Behavior in Compression

Stress-strain in compression
Compressive stress strain curve of primary interest Obtained by strain measurements in cylinder tests or by measuring strains on compressive side of beams

Properties of constituents strongly influence nature of stress strain curve

Since aggregate strength has a strong influence on concrete strength the nature of the aggregate is very important

Existing micro cracks

Detailed measurements show that a slight curvature exists in the stress-strain curve from the beginning of the loading. This is because existing microcracks start propagating as soon as the external load is applied. These microcracks exist in the unloaded concrete due to differential shrinkage and thermal mismatch between aggregates and matrix. With increase in load, these microcracks propagate into the matrix and form continuous macro-cracks around the peak of the stress-strain curve.

Crack propagation: fracture mechanics

How do these micro-cracks propagate? This is the subject of the fracture mechanics of concrete. However crack propagation in concrete is considerably more complex than crack propagation in brittle materials. This is because concrete is a quasi-brittle material. Following initiation of tensile damage it fails rapidly i.e. the post damage initiation strains are small compared to the strains prior to initiation of tensile damage. However unlike brittle materials there is some non-zero post damage initiation strain

Crack propagation: fracture mechanics

Instead of sharp cracks characteristic of brittle materials, blunt notches, where there is a distinct plastic fracture process zone at the crack tip, are found to occur. Fracture in concrete is therefore not governed by linear elastic fracture mechanics in contrast to brittle materials.

Sharp crack brittle failure LEFM

Blunt notch quasi brittle so long as fracture process zone is small

Elasto-plastic fracture process zone

Modes of cracking
Cracks can propagate in three modes: tensile opening (Mode I), in-plane sliding (Mode II) and out of plane sliding (Mode III). Combination of these three modes is also possible.

Mode I

Mode II

Mode III

Because of the heterogeniety in the microstructure a single sequence of events cannot explain the propagation of microcracks and their coherence into macrocracks. Multiple possible scenarios exist

Mechanism I
The simplest case is the single void or aggregate embedded in a continuous matrix.
Let us consider a stiff aggregate particle embedded in a soft matrix.

Matrix flow around aggregate

Two interfacial cracks have developed along the sides of the aggregate due to differential shrinkage.
Since the matrix stiffness is much smaller than the aggregate stiffness, the deformation of the matrix material is much higher than the aggregate due to the compressive loading Thus there is a tendency of the matrix material to flow around the aggregate. Because of the flow of the paste around the aggregate, shear stresses develop along the interface the shear stress being higher for rough aggregates as compared to smooth aggregates.

 The interfacial shear stresses have a tensile component thus the pre-existing interfacial cracks are subjected to lateral splitting load. These loads may cause the cracks to propagate.

Shear stresses at matrix aggregate interface

The situation is quite different above and below the aggregate. Because of the mismatch in the Poisson ratio, for the same compressive stress the aggregate tends to expand laterally to a significantly lesser extent than the matrix. This results in shear stresses at the top and bottom interfaces that act to restrict local expansion of the mortar. Thus the mortar just above and below the aggregate is confined.

Conical confined region

A triaxial state of stress thus develops just above and below the aggregate. The behavior of concrete in triaxial compression is very different from unconfined concrete: the confining stresses restrict crack growth and the mortar in the conical confined zone exhibits ductile behavior. However away from this zone, when the confining effect of the shear stresses below and above the aggregate are no longer adequate, crack propagation and crack growth can occur.

This typically results in shear cracks forming along the boundaries of the conical confined region.

Shear plane at boundary of conical confined region

Crack formation is induced by the flow of the mortar outside the confined conical region past the boundaries of the confined conical region.
Shear stresses develop at the boundaries. These regions of high shear stresses result in the formation of shear planes (zones of high shear deformation). When these shear stresses exceed the shear strength of the mortar, damage occurs and cracks develop at the shear plane. The existence of shear cones on top and below the aggregate particles have been shown in experiments.

Material parameter values

It is however clear that for this crack growth mechanism to be valid, the material parameters must be conducive to the formation of this mechanism.
The Youngs modulus of the aggregate has to be substantially higher than that of the matrix material only this will result in flow of the matrix past the aggregate. The bond strength of the matrix and the aggregate is also crucial, because it determines whether interfacial cracks occur or not. The shear/tensile strength of the matrix material is also crucial, since it determines failure along the shear planes of the cone.

