16 Microstructure and Properties of Hardened Concrete

between the tensile and compressive strength is attributed to the heteroge-

neous and complex microstructure of concrete.
With many engineering materials, such as steel, the observed stress-strain
behavior when a specimen is subjected to incremental loads can be divided into
two parts (Fig. 1-11). Initially, when the strain is proportional to the applied
stress and is reversible on unloading the specimen, it is called the elastic strain.
The modulus of elasticity is defined as the ratio between the stress and the
reversible strain. In homogeneous materials, the elastic modulus is a measure
of the interatomic bonding forces and is unaffected by microstructural changes.
This is not true of the heterogeneous multiphase materials like concrete. The
elastic modulus of concrete in compression varies from 14 × 103 to 40 × 103 MPa
(2 × 106 to 6 × 106 psi). The significance of the elastic limit in structural design
lies in the fact that it represents the maximum allowable stress before the
material undergoes permanent deformation. Therefore, the engineer must know
the elastic modulus of the material because it influences the rigidity of a design.
At a high stress level (Fig. 1-11), the strain no longer remains proportional
to the applied stress, and also becomes permanent (i.e., it will not be reversed
if the specimen is unloaded). This strain is called the plastic or inelastic strain.
The amount of inelastic strain that can occur before failure is a measure of the
ductility of the material. The energy required to break the material, the prod-
uct of force times distance, is represented by the area under the stress-strain
curve. The term toughness is used as a measure of this energy. The contrast

500
Yield point
Loading and unloading
400
Stress (MPa)

300

200

100
Plastic
strain

0
0 .05 0.1 0.15 0.2
Strain
Figure 1-11 Stress-strain behavior of a steel specimen sub-
jected to incremental loads.