TITLE NO. 68-52 Stress-Strain Response and Fracture of a Concrete Model in Biaxial Loading By ORAL BUYUKOZTURK, ARTHUR H. NILSON, and FLOYD O. SLATE Experimental and analytical investigations. of simplified models of concrote were carried out to ‘Hudy the strength and deformational behavior of Plain concrete. subjected to uniaxial and biaxial Short-term compressive stresses. Thin square plates of marta with rund stone inert of uriform Size were loaded in their own plane with varying itressratior in the two prineipal directions, Ob- ferved strength, gross and. local deformations, irocracking, and mode of feilure were compared ‘with the indications of finite element analyse "behavior of the model was strongly by microcracking at the stone-mortar ‘pitting on «plane rg, oth srongth and ai than ie aio ean. Keywords: Stress; coneretes:_eracking_ (Fracturing): (sh etherteas Ns clone i modelst_ mortars (7 sfrongth stress-strain ve- Tue aportion oF INELASTIC methods of design and analysis of reinforced concrete structures has focused attention on the need for better under- standing of both the mechanism of failure of con- crete and the particular nature of its stress-strain curve, Research carried out during the past dec- ade has indicated that the heterogeneity of con- crete plays an important role in determining behavior of the material.'* Tt has been demon- strated that, under uniaxial loading, a main cause of deviation from elastic behavior is microcrack- ing at the aggregate-mortar interface. Further, the disintegration and ultimate failure of plain concrete is associated with propagation of these cracks through the mortar. ‘Almost all prior investigations dealing with mi- crocracking have been restricted to uniaxial load- ing, Biaxial studies have recently been reviewed by Hilsdorf et al. Researchers dealing with concrete under combined stress have been pre- occupied with strength, to the exclusion of defor- mational behavior, with only a few exceptions: ‘The present work uses experimental and analyt- ical methods to study both strength and deforma- tional behavior of plain concrete subjected to uniaxial and biaxial short-term compressive stresses. In both efforts, the concrete has been idealized by a model consisting of circular discs of aggregate of uniform size embedded in a mortar matrix to form a thin slab. ‘The experimental results were supplemented by computer analysis using the finite element technique. The analysis accounted for the influ- ence of nonhomogeneity, modelled interfacial be- havior, and included recognition of progressive cracking. It helped provide a fundamental under- standing of the complex behavior observed in the Iaboratory. BACKGROUND OF MICROCRACKING STUDY Research at Cornell! has already revealed the importance of internal microcracking as related to the shape of the stress-strain curve and the nature of fracture of uniaxially loaded plain concrete, It was found that cracks exist at the in- terface between aggregate and mortar even be- fore concrete is loaded due to shrinkage of the mortar.* These “bond” cracks begin to increase in length, width and number at about 30 percent of ultimate load. At approximately 80 percent of ultimate load, cracks through the mortar develop and spread rapidly, bridging between bond cracks to form continuous crack patterns. It is known that concrete is weaker, more in- elastic, and will deform more than mortar or aj ACI JOURNAL / AUGUST 1971‘Oral Buyuhortrk greeted fom Techical Univeriy of Ianbul, Trkeys in. 1960 wth. the degree of MS ine nginering Flowing 2 yeor of sence inthe engineer Site of the Torkuh Army he spent youre an iwrcor tthe Technical Univeraty of Intnl” In 1967 he ‘entered choo! a Carnal Universi, where he held reve ‘ogres from Carel In rd the PHD agron from thet Institution 1970. [ACI thember Arthur . Nilon is profesor of srctural engineering st Cornell Univer He recsved the BS. degree From ‘Stanford University in 1948, the MS fom Coral n 1956, and the PhO from the University of California a Berke lay in 1967, He joined the faclty a Coral n 1954 folowing Cen In poteional prctsn. br Nikon has been a member SF'REI Commies 240" Ulimote Strength, Design Hendboooh, ‘s corrmly member of AC Commitee 435, Detlecion ‘cone Bung Stracren Hes conthor of the Tent ©, Ste as eon sate profntor of snginering mateale at Corel Universy, The, Foy ince 1988 Dr Slt sid hit undergraduate and gradur workin chemistry st PurdveUniversiy where he wat ttvowoed withthe Jolt Highway Reseach Project nti 1945, ncepr fram 194d to. 1946, when he worked’ oo the Mane Faten Proc. He the. author of beak and bout 35 technica popers He recipient of the ACI Wasen Aeveorch Mata in 1956 ond gein 1963. Curetty he it = amber of ACI Commitee 115, Revearch gregate alone. From the fact that concrete has a higher area of large interfaces (or weak links) than mortar, due to the introduction of coarse aggregate, it was concluded that the destruction of bond between stone and mortar is a cause of inelastic behavior and lower strength of concrete ‘as compared with mortar. It was further concluded that the apparent plasticity on short-time loading of hardened con- crete (ie, the curving of its stress-strain curve and the occurance of significant permanent de- formations upon unloading) is not connected with actual flow of cement gel or other compo- nents, but represents the cumulative effects of progressive microcracking. BASIS OF EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL MODELS In the past, several attempts have been made to explain the complex behavior of concrete with the help of models. The works of Reinius," Baker,” (arom) (O68 -—oee- 696 Soin a7 emi 27 em Fig. |—The concrete model ACL JOURNAL / AUGUST 1971 and Brandtzaeg,” are particularly notable, but all are limited in significant ways. An analytical ‘model, the “structural unit,” was introduced by Shah and Winter? in studying the behavior of concrete as related to microcracking, This unit consisted of a circular cylindrical piece of aggre- gate surrounded by mortar, forming a thin square plate. ‘The present model was composed of a mortar matrix, in which were embedded nine circular dises of aggregate, all of 1% in. (3.17 em) diameter, in a square array (Fig, 1). Hsu! estimated the av- erage clear distance d between coarse aggregate pieces a varying from 0.1 r to 03 r, where 7 is the radius of an equivalent circular piece. For the present work two basic models were studied. The first used a clear distance d = 0.5 r (Fig. 1), and the second used d = 02 r. The following considerations governed propor- tioning of the specimens: (a) The wish to obtain as nearly as possible a state of plane stress within the specimen (b) The wish to obtain x-ray information on cracking during loading, without disturbing the specimen (©) The need to produce concentric compres- sion in the specimen without buckling EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION Scope The selected models were subjected to biaxial compressive stress combinations from zero to failure, The ratio of principal stresses was varied in an effort to establish a basis for predicting stress-strain relations in biaxial loading, and to establish failure criteria for combined stress. Four different ratios ¢2/s;, were chosen: zero (uni- axial load), 0.2, 0.5 and 1.0, These ratios were kept constant throughout the tests for each combina- tion. Three specimens were tested for each stress combination, for models with d/r = 0.5 and 0.2, producing a total of 24 tests. (Sixteen addi- tional tests were made, confirming specific points.) A constant strain rate was. maintained, so that the maximum load was reached after ap- proximately 30 min. To establish the characteristics of the models, the following information was obtained: (a) Total deformation in the two principal directions as a function of external load (b Local strains at critical locations as a fune- tion of external load (c) Load at which microcracks were initiated and at which further propagation of cracks oc- curred (@) Ultimate load (e) Mode of failure 591Loading In designing the test equipment special atten- tion was given to minimizing the lateral restraint offered by each loading head. An arrangement originally proposed by Hilsdorf* was used, Stacked plates having thin spacers between were arranged to form a comb-like device with the teeth bearing against the concrete (Fig. 2). The bristles were flexible enough that they offered little re- straint against flexural deformation in the direc- tion normal to the load, but were such as to trans- mit the load to the concrete without buckling. (No reduction in restraint was provided in the third direction.) rangement Materials and procedures In all tests only one type of mortar was used, having a water-cement ratio of 0.6 by weight based on saturated-surface-dry sand, and a ce- ment-sand ratio of 2:5. Portland Type II (high early strength) cement was used. Stone used for aggregate discs was a limestone with a compres- sive strength of about 20,000 psi (1406 kgf/em*) After casting, specimens were maintained at ap- proximately 80F and 100 percent relative humid- ity. After 24 hr the specimens were stripped from the molds and kept under lime-saturated water until 1 day prior to testing at 7 days. Loads were applied using two 30,000 Ib (13,608 kg) capacity jacks, within a square steel frame, as shown in Fig. 2. ‘Total deformation in the two principal directions was measured by dial gages. In addition, % in. (0.32 em) long resistance strain gages were used to provide data on local strains at particular locations, such as the aggregate- mortar interface. Seven to ten x-ray photographs were taken during the actual testing of representative speci- mens for microcrack investigation." ANALYTICAL STUDY Method of analysis Recent development of the finite element meth- od of analysis provides a powerful tool which promises to give new insight into the perfor- manee of structural systems. It was of particular use in the present work, overcoming many of the well-known limitations of solutions based on “clas- sical” theory of elasticity. The finite element method is essentially a gen- eralization of standard procedures for stress analysis, It permits the determination of stresses and displacements in two- and three-dimensional bodies by the same techniques that are commonly applied to framed structures. The basic concept is that any such structural body may be considered 592 ig: 2—Loaded model fas an assemblage of discrete elements, intercon- nected only at a finite number of points, usually the ends or corners of the elements. The discrete nature of the idealization permits formulation of problems in terms of systems of simultaneous equations, For plate-like bodies such as considered here, each element is taken to be a thin two-di- mensional body, and may be triangular, rectangu- lar, or trapezoidal, Two translational degrees of freedom are defined at each corner, in orthogonal directions, and a stiffness matrix is established relating corner forces to corner displacements. Individual elements are combined, using a-direct stiffness type of matrix formulation, to permit solution for displacements and element stresses. Detailed presentation of the finite element meth- ‘od appears elsewhere.""? Finite element analyses was employed by Ngo and Scordelis" to study some special problems in the analysis of reinforced concrete. Nilson'* ex- tended the analysis to account for progressive cracking and nonlinear bond slip, and incorpo- rated nonlinear material properties as well. Tech- niques evolved in both earlier works have been used in the present research to provide an im- proved understanding of the response of plain concrete to uniaxial and biaxial load. ‘ACL JOURNAL / AUGUST 1971The analytical model ‘The analytical model was a direct representa- tion of that used in the experimental work (Fig. 1). A square plate was defined, having unit thickness and the same flat dimensions as the experimental specimens. Circular regions were defined to correspond with the dimensions and locations of the stone inclusions of the experimen- tal model. Different elastic properties were as- signed to the regions representing the mortar and the stone. A state of plane Stress was assumed. Since the X and Y axes are lines of symmetry (Fig. 1), only one-quarter of the model was an- alyzed. That section was idealized using 428 tri- angular finite elements interconnected at 241 nodal points, Special care was taken to model the interface between mortar and aggregate, where large dif- ferential deformations, stress concentrations, and strain concentrations were expected to occur, and where microcracks are known to be initiated. The interface was represented by a “boundary layer” of small elements for which special strength char- acteristics were assigned. These interfacial ele- ments were arranged so that the real boundary lay through the center of the elements, with nodal points on either side of the boundary. The char- acteristics of the interfacial elements were based on separate tests of interface behavior. ‘The loading arrangement used in the experi- ment was duplicated in the analysis by imposing a uniform displacement boundary condition on the edges corresponding to those in contact with the loading heads. The distribution of stress along a loaded edge is not uniform, because of the nonhomogeneous nature of the system, and so a constant stress boundary condition would be in- appropriate. Material proper For the mortar used in the experimental work, nearly elastic behavior was obtained up to a load ‘of about 35 to 40 percent of ultimate load, beyond which inelastic behavior was observed. For the analysis a constant value of modulus 2 10° psi (140,614 kgf/cm*), corresponding to an actual secant value at about fifty percent of ultimate load, was adopted. The assumption of a constant modulus for the mortar up to the ultimate load is not realistic. However, the significance of micro- cracking is emphasized since a nonlinear stress- strain curve for the analytical model was found even though the component materials were as- sumed to be elastic. Tests on the stone showed elastic behavior al- most through the full range of loading. The value of elastic modulus depended on the shape of the specimen tested and varied for different pieces of ‘ACL JOURNAL / AUGUST 1971 the rock. A constant value of 5 x 10* psi (351,535 kkgf/em*) was used for the elastic modulus of ag- gregate. Progressive cracking Internal stresses and deformations as well as external displacements are highly affected by cracking. Cracks develop first in relatively weak regions of the system. If the external load is in- creased, these cracks propagate and new cracks form in other regions. The physical system is ‘thus continuously modified as load is increased. ‘This phenomenon was accounted for in the analy- sis by redefining the topology of the model as in- crements of load were applied. ‘Modification of the model may be done by es- tablishing new nodal points in the finite element idealization. For example, if the average value of tension in two adjacent elements exceeds the pre- defined tensile strength of the material, then a crack may be defined between those two elements by establishing two disconnected nodal points at each common corner, where there formerly was only one. However, nodal point representation of cracks presents major difficulties in application. ‘The present analysis employs an element rep- resentation of the cracks, rather than a nodal point representation. If the stress in an element reaches the defined failure state, then the ele- ‘ment is defined as a “cracked” element by modify- ing the stiffness properties of the element to be used in the next load increment. ‘The computer analysis is programmed for auto- matic propagation of cracks from low stress up to the failure of the model. The specimen is loaded incrementally until cracking criteria are exceeded at one or more locations. ‘The stiffness properties of the cracked elements are automatically rede- fined and the stability of cracks is checked. That is, after failure of an element, the system with this newly cracked element is reanalyzed for the same external load, and the remaining uncracked ele- ments are checked for integrity. If a new element cracks (indicating an unstable crack) the process is repeated at the same load. If no additional cracking occurs (indicating a stable configuration) the external load is increased and the analysis process is continued, Modelling of crack behavior Determination of the influence of cracks on the overall behavior of the concrete is one of the ob- jectives of this study. The cause of cracks, their propagation, and factors governing deformation and failure at crack locations are important. The present work included the study of three types of cracks: 1. Compression-shear bond cracks at the in- terface2, Tensile-shear bond cracks at the interface 3, Tensile mortar cracks Based on research by Taylor and Broms,* the Coulomb-Mohr theory was used to predict behav- ior of the interface under combined compression and shear. Resistance of interface to sliding is provided by two effects: (a) cohesion, and (b) friction produced by normal compression. From ‘Taylor and Broms, cohesion was assumed to be 300 psi (21 kgf/em?), and the friction angle was assumed to be 36 deg. A basic assumption of the analysis is that the cohesive part of the compres- sion-shear bond strength is lost when the strength of interface is exceeded, and the sliding is resisted, thereafter, only by friction. In the analysis this was incorporated in two steps, superimposed to approximate actual behavior: 1. The loss of cohesion at the interface was recognized by assigning the particular interfacial element zero shear modulus in the tangential di- rection of the interface. The element stiffness was then modified, accordingly, to be used in the next increment of loading. The details of the pro- ‘cedure may be found in Reference 16. 2. To account for the frictional resistance to sliding at a “slipped” portion of the interface, frie- tion stresses were calculated depending upon the normal compression acting. These stresses were replaced by statically equivalent forces ap- plied at the comers of the interfacial element, and those were included in the next increment of the load, ‘At present there is no information available on the tensile-shear strength of the interface. Pure tensile strength was studied by Hsu and Slate.” On the basis of Hsu-Slate work, for the model studied, pure tensile strength of interface was as- sumed to be 300 psi (21 kgf/em#). ‘The failure cri- terion for combined tension and shear was based on a straight line connecting the points corre- sponded to pure tension and pure shear failure from Coulomb-Mohr. This assumption may re- quire elaboration as more experimental results become available. Due to the nature of the tensile-shear cracks, no shear or normal stresses can be transmitted across the cracked section of the interface. In the analysis this was incorporated by modification of the constitutive matrix of the interfacial ele- ment.!* With regard to tensile cracking of the mortar or the aggregate, consistent with other assumptions in the analysis, a simple stress criterion of failure was adopted. If the principal stress in a mortar element exceeds the limiting value, the element is caused to have a zero elastic modulus in that direction and the constitutive matrix modified a cordingly. 54 RESULTS Strength Data obtained from both tests and analysis show, for the model, that considerably higher strength is obtained in biaxial than in uniaxial loading. Fig. 3 shows the increase in terms of the strength under uniaxial load fy* The strength increase is dependent on the arrangement of the aggregate particles as well as on stress ratio. For d/r 05, the maximum increase obtained experimental ly, was 32 percent, at a principal stress ratio of ©:/o, = 05, For equal biaxial compression (o; = a3) the strength increase was 24 percent. It is noted that the change in strength in the stress range between 02/0, = 0.2 and 1.0 was not significant. Analytical results confirm this ob- servation. ‘The effect of decreasing d/r from 0.5 to 0.2 was to decrease the strength of the model in uniaxial loading by about 10 percent. However, for biaxial compression, a similar change in distance had al- most no influence on strength. Comparison of analytical and experimental strength data showed an average deviation of analytical results from experiments of only about ‘Tpercent, and all trends were accurately reflected. External deformations Total deformation measurements in the prin- cipal directions served as the basis for stress- egoaths fy sanged from 2600 pl (19 glen) i dag" fadhttStacage Paha ae BASE Feat the’ experimental work’ and 3000 pal (Sit ot ‘experiment Fig. 3Strength envelope for model with d/r = 0.5 ‘ACI JOURNAL / AUGUST 1971strain relations. In Fig. 4 experimental relation- ships between major stress, o;, and average strains in both directions, e and ¢, are plotted Jn terms of the uniaxial strength {,’ for the mod- el with d/r = 06. It is significant that the introduction of a sec- ond principal stress substantially increased the stiffness of the model in the direction of the first principal stress. This behavior was confirmed by the finite element analysis; analytical results are shown in Fig. 5. A numerical comparison of ‘experiment and analysis is given in Table 1 For the uniaxial analysis, the load- deformation curve was nonlinear because of the internal micro- cracking; however, the biaxial analysis showed linear behavior since no cracks were formed. Ex- periments, in each case, gave an inelastic load- deformation curve, indicating either that not all microcracks were incorporated in the model, or that other effects were involved such as nonlinear response of the mortar or a triaxiality effect. No measurement was made of deformations in the third dimension. Splitting of biaxial specimens along a plane parallel to the slab indicates that such deformations are vital in failur Progressive cracking and failure modes Lateral deformation had a significant relation to the failure mode of the models. For uniaxial load, the transverse extension showed a rapid in- crease starting at about 40 percent of the ulti- mate load, and eventually the model failed by for- mation of cracks parallel to the loading (Fig. 6) a ett = a & 8 : ] 3 = fie 2 i | & a"! fh if i # : ake f mie | OR ~FBirsin ar ratio of tat fund i uniaxial cave ai contered with ttl Ease 05001000100 elongation contraction STRAIN-MICROIN PER IN Fig. 4 Experimental strass-strain curves for models with d/r=05 ‘ACL JOURNAL / AUGUST 1971 apie i 4 \ yo line iL r discontinuity elastic limit 4000 400 8001200 elongation contraction STRAIN-MICROIN PER IN Fig, 5—Stress-strain curves obt ‘analysis 1d from finiteFormation and propagation of microcracks were followed by x-ray. Crack patterns corresponding to some critical stages of loading are shown in Fig. 7. ‘The finite element analysis of the uniaxially loaded model indicated failure by formation of continuous crack patterns almost identical to those observed by x-ray. The response of the com- puter model to increasing load was automatical- ly generated by 33 consecutive load increments. Observations corresponding to several critical stages of uniaxial loading are as follows: 1. The model behaved elastically up to 36 per- cent of the ultimate load, when compression-shear bond cracks formed at the mortar-aggregate ii terface. These cracks are shown by dotted lines in Fig. 8a, On the stress-strain curve of the model for uniaxial loading (Fig. 5) the point correspond- ing to this load is labelled “elastic limit.” 2, With increasing load, these cracks propagated along the interface. At 40 percent of ultimate load, tensile-shear bond cracks formed as indi- ‘cated by solid lines in Fig. 8b. This was followed by a large amount of unstable crack propagation. ‘After tensile bond cracks formed at Locations 9 to 13 (Fig. 8) some of the previous interface cracks, which were formed under compression- shear, started to separate. These portions are shown by double lines in the figure. At this stage, the stress-strain curve was highly affected by Ole OOO G0) PEAS SOO} G00] DOO] PO Oe) ; 7 2) BE RORYunstable crack formation. This stage of loading is labelled “discontinuity” in Fig. 5 and elsewhere. 3. Up to 61 percent of ultimate load, the forma- tion of tensile bond cracks and separation of previously formed compression-shear cracks con- tinued. At this load the continued separation of the interface was arrested by overcoming com- gages I ond I: elongation 0ges I and IV: contraction ° 7000 2000 3000 STRAIN-MICROIN. PER IN Fig. 9—Local strains from experiment a mortar cracks tensile bond and mortar cracks 4 090 ODO 000 discontinuity elastic limit a2| I and Il: elongation Tl and 1V: contraction ° o 1000 2000 STRAIN-MICROIN PER IN 10—Local strains from finite element ACL JOURNAL / AUGUST 1971 alysis pressive stresses. The mortar regions over the cracked interface tended to slip downwards giv- ing rise to tensile stresses in the mortar. The sep- aration progressed into the mortar thus forming spproximately vertical mortar cracks, as shown 4. At 86 percent of the ultimate load these mor- tar cracks propagated upward and downward (Fig. 8e). A highly unstable crack configuration was reached. Additional mortar cracks formed over the crown of the aggregate, followed by crushing of mortar in these regions (Fig. 8£) The uniaxial load-deformation curve of the ‘model shown in Fig. 5 indicates an initial modulus of elasticity of about 28 x 10° psi (196,860 kkgt/em) [recall that the values of elastic mod- ulus for the mortar and the stone were taken as 2X 10" psi (140,614 kgf/cm?) and 5 X 10° psi (851,585. kgf/em*), respectively] Calculation of Poisson's ratio shows an in- crease from an initial value of 0.18 to 0.35 at the ultimate load Both experimental and analytical studies showed that lateral extension of the specimen was prevented when a minimum oy about 20 percent of was provided. The prevention of transverse extension meant that failure of the model could not occur by separation along vertical lines. Bi: axial experimental and analytical studies showed no evidence of any type of interfacial or mortar cracks perpendicular to the plane of the specimen. In such cases failure occurred by tensile splitting in the mortar, in a plane parallel to that of the specimen, along with some crushing in the plane of the specimen. Local deformations ‘The middle stone disc of the model may be re- garded as a typical piece of aggregate. In the ex- periments four strain gages were applied around its perimeter as shown in Fig. 9. Gage I was placed between two aggregates in the transverse direction. Gage II was also placed transversely but across the interface. Gages III and-IV were applied vertically on the mortar and direetly above the dise as shown. Load-strain relationships are shown in Fig. 9 for the uniaxial test. Gage II showed a large dis- continuity at about 70 percent of ultimate load, implying a separation at the interface, and con- firming the findings of the x-ray study. The ob- served load-local strain behavior was in good agreement with that predicted by analysis; load- strain curves found by both methods had almost identical shapes, as shown by Fig. 9 and 10. ‘The behavior of the biaxial specimen did not duplicate the uniaxial case. No local strain dis- 597continuities were found in the plane of the speci- ‘men in biaxial loading, nor were any microcracks observed in the experimental work. ‘CONCLUSIONS It has been demonstrated that an accurate quantitative analysis of a concrete model is possi- ble using a special adaptation of the finite element technique. By means of such an analysis, a new understanding is gained of the mechanism of failure, as well as of those factors influencing the stress-strain response. In addition, on the basis of the studies re- ported, certain conclusions were drawn with re- spect to the model, and, by implication, with respect to real concrete. The most important of these are stated as follows: 1. Significantly higher strength is attainable for a given material in biaxial loading than in uniaxial loading. The strength increase is de- pendent on the ratio of the principal stresses, and appears to be a maximum at a stress ratio of about 0.5, diminishing somewhat as the ratio is increased to unity. 2, The stiffness in the first principal direction is significantly increased by the introduction of principal stress in the perpendicular direction; i.e, compressive deformation in the first direc- tion is substantially reduced by compressive stress in the second direction. 3. When spacing of aggregate of one size is de- creased, uniaxial strength is decreased but biaxial strength is not affected appreciably. 4. In the uniaxial case, failure occurs by pro- gressive microcracking, starting at the aggregate- mortar interfaces, and later extending as tensile cracks through the mortar. In the biaxial case ‘tacks perpendicular to the plane of the specimen were neither observed by experiment nor pre- dicted by analysis. 5, In the uniaxial case, ultimate failure occurs by splitting in planes perpendicular to the face of the specimen and parallel to the load. In the bi- axial case, ultimate failure occurs by splitting along a plane parallel to the face of the specimen. These results indicate the possibility that frac- ture occurs whenever limiting tensile deforma- tions perpendicular to planes of loading have been exceeded." 6. Microcracking (when defined as limited to coarse aggregate-mortar interfaces) is a signifi- cant cause of the nonlinear load response, but cannot be the sole cause. While the contribution of these microcracks to nonlinear behavior of the uniaxial test specimen was shown by experiment and confirmed by analysis, significantly more curvature was observed by experiment than can be accounted for by the microcracking in the analysis (analysis was programmed for linear re- sponse of mortar). In addition, while no evidence of microcracking was detected in the biaxial tests or in the biaxial analysis, substantial curvature was observed in the stress-strain curves obtained from experiment. It is tentatively concluded that the characteristics of the mortar may be the most important additional cause of nonlinearity. It is inferred that the mortar itself should be con- sidered a nonhomogeneous system, subject to lo- calized effects analogous in every way to those in concrete, including local discontinuities at the sand-paste interface. The limitations of the present work suggest directions for further study. Biaxial compression- tension studies should be initiated. Experimental work should be extended to real concrete. A de- sirable intermediate step would be an investiga- tion of an idealized model having a gradation of aggregate sizes and a random distribution of in- clusions, Both experimental and analytical studies should be practical for this case. The two-dimen- sional representation of the material adopted for the present work is not entirely satisfactory even for the two-dimensional stress state considered; three-dimensional effects must be considered. Fur- ther, refinement to include the effect of stress his- tory on material response, as well as to include time-dependent effects such as shrinkage and creep, should be given a high priority. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ‘The work described formed a part of the PhD dis- sertation of the first author and was done at Cornell University under the direction of the second and third authors. The research was made possible through the support of Grant GK-10214 by the National Science Foundation. Valuable suggestions were made by Pro- fessor George Winter at several stages of the work ‘The assistance of Tony C. ¥. Liu is gratefully acknow!- edged. REFERENCES 1, Hsu, T. T. C; Slate, F. 0. Sturman, G. M.; and Winter, G., “Microcracking of Plain Concrete and the Shape of the Stress-Strain Curve,” ACI JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 60, No. 2, Feb. 1963, pp. 209-224, 2 Shah, S. P,; and Winter, G., “Inelastic Behavior and Fracture of Concrete,” ACI Jounxat, Proceedings 'V. 63, No, 8, Sept. 1968, pp. 925-090, 3, Hilsdorf, H, “The Specification of Biaxial Strength in Conerete (Die Bestimmung der Zwveiachsigen Festig- eit des Betons),” Bulletin No, 173, Deutscher Ausschuss flr Stahlbeton, ‘Berlin, 1965, 68 pp. 4. Kupfer, H.; Hilsdorf, H. 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