Materials and Structures/Matbriaux et Constructions, 1991, 24.

61-65

53-MTCFINALREPORT

Fracture of concrete u n d e r m u l t i a x i a l stress -

recent d e v e l o p m e n t s

J. G . M . V A N MIER
Del[~ University of Technology, Department of Civil Engineering, Stevin Laboratory, PO Box 5048, 2600 GA De(ft,
The Netherlands

R. A. VONK
Eindhoven Universityof Technology. Department of Architectural Engineering, Van Musschenbroek Laboratory, PO Box 513,
5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands

The paper reviews the influence of structural effects on the softening of concrete in multiaxial
compression. The post-peak stress-deformation response of concrete subjected to uni- and
multiaxial compression is influenced by geometrical and boundary condition effects.
Comparison of results obtained by various investigators indicates that fracture in compression
is a localized phenomenon. Conical intact material elements are separated by discrete shear
bands. Structural effects determine the movement of the intact blocks with respect to one
another. Material aspects of softening include the appearance of intact (grain) bridges in the
shear bands, and frictional restraint in the shear band. The similarities with fracture in
uniaxial tension are outlined. In the latter case crack interface grain bridging is observed too,
which is considered as the salient characteristic of the fracture of brittle disordered materials.

1. I N T R O D U C T I O N prescribed boundary conditions. The measured response

With the development of non-linear numerical tools for
the analysis of reinforced concrete structures, the interest
in the total stress-strain behaviour of concrete has
increased. Because the models are, in principle, capable of
a full three-dimensional analysis, the fracture properties
of concrete subjected to generalized multiaxial stress
should be known too. Recent experience has shown that
continuum-based models are no longer useful as soon as
macroscopic fracture occurs. The main problem of
boundary condition influences, already manifest in the
pre-peak region of the stress-strain curve (e.g. [1]),
becomes most pronounced in the post-peak or softening
regime of the load-deformation diagram. In fact, recently
researchers became aware of the fact that structural
rather than material response is measured in the post-
peak regime [2, 3]. However, more recent work has
indicated that a less rigorous point of view must be taken.
Although the structural effects on softening are very
pronounced, some of the observed response must be
attributed to material behaviour as well. The main task of
the experimentalist is to separate the structural and
material-related aspects of softening.
An experiment designed for the determination of the
properties of a material can be interpreted as follows. A
specimen made of the material under consideration, with
a given size and shape (geometry), is loaded under
0025-5432/91 ~3 RILEM
in an experiment is the load-deformation diagram at a
characteristic point. The measured response is a true
property of the material only when it can be determined
independent of geometrical and boundary related
influences. In the present paper the results of a recent
study on the geometrical and boundary condition effects
on the fracture of concrete subjected to uni- and
multiaxial stress are presented. Fracture in uniaxial
compression or uniaxial tension is considered as a
multiaxial phenomenon. The experiments were carried
out with the true triaxial machine at Eindhoven
University of Technology. The main difference in this
machine from previously developed multiaxial test set-
ups is that the specimen fractures in a stable and
controlled environment, facilitating the determination of
the complete load-deformation diagram of cubic
specimens subjected to multiaxial stress. A detailed
description of the testing technique can be found
elsewhere [21.
2. F R A C T U R E O F C O N C R E T E IN UNIAXIAL
COMPRESSION
Let us first examine the response of a concrete specimen
(100mm cube) loaded in uniaxial compression. An
example of a stress-strain curve is shown in Fig. la. The
global a-e diagram measured with LVDTs between the
62 5 3 - M T C Multiaxial testing o f c o n c r e t e

~I (N mm-2) o lop (-)

-50- (a)
1.2
-40-
1.0.
-30"
0.8.

-20- - 0.6

-10 0.4-
/ ~, ~.~
f \..,.. ~-
0.2-
0 I I I [ I l [ [
0 -2 -4 -6 -8 e (%~
0 I I I [ I I I II
0 -2 -4 -6 EI(~
E 1 (%0)
Fig. 2 Size effect on localization in uniaxial compression:
(b) prisms (A = 100mm x 100ram) with variable height loaded
h,, between short brushes. D = 100ram; H/D=( ) 1/2
(ao = 39.5 N mm- 2), (__. __) 1/1 (Go= 42.6 N mm- z),
-3 / \ strain - ( - - - ) 2/1 (ap =40.5 N mm-2).
peak stress I \ gauqe
. :465s ! / \ pos, ons
]" / 11
-2- ~:~'%"'llJ 15 11 14 Fig. 2 the results of uniaxial compression tests on prisms
of different height are shown. The specimens were loaded
between the short brushes mentioned before. The stresses
are normalized. No significant effect of specimen slender-
1 /" I "" . . . . "-2-10 costing- ness (H/D) on peak stress was measured [2], and it seems
I .P ~ 14 surface that fracture initiation was identical in all three experi-
ments. In this respect it should be mentioned that it is
6 ' 2oo' 46ot' 6bo' 8o0 looo 2oo assumed that fracture initiation occurs pre-peak, at the
Fig. t Complete stress-strain curve in compression: peak a critical flaw has developed, and beyond the peak
(a) stress-average strain curves measured ( ) between the the flaw size increases gradually, leading to macroscopic
loading platens (euo,.p0 and (--.--) at the specimen surface fracture of the specimen. The results of Fig. 2 clearly
(e.l.~urr);and (b) local surface deformations ~t.~,,ragainst indicate that the ductility of the specimen increases when
average axial strain euoa.pJ.-
the height is decreased. However, when the curves are
presented as stress-post-peak deformation diagrams, the
loading platens (in the current example the loading difference between the softening curves vanishes [2]. This
platens were short brushes, brush rod size 5 mm x 5 mm, can readily be observed from Fig. 2 by simply multiplying
rod length 85 mm) has the usual shape. Initially the load the post-peak strain in each test by the specimen height.
can be increased, near the peak the response becomes These results indicate that softening in compression is a
gradually more non-linear, and subsequently a drop of highly localized phenomenon, in principle similar to the
load-carrying capacity is measured with increasing axial localization of cracking in tension. Recently it was shown
deformation. When surface deformations are considered, that the effect can be described with a series coupling
unloading is observed beyond the peak. In fact, as shown model for localization [7]. Note, however, that the effect
in Fig. lb, highly non-uniform deformations are meas- can only be observed when the complete softening zone is
ured beyond the peak and the fracturing of the specimen enclosed within the measuring length of the LVDTs. If
seems to proceed from the outer surfaces into the interior softening occurs outside the measuring length, different
of the specimen. The carrying capacity beyond the peak phenomena become important and the effect is missed as
seems directly related to the carrying capacity of an intact in the work of Shah and Sankar [8].
core [2]. This type of fracturing may be the result of
tensile eigenstresses near the specimen surface due to non-
2.2 Boundary shear effects in softening
uniform drying out, but may also be caused by non-
uniformities in load application such as stress con- Due to differences in lateral expansion between the
centrations in the corners of the cubic specimens. concrete specimen and the loading platens, frictional
forces develop between the specimen and the loading
platen. A triaxial state of stress develops near the end-
surfaces of the concrete specimens, thereby affecting the
2.1 Geometrical effects on softening response of a specimen in an experiment. The results
The post-peak behaviour is highly affected by specimen shown in Fig. 3 were obtained by loading 100 mm cubes
geometry [2, 4] and boundary condition effects [5, 6]. In between four different types of loading platens [5] in
 Materials and Structures
~i (N m m - 2 )
-60
-50 ./I
-40
-30 /
~20 ! Note that none of the loading systems investigated can
# \
-10
G I i ]
0 -2
Fig. 3 Influence of boundary restraint in uniaxial
compression. Each curve is the average of two tests. (--.--)
Dry platen, ( - - ) short brush, (---) long brush, (. . . . )
Teflon.
uniaxial compression in the vertical axis of the Eindhoven
true triaxial machine. Each curve is the average of two
tests. The variants under investigation were: dry steel
platens, short brushes (mentioned before), long brushes
(brush rod size 5ram x 5ram, rod length l l 9 m m ) and
greased steel platens with Teflon sheets. The results
indicate that the post-peak ductility decreases in the
order: dry steel platens, short brushes, long brushes,
Teflon. When the frictional restraint of the various
loading systems is compared as in Fig. 4 (see Vonk 1-9] for
the detailed measuring results), it is obvious that the post-
peak ductility decreases with decreasing frictional
restraint. The results of Vonk et al. [5] are in agreement
with previously reported data [6]. Also, though this is
known from the work of others too [1], the peak stresses
are influenced by the frictional restraint of the loading
average shear stress (N mm-2)
6 /
/ q
5 /
/ -60-
4- /
/
3 /
0 ~- , __...~=~S~-
0 -1 -2 -3
Fig. 4 Calculated average shear stress-strain curves for the
different loading systems of Fig. 3. (-----) Dry platen, (
short brush, ( - - - ) long brush, (. . . . ) Teflon.
63
system. Note that according to the results of Fig. 4, long
and short brushes perform better than Teflon, which
displays the well known stick-slip behaviour at small
.... . .-.
~._~._... '"--.-. deformations (high shear stress). This may also explain
why the peak stress is not affected in the size experiments
with short brushes (Fig. 2). The assumption of identical
fracture nucleation at peak stress in these experiments
may indeed be valid. The frictional restraint of Teflon is,
however, considerably less in the post-peak regime, and
the post-peak ductility is smaller.
"---... be qualified as the 'best' loading system. The 'best' loading
platen would be a platen which follows the lateral
deformations of the specimen exactly during the entire
test.
I I i J Both specimen size (and shape) and boundary shear
-4 -6 E1(% o) effects influence the peak stress and the post-peak
response. With low frictional restraint identical pre-peak
responses are measured, and the peak stress is the same
(Fig. 2). With a higher restraint, variations in peak stress
are evident when the specimen slenderness H I D is varied
[4] (Fig. 5). The cube tests I-2, 5] revealed a fracture
mechanism of alternating conical rest-pieces of more or
less intact material separated by shear fractures. Also it
was found that the inclination of the shear fractures
would vary depending on the frictional restraint [5, 6].
Thus, at low restraint, shear fractures will develop at a
slightly smaller inclination, and the effect of external
shear on the specimens response will be relatively small
(Fig. 3). On the other hand, with high post-peak restraint,
the movement of the intact blocks is more restricted and a
more ductile test-result is obtained (Fig. 5). Comparison
of the results from Fig. 2 which were obtained from prism
tests between short brushes and the rock tests between dry
steel platens reported by Hudson et at. 1-4] (Fig. 5)
indicates that the localized failure mode is preserved
irrespective of the boundary constraint.
The question now is whether the above results imply
that the softening of concrete here (and also in tension) is
only a structural effect. Close scrutiny of the results of
vacuum impregnation tests on specimens loaded in
~1 (N mm -2)
/ ~\\
-40
-20 ~.
0 I I I "~ I I I
-:: ~'~--,
- "---~ 0 -2 -4 -6 ~ (%~
-4 -5 -6 ~ (%,)
Fig. 5 Size effect in uniaxial compression tests on Cherokee
marble: cylinders of diameter 101.4 mm with variable height
loaded between dry steel platens (after Hudson et al. [43).
H/D=( ) 1/2, (--.--) I/1, ( - - - ) 2/1.
 64 5 3 - M T C Multiaxial testing o f concrete