Alternative mechanisms
The roughness of the aggregate surface is also important because it determines the amount of confinement provided to the top and bottom of the aggregate. Even supposing that all these material properties are conducive to the formation of the above mechanism, this failure mechanism may not actually occur.
This is because of the inherent limitations of the mechanism it considers the behavior of a single stiff particle in a soft matrix. Since the amount of matrix material surrounding the aggregate directly influences the deformability or flow of the matrix around the aggregate, presence of a neighbouring aggregate i.e. interaction between aggregates may severely limit flow.

 An alternative mechanism for micro-crack propagation considers concrete to be a stack of (idealized spherical) particles
Application of compressive stresses result in splitting tensile stresses being developed The splitting forces are assumed to be driving forces in the fracture process and explain (partly) the growth and propagation of microcracks
Direction of external loading

Mechanism - II

tensile crack

Shielding through arch formation

However the stack mechanism assumption leads to the conclusion that some discs carry no load at all they are shielded by other larger discs along which the load transfer occurs
arch

unloaded disk

Photoelastic experiments with an assemblage of discs have also shown similar behavior large stress concentrations occur at the contact points between various particles.

Shielding through arch formation

However the discs which are located under the arches are not stressed to any significant extent.
The arching or shielding phenomenon is not observed in experiments with irregular photoelastic particles. This is probably because irregular particles fill up voids much more efficiently i.e they result in optimum packing. Thus many more of the particles are involved in load transfer. In practice both of the mechanisms contribute to the growth and propagation of microcracks. The second model explains the initiation of cracks resulting from splitting forces that originate from the interaction of the aggregate particles.

Combined mechanisms
In this mechanism the origin of the microcrack is distinct from differential shrinkage or thermal expansion which sought to explain the occurrence of microcracks at the aggregate matrix interface entirely due to the interaction of the aggregate and the mortar.
It is possible that a sufficient number of tensile cracks originating from the interaction of the aggregates is likely to give rise to the large lateral deformations that occur in unaxial compressive tests. However this model (Mechanism II) cannot alone explain the growth of shear cones found in experiments. The second mechanism probably contributes significantly to crack initiation. However the first mechanism is necessary to explain the crack propagation process through the development of shear zones which ultimately contribute to global failure

 The initial micro structure is also significantly influenced by the casting process. This is because in the casting direction, weak zones typically develop preferentially under the larger aggregate particles. The zone immediately under the larger aggregates can be thought of as shadow zones where there is limited exposure to mortar penetrations and voids are more likely to occur. This preferential alignment of weak zones in the casting direction is reflected in the anisotropy in response to loading. Different (higher) initial stiffness is measured when the loading direction is rotated with respect to the direction of casting.

Influence of casting on microstructure

Influence of casting on microstructure

Casting Direction

Accumulation of weak planes or voids under large aggregate particles

 In addition if the specimen is loaded in the direction of casting, the stress-strain curve shows a more ductile response. Loading parallel to the direction of casting tends to close the microcracks beneath the aggregate particles and impede crack growth. This is in contrast to the stress-strain response to loading in a direction perpendicular to the direction of casting

Influence of casting on microstructure

Perpendicular loading is more favourable to the propagation of cracks that occur beneath the aggregate particles since Mode II shear cracks can then propagate along the loading direction.

Perpendicular vs. Parallel Loading

Casting Direction Casting Direction

Loading parallel to casting direction prevents growth of Mode I cracks

Loading perpendicular to the casting direction may lead to the growth of the micro cracks in shear

parallel to casting
Perpendicular to casting

Influence of casting on microstructure

For loading parallel to the casting direction, the microcracks can only grow when, through incremental growth, they extend along the sides of the aggregates and are partially aligned parallel to the loading direction.
In that case, in plane shearing and sliding (Mode II) leads to crack growth. The above discussion, as stated earlier, assumes that the aggregate is much stiffer than the matrix. However this may not be true for light weight aggregates.

Microstructure in light weight aggregates

In that case the cracks tend to run through the aggregate particles which are now loaded as in a splitting tension test.
The lateral extension of the aggregates also force splitting cracks to develop in the mortar matrix parallel to the loading direction. In the composite most of the load is carried by the matrix material which has higher stiffness now.

Normal weight vs light weight

Concretes with light weight aggregates have an initial tangent modulus that is significantly smaller than the tangent modulus for normal weight concrete.
Also, the peak strength of normal weight concrete is in general higher than that of light weight concrete. Recall that light weight aggregates e.g. slag and sintered fly ash are primarily used for insulating purposes or masonry units Normal weight aggregates include natural material such as sand, gravel and crushed rock such as granite, basalt and sand stone. