not answered in
the research projects carried out earlier at Eindhoven University of
Technology (Van Mier [1984), Vonk [1992)). While in this thesis the results
are described from tests on a high-strength concrete, emphasis is still laid on
the behaviour of a normal-strength gravel concrete under multiaxial stresses.
New laboratory tools

Because of the long history of concrete research at EUT, both the 'true
triaxial' loading apparatus and the measuring equipment were already
available at the start of the present research project. However, the application
of high multiaxial stress states and the use of a high-strength concrete were
the reason to increase the capacity of the loading apparatus. One of the 2MN
loading axes therefore has been replaced by a 5MN axis. The desire to apply
different multiaxial stress paths and compare them at different points in stress
space made a more accurate test control method necessary. A software
program has been developed that can handle all compressive stress paths.
'Standard' test results

In the case of the normal-strength concrete a large number of experiments
with various loading conditions (uniaxial, biaxial, plane strain and triaxial
compression) is carried out. In all these tests loading platens with a
teflon/grease intermediate layer is used as applied before by Vonk [1992].
The experimental results obtained from the experiments are a solid base for
numerical simulations since the laboratory conditions have been identical for
all tests. Similar experiments have been carried out on a high-strength
concrete. In general, disregarding the quantitative differences, the failure
behaviour of both types of concrete is very similar. Some uniaxial tension on
the normal-strength concrete have been carried out to provide further data for
numerical simulations.
Increase ofboundary friction

Uniaxial and multiaxial compression tests have been carried out using both
teflon loading platens and dry steel loading platens, both on normal- and
high-strength concrete. The results confirm many observations done in the
152
past: peak stress and deformations increase with increasing lateral boundary
restraint, and the softening branch of the stress-deformation curve becomes
less steep. The influence of additional triaxial stresses in (parts of) the
specimen introduced by boundary friction is smaller at higher multiaxial
stress states because the magnitude of the frictional stresses becomes
relatively smaller.
Non-uniformity of deformations
As observed by Vonk [1992] in uniaxial compression non-uniform
deformations occur. Due to the heterogeneous nature of concrete, specimens
tend to fail according to a partial failure mechanism causing a rotation of the
loaded specimen boundaries. Vonk showed that this rotation is highly
dependent on the rotational stiffhess of the loading apparatus. In the present
research uniaxial experiments have been carried out in which not only the
specimen deformations but also the deformations of the entire loading axis
have been measured. From the test results it is concluded that, while a
rotation of the load cell has been observed too, non-uniform deformations
appear to be stimulated further mainly by a rotation of the piston. To
minimise the influence of this rotation, the distance between specimen and
hydraulic cylinder should be kept as small as possible.
Formation and behaviour ofmacroscopic cracks

It is known from previous research that after peak stress a localisation of
deformations in macroscopie cracks occurs in multiaxial compression. Both
in plane strain and triaxial compression tests the development of macroscopie
cracks has been recorded using a vacuum impregnation technique (Vonk
[1992]). It bas been shown that macroscopie cracks start to form at specimen
corners right after peak stress. The geometry of the loading apparatus is
found to be of major importance for the initiation of the cracks and has a
significant influence on the observed stress-displacement diagrams. During
the steep part of the softening branch the cracks grow to form a complete
failure pattem. During this stage opening of the cracks dominates the stress-
displacement behaviour. After the final failure pattem is completely formed,
a curvature of the stress-displacement diagram towards the residual stress
level is observed. In this final stage of the descending branch, sliding of the
crack surfaces dominates the observed macroscopie behaviour. Tuis has been
showh both experimentally and using an analytica} model for macroscopie
crack behaviour. The model results indicate that a numerical modelling of
macroscopie cracks in concrete using discrete interface elements can give
acceptable results.
153
With higher multiaxial stress states macroscopie cracks are found to be less
wide and tend to run through aggregates more often instead of around them.
Post-peak continuum contribution

While in the pre-peak region almost identical stress-strain relations are found
for specimens with different geometries, in the post-peak region -due to
localisation of deformations- almost identical stress-deformation curves are
observed. In previous research contradictive results were found in the case of
uniaxial compression: while some (e.g. Van Mier [1984]) observed a
complete localisation of deformations in macroscopie cracks, others (e.g.
Vonk [1992]) concluded that the more or less uncracked continuum specimen
parts still contributed to the post-peak load hearing capacity. By carrying out
multiaxial experiments in which the post-peak continuum deformations have
been measured, it bas been shown that indeed the continuum specimen parts
still contribute to the post-peak load hearing capacity. The extent of this
contribution seems closely related to the casting quality of the concrete, in
particular the quality of the aggregate-cement paste interfaces.
Damage from previous loading

From Van Mier's rotation tests [1984] it is known that damage at the
macroscopie level can have a significant influence on the stress-deformation
behaviour of concrete. A large number of multiaxial stress paths has been
carried out to detect wether concrete behaviour is dependent on damage
induced at the mesoscopic level, i.e. damage induced in the pre-peak region.
When applying multiaxial pre-peak pre-loadings to a specimen, a significant
influence of the accumulated mesoscopic damage is observed. Surprisingly,
even an increase of peak stress can be observed with increasing damage. But
in the case of stress paths with monotonically increasing loads it is found that
the influence of variations in these loading paths is not significant. Tuis
means that there is no need to take the influence of load histories into account
explicitly in the case of regular structural engineering applications.
Mesoscopic hardening effect

In Vonk's numerical (mesoscopic) model for concrete in uniaxial
compression [1992] the macroscopie stress-deformation behaviour is a result
of mesoscopic softening laws at the aggregate-cement paste interfaces. The
model appeared to give satisfactory results in the case of uniaxial
compression. However, the present pre-loading experiments and numerical
results by Bongers [1998] indicate that besides mesoscopic softening another
phenomenon plays a role in multiaxial compression. In this thesis a
154
mesoscopic hardening effect as a result of the crushing of aggregate-cement

paste interfaces is introduced. Mesoscopic softening and hardening appear to
be the two factors determining concrete's macroscopie mechanical behaviour
under multiaxial stresses. The two phenomena have been linked to measured
macroscopie quantities and test results have been explained on the basis of
this new insight.
Further research
As mentioned before, at present a mesoscopic numerical model is being
developed at EUT by ir. J.P.W. Bongers. The model parameters have been
determined from the experiments described in this thesis. The incorporation
of both mesoscopic softening and hardening in the model appears to lead to
promising results. Furthermore, it seems that Bonger' s model is suitab Ie for
other types of concrete too by adapting the model parameters. A
comprehensive experimental research into the influence of the composition
of concrete on the behaviour in compression as a next step in the research
program therefore seems appropriate.
In the very near future Bonger's results will be implemented in the finite element
code 'FEMMASSE' and will therefore become available to structural engineers
in practice.
155
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Vervuurt, A. / Ckiaia, B. /Mier, J.G.M. Van (1995}
Damage evolution in concrete, Heron, V. 40, nr. 4, 1995, pp. 285-312.
Vliet, M.R.A. Van I Mier,J.G.M. Van (1995)
Strain-softening behaviour of concrete in uniaxial compression, Report nr. 25.5-95-5, Delft
University ofTechnology, Department of Civil Engineering, 1995.
Vliet, M.R.A. Van I Mier, J.G.M. Van (1996}
Experimental investîgation of concrete fracture under uniaxial compression, Mechanics of
Cohesive-Frictional Materials, nr. 1, 1996, pp. 115-127.
Vonk, R.A. [1989a)
Influence of boundary conditions on softening of concrete loaded in compression, Report
nr. TUE-BK0-89.14, TUEindhoven, TheNetherlands, 1989.
162
References
Vonk, R./ Goudswaard, 1. [1989b]
Een detectiemethode voor inwendige scheuren van betonproefstukken, Report nr. BK0-
89 .12, TU Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 1989.
Vonk, R. [1992]
Softening of concrete loaded in compression, PhD. Thesis, TU Eindhoven, The
Netherlands, 1992.
Walraven, J.C. [1980]
Aggregate interlock: a theoretica! and experimental analysis, PhD. Thesis, TU Delft, The
Netherlands, 1980.
Weigler, H. / Becker, G. [1963]
Über das Bruch- und Verformungsverhalten von Beton bei zweiachsiger Beanspruchung,
Deutscher Ausschuss für Stahlbeton, Heft 157, 1963.
Willam, K. I Hurlbut, B. /Store, S. [1986]
Experimental, constitutive and constitutive aspects of concrete failure, Proc. seminar on
finite element analysis ofreinforced concrete structures, Tokyo, 1986, pp. 226-254.
Winkler, H. [1985]
Grundsätzliche Untersuchungen zum Geräteeinfluss bei der mehraxialen Druckprüfung
von Beton, Deutscher Ausschuss für Stahlbeton, Heft 366, 1985.
Wischers, G. [1978]
Aufnahme und Auswirkungen von Druckbeanspruchungen auf Beton, Betontechnische
Berichte, nr. 19, 1978, pp. 31-56.
Ziegeldorf, S. [1984]
Phenomenological aspects of the fracture of concrete, in: Fracture mechanics of concrete,
Developments in Civil Engineering V. 7, ed. F.H. Wittmann, Elsevier, 1984.
Zissopoulos, D. / Pavlovic, M.N./ Kotsovos, M.D. [1994]
Strain softening of concrete - RILEM Round robin test, Imperial College London I National
Technical University of Athens, Greece, 1994.
163
List of symbols
List of symbols
The following list shows the syrnbols used in this thesis. Note that the section
where the first use of the syrnbol occurs is given for those syrnbols that are
applicable only in a specific part ofthis thesis.
Symbol Description Unit
Bs shear band width in Murakami 's model (section mm

6.3.2.)
E Young's modulus MPa
Gr fracture energy N/mm
a, b coefficient determining the shape of Banger' s

failure surface (section 6.3.2.)
c 1, c2 coefficient determining the shape of the tension
softening model by Reinhardt et al. (section 4.2.)
d specimen width mm
rb (uniaxial) compressive design strength according MPa
to VBC 1995
( peak stress in uniaxial compression tests using MPa
teflon loading platens (in this research program)
~ peak stress in uniaxial tensile tests (in this MPa
research program)
h specimen height mm
n number of macroscopie shear cracks in a
specimen (section 6.3.2.)
r ratio of cr3/cr1 (section 6.3.2.)
w 1, w 2, w3 specimen displacements in directions 1, 2 and 3 mm
respectively
wn normal shear crack displacement mm
wt tangential shear crack displacement mm
a softening parameter (section 6.3.2.)

~ non-dimensional shear band width in
Murakami's model (section 6.3.2.)
ot tangential displacement within a shear band in mm
Eo hydrostatic strain
164
List ofsymbols
E1, E2 , E3 specimen strains in directions 1, 2 and 3

respectively
Yo deviatoric strain
mÎt averaged shear strain over shear band width in MPa
K summation of normal and tangential shear crack mm
displacements (section 6.3.2.)
e shear crack angle rad
cro hydrostatic stress MPa
cr', cr2, cr3 specimen stresses in directions 1, 2 and 3 MPa
respectively
crn normal stress acting on a shear crack MPa
to deviatoric stress MPa
tl tangential stress acting on a shear crack MPa
165
Samenvatting
Samenvatting
Achtergrond van dit onderzoek (hoofdstuk 2)
Het onderhavige onderzoek maakt deel uit van een uitgebreide studie naar het
mechanische gedrag van beton onder drukbelastingen. Het heeft tot doel
enkele vragen te beantwoorden die in eerdere onderzoeksprojecten
uitgevoerd aan de TU Eindhoven onbeantwoord zijn gebleven. (Van Mier
[1984], Vonk [1992]). Hoewel in dit proefschrift ook resultaten zijn
beschreven van proeven op een hoge(re )-sterkte beton, ligt de nadruk nog
steeds op normale-sterkte grindbeton onder meerassige spanningen.
Nieuwe laboratorium apparatuur (hoofdstuk 3)

Door de lange geschiedenis van betononderzoek aan de TUE, waren zowel de
drie-assige proefopstelling als ook de meetapparatuur reeds beschikbaar bij
de aanvang van het onderhavige onderzoeksproject. De toepassing van hoge
meerassige spanningstoestanden en het gebruik van een hoge-sterkte beton
zijn echter de redenen geweest om de capaciteit van de belastingapparatuur te
vergroten. Eén van de 2 MN belasting-assen is daartoe vervangen door een
5MN as. De wens om verschillende meerassige spanningspaden toe te passen
en deze onderling te vergelijken ter plaatse van van te voren gedefinieerde
punten in de spanningsruimte maakten een nauwkeuriger sturing van de
proefopstelling noodzakelijk. Een computerprogramma is ontwikkeld dat alle
(druk-)belastingpaden geautomatiseerd kan laten uitvoeren.
'Standaard' proefresultaten (hoofdstuk 4)

In het geval van het normale-sterkte beton is een groot aantal proeven
uitgevoerd in diverse belastingsituaties (éénassige, twee-assige, 'plane strain'
(vlakke vermormingstoestand) en drie-assige druk). In al deze proeven zijn
belastingplaten gebruikt met een teflon/smeemiddel tussenlaag zoals eerder
toegepast door Vonk [1992]. De experimentele resultaten verkregen uit deze
experimenten vormen een solide basis voor numerieke simulaties omdat deze
alle zijn uitgevoerd onder identieke laboratorium-omstandigheden.
Soortgelijke proeven zijn uitgevoerd op een hoge-sterkte beton. In het
algemeen, afgezien van de kwantitatieve verschillen, blijkt het bezwijkgedrag
van de twee beproefde betonsoorten hetzelfde te zijn. Enkele éénassige
trekproeven op het normale-sterkte beton zijn uitgevoerd om de diversiteit
aan gegevens voor numerieke simulaties te vergroten.
166
Samenvatting
Wrijving aan de proefstukranden (hoofdstuk 5)

Eén- en meerassige drukproeven zijn uitgevoerd met stalen belastingplaten
zowel met als zonder teflon tussenlaag, op beide betonsoorten. De resultaten
bevestigen een groot aantal proefresultaten uit het verleden: de
bezwijksterkte en -vervormingen nemen toe als de laterale wrijving aan de
proefstukranden toeneemt, en de dalende tak van de spanning-vervormings-
curve wordt minder steil. De invloed van additionele drie-assige spanningen
in (delen van) het proefstuk, geïntroduceerd door deze wrijving, is kleiner in
geval van hogere meerassige spanningstoestanden omdat de grootte van deze
wrijvingsspanningen relatief kleiner wordt.
Niet-uniforme vervormingen
Zoals door Vonk [1992] reeds geobserveerd treden in éénassige drukproeven
niet-uniforme vervormingen op. Ten gevolge van de heterogene structuur van
beton hebben proefstukken de neiging om via een partieel (onvolledig)
bezwijkmechanisme te bezwijken, wat resulteert in een rotatie van de belaste
proefstukranden. Vonk heeft laten zien dat deze rotatie in hoge mate
afhankelijk is van de rotatiestijfheid van de proefopstelling. In het
onderhavige onderzoek zijn proeven uitgevoerd waarin niet alleen de
proefstukvervormingen maar ook de vervormingen van het gehele
belastingframe zijn gemeten. Uit de resultaten wordt geconcludeerd dat,
hoewel ook een rotatie van de krachtmeetdoos is gemeten, niet-uniforme
vervormingen met name gestimuleerd worden door een rotatie van de
drukcylinder. Om de invloed hiervan te minimaliseren, dient de afstand
tussen proefstuk en hydraulische cylinder zo klein mogelijk te worden
gehouden.
Vorming en gedrag van macroscopische scheuren (hoofdstuk 6)

Uit voorgaand onderzoek is bekend dat na de top in het spanning-
vervormings-diagram de vervormingen localiseren in macroscopische
scheuren. Zowel in plane strain als drie-assige drukproeven is de
ontwikkeling van het macroscopische scheurpatroon vastgelegd met behulp
van een vacuum-impregnatie techniek (Vonk [1992]). Er is gebleken dat
macroscopische scheuren direct na de top aan de proefstukranden worden
geïnitieerd. De geometrie van de proefopstelling blijkt van grote invloed te
zijn op de initiatie van macroscopische scheuren en heeft een significante
invloed op het waargenomen spanning-verplaatsings-diagram. Gedurende de
meest steile tak van de softening-curve groeien de scheuren uit tot een
volledig bezwijkpatroon. In deze fase domineert het openen van de scheuren
het spanning-verplaatsings-diagram. Nadat het uiteindelijke bezwijkpatroon
167
Samenvatting
is gevormd buigt de spanning-verplaatsings-curve geleidelijk af naar het

restspanning-niveau. In deze laatste fase van de dalende tak domineert het
over elkaar glijden van scheuroppervlakken het waargenomen
macroscopische gedrag. Dit is zowel experimenteel als met behulp van een
analytisch model voor het gedrag van macroscopische scheuren aangetoond.
De modelresultaten geven aan dat een numerieke modellering van
macroscopische scheuren door middel van discrete interface elementen tot
acceptabele resultaten kan leiden.
Bij hogere meerassige spanningstoestanden blijken de macroscopische
scheuren minder ver te openen en de neiging te vertonen om door het
toeslagmateriaal te groeien in plaats van er om heen.
Bijdrage van continuum delen na de top

Terwijl in het pre-peak gebied bijna identieke spanning-rek relaties worden
gevonden voor verschillende proefstuk afmetingen, worden na de top -ten
gevolge van de localisatie van vervormingen- bijna identieke spanning-
verplaatsings-relaties waargenomen. In voorgaand onderzoek werden
tegenstrijdige resultaten verkregen in het geval van éénassige druk:
sommigen (bijv. Van Mier [1984]) observeerden een volledige localisatie van
vervormingen in macroscopische scheuren, terwijl anderen (bijv. Vonk
[1992]) concludeerden dat de -min of meer- ongescheurde continuum
proefstukdelen na de top nog steeds bijdragen aan de draagcapaciteit. Door
meerassige drukproeven uit te voeren waarin de post•peak continuum
vervormingen na de top worden gemeten, is duidelijk gemaakt dat de
continuum proefstukdelen na de top inderdaad nog aan bijdrage leveren aan
de totale draagkracht. De grootte van deze bijdrage lijkt sterk gerelateerd aan
de kwaliteit van de proefstukvervaardiging, met name de kwaliteit van de
hechtvlakken tussen cement-matrix en toeslagkorrels.
Schade uit voorgaande belastingen (hoofdstuk 7)

Uit Van Mier's rotatie proeven [1984] is bekend dat schade op het
macroscopische niveau een significante invloed kan hebben op het spanning-
vervormings-gedrag van beton. Een groot aantal meerassige spanningspaden
is uitgevoerd om te onderzoeken of betongedrag al dan niet afhankelijk is van
schade toegebracht op het mesoscopische niveau c.q. schade toegebracht
voor de top. Wanneer meerassige pre-peak voorbelastingen worden
uitgeoefend wordt een significante invloed waargenomen van de
opgebouwde mesoscopische schade. Er kan zelfs een toename van de
bezwijkspanning worden waargenomen bij een toenemende hoeveelheid
toegebrachte schade. Maar in het geval van belastingpaden met monotoon
168
Samenvatting
stijgende belastingen wordt gevonden dat de invloed van variaties in deze

belastingpaden niet significant is. Dit betekent dat er geen noodzaak bestaat
om in de reguliere constructieve praktijk-toepassingen rekening te houden
met de invloed van belastinghistories.
Mesoscopisch verstevigings-ejfect
In Vonk's numerieke (mesoscopische) model voor beton onder éénassige
drukbelastingen [1992] is de macroscopische spanning-vervormings-curve
het resultaat van mesoscopische softening-wetten die gelden ter plaatse van
de hechtvlakken tussen cement-matrix en toeslagkorrels. Het model bleek in
het geval van éénassige druk bevredigende resultaten te geven. Echter, de
onderhavige voorbelasting-proeven en numerieke resultaten verkregen door
Bongers [1998] geven aan dat naast mesoscopische softening een ander
fenomeen een rol speelt in het geval van meerassige druk. In dit proefschrift
wordt een mesoscopisch verstevigings-effect ('hardening') ten gevolge van
verbrijzeling van genoemde hechtvlakken geïntroduceerd. Mesoscopische
softening en hardening blijken de twee factoren te zijn die het
macroscopische mechanische gedrag van beton onder meerassige druk
bepalen. De twee fenomenen zijn gerelateerd aan gemeten macroscopische
grootheden en proefresultaten zijn verklaard op basis van dit nieuwe inzicht.
Verder onderzoek
Zoals al eerder vermeldt wordt op dit moment aan de TU Eindhoven een
mesoscopisch numeriek model ontwikkeld door ir. J.P.W. Bongers. De
modelparameters zijn bepaald op basis van de experimentele resultaten
beschreven in dit proefschrift. De verwerking van zowel mesoscopische
softening als hardening in het model lijken tot veelbelovende resultaten te
leiden. Daarnaast lijkt Bonger's model geschikt om het gedrag van meerdere
betonsoorten te beschrijven door aanpassing van de modelparameters. Een
uitgebreid experimenteel onderzoek naar de invloed van de
betonsamenstelling als eerstvolgende stap in het onderzoeksprogramma lijkt
daarom de meest zinvolle.
In de nabije toekomst zullen Bonger' s resultaten worden geïmplementeerd in
het eindige elementen pakket 'FEMMASSE' en daarmee toegankelijk
worden voor de contructie-praktijk.
169
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Multi Axial Test For Concrete

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ter verkrjging van de graad van doctor aan de

ERIK VAN GEEL

prof.dr.ir. H.S. Rutten

© 1998, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Faculteit Bouwkunde,

The author wishes to thank the following persons and organisations:

Colleagues at the Department of Structural Design and the Pieter van

My friends on the World Wide Web

My family and friends

6. Loealisation of deformations in macroscopie cracks 84

7. InDuenee of damage from previous loading 120

8. Summary and conclusions 152

List of symbols 164

In a large number of concrete structures and structural elements multiaxial

1.2. Aim of the research

1.3. Method ofworking

A large number of uniaxial, biaxial, plane strain and triaxial compression

1.4. Preview of contents

Chapter 3 describes the loading apparatus used in the present experimental

Test results from specimens subjected to monotonie loading are shown in

will be described in the following chapters. In this chapter stress-deformation

Chapter 6 deals with localisation of deformations in macroscopie cracks after

In Chapter 7 the influence of damage from previous loadings on the stress-

In Chapter 8 the research at hand is summarized and the most important

2.1. Does localisation of deformations occur in multiaxial compression as observed

Concrete is a composite material, consisting of cement, gravel, sand and

Figure 1: Stress-strain behaviour ofconcrete in axial direction under

It has been found that the nonlinear pre-peak behaviour is caused by a

Figure 3: Observed post-peak behaviour for different specimen sizes in

Like in uniaxial compressive tests Van Mier observed the formation of

Cylindrical mode Planarmode

Figure 4: Multiaxial compression tests on concrete cubes (Van Mier [1984])

After initiation of the macroscopie cracks the material can no longer be

Layout of the loading apparatus

[1985]. Likewise differences in stress-deformation measurement can be

Friction between loading platen and specimen surface

OM5 Lo f'oo.3 IDH5 Ln l'aa.3

5000 " ....

Figure 5: Biaxial experiments on concrete in a one-part (solid lines) and a

From previous research it is known that this influence ofboundary friction in

stress as a result of the localisation of deformations during the softening

Initia! IOtatiol\ .....

Unfortunately, when trying to eliminate boundary friction by using loading

is completely enclosed by loading platens. In this way rotation of the

2.3. Is concrete behaviour significantly inftuenced by its damage history?

In most multiaxial experiments loading is applied through proportional

4"4 U.I IU: 2U

A>Öal strain [oio] Allialstrain (o/o)

Figure 9: Comparison of 'multistep' and monotonie stress path by Imran and

d(A w3)/dt = C d(A w3)/d! = C

Planar mode rotation test Cylindrical mode rotation test

8 6 4 2 0 ·2 ·4 -6 -8 -10 ·12 4 2 0 -2 -4 -6 -8 -10 -12

Figure 11: Stress-displacement results of Van Mier's rotation tests (Van

Systematic research into the influence of several composition parameters on

0 0.002 0.004 0.006

3.1. Loading apparatus

Figure 13: Layout ofa single loading axis.

• Loading platens. To be able to examine the effect of different specimen

• In loading apparatus configuration 2: four air springs on which the vertical