multiaxial compression [5], and comparison of these

results with recent findings of similar impregnation tests
in tension [10], yields however a somewhat different view.

3. FRACTURE O F C O N C R E T E U N D E R
MULTIAXIAL C O M P R E S S I O N
In Fig. 6 the influence of boundary shear in triaxial
compression is shown [5]. Each curve is the result of two
experiments. The loading path was a proportional stress
path: al/a2/a 3 = - 1 / - 0 . 3 0 / - 0 . 0 5 . The specimen was a
100 mm cube. The overall result o f these tests is similar to
the results presented in Fig. 3 for uniaxial compression.
The only difference is that the response of experiments
with frictionless platens is almost identical. In fact this
result is to be expected. From rock testing it is known that
the effect of boundary restraint decreases with increasing
confinement [10].
Fracturing of the specimens occurs along very well-
defined shear bands, and the localized failure mode of
concrete subjected to multiaxial compression is shown in
Fig. 7a. The shear bands develop in a plane normal to the
intermediate principal stress a=. Note that the shear
bands are not continuous but that intact grain bridges are
present at some locations which may still be capable of
stress transfer. This is considered as the salient feature in
the fracture of brittle disordered materials. The fract'ures
do not evolve as continuous separations in the material,
but rather as highly tortuous discontinuous planes. The
residual carrying capacity in multiaxial experiments is
directly related to the progressive failure of these material
bridges over the shear band, in combination with fric-
tional restraint in the shear band. The second effect (fric-
tional slip) becomes more pronounced at high levels of
confinement. The same mechanism was recently observed Fig. 7 (a) Localization of fracture in multiaxial compression
in a study on the softening behaviour of concrete sub- (Teflon platen, e.L= 2.13%, see Fig. 6); and (b) localization of
jected to uniaxial tension [I1]. Figure 7b shows an fracture in uniaxial tension (average crack opening
example of a grain bridge in a tensile crack which was w = 200/~m, after Van Mier [ 11]).
loaded up to 200/2m. The residual carrying capacity of the
specimen was at this moment 2% of peak stress. Several
Cr1 (N r a m - 2 )
grain bridges are visible in the continuous crack.
The fracture mechanism in tension and compression is
/ .~ j./"1 shown schematically in Fig. 8. The primary mechanism is
-140
the development of discontinuous crack branches with
~2 /~I
-120
/ overlapping crack tips, and the secondary mechanism is
-100
the development of a continuous macrocrack (or shear
band). In the latter process only one o f the overlapping
-80 crack branches opens, whereas the other crack branch
- 60 closes as depicted in Fig. 8. The similarity between the
fracture of concrete subjected to tension and (multiaxial)
- 40.
compression at the micro-level seems evident.
- 20

I I
20 10 0 -10 -20 4. C O N C L U S I O N
E2,% I%,l E~I%)
Fig. 6 Effect of boundary shear in multiaxial compression. The combined effect of specimen size and boundary shear
Proportional load path a j a z / a 3 = -1/-0.30/-0.05. Each on the fracture of concrete in compression is discussed.
curve is the average of two tests. (-----) Dry platen, ( ) Both effects have a pronounced influence on the complete
short brush, ( - - - ) long brush, (. . . . ) Teflon. stress-strain diagram. Increasing the boundary shear or
Materials and Structures
primary mechanism
(a)
" \grain bri/~dging
(b)
~ aggregate
par tides
Fig. 8 Primary and secondary cracking in (a) tension and (b) compression.
decreasing the specimen slenderness H I D will yield more
ductile stress-strain curves with a high peak stress.
Comparison of the results leads to the conclusion that
fracture o f concrete in comprcssion is a highly localized
phenomenon. The residual carrying capacity o f speci-
mens at high levels o f axial deformation can be explained
from intact grain bridges and frictional restraint in the
shear band~ The two latter effects can be interpreted as
material softening. Intact crack interface (grain) bridges
were recently observed in tensile cracks too [11]. The
growth o f discontinuous cracks with overlapping tips
near aggregates is considered to be the salient fracture
mechanism of brittle disordered materials.
REFERENCES
1. Gerstle, K. H. et al., 'Strength of concrete under multiaxial
stress-states', in Douglas McHenry International Sym-
posium on Concrete and Concrete Structures, ACI-SP55-
5 (1978), pp. 103-131.
2. Van Mier, J. G. M., 'Strain-softening of concrete under
multiaxial loading conditions', Dissertation, Eindhoven
University of Technology, Eindhoven (1984).
3. Read, H. E. and Hegemier, G. A., 'Strain-softening of rock,
soil and concrete--a review article', Mech. Mater. 3 (1984)
271-294.
4. Hudson, J. A., Brown, E. T. and Fairhurst, C., 'Shape of the
complete stress-strain curve for rock', in 'Stability of
65
secondary mechanism
9 9 OOo.o 9
bridge failure
I / ]~-- "shear
band"
Rock Slopes', Proceedings of 13th International Sym-
posium on Rock Mechanics, University of Illinois,
Urbana, 1971, edited by E. J. Cording (ASCE, New York,
1972), pp. 773-795.
5. Vonk, R. A., Rutten, H. S., Van Mier, J. G. M. and Fijneman,
H. J., 'Influence of boundary conditions on softening of
concrete loaded in compression', in 'Fracture of Concrete
and Rock - Recent Developments', edited by S. P. Shah,
S. E. Swartz and B. Barr (Elsevier Applied Science,
London, 1990), pp. 711-720.
6. Kotsovos, M. D., 'Effect of testing techniques on the post-
ultimate behaviour of concrete in compression', Mater.
Struct. 16 (91) (1983) 3-12.
7. Ba2ant, Z. P., 'Identification of strain-softening constitutive
relation from uniaxial tests by series coupling model for
localization', Cement Concr. Res. 19(6) (1989) 973-977.
8. Shah, S. P. and Sankar, S., "Internal cracking and strain
softening response of concrete under uniaxial com-
pression, A C I Mater. J. 84 (1987) 200-212.
9. Vonk, R. A., 'Influence of boundary conditions on the
softening of concrete in compression', Research Report
TUE/BKO-89,14 (Eindhoven University of Technology,
1989).
10. Paterson, M. S., 'Experimental rock deformation - the
brittle field" (Springer, New York, 1978).
11. Van Mier, J. G. M., 'Internal crack detection in single edge
notched concrete plates subjected to uniform boundary
displacement', in 'Micro-Mechanics of Failure of Quasi
Brittle Materials', edited by S. P. Shah, S. E. Swartz and
M. Wang (Elsevier Applied Science, London, 1990),
pp. 33-42.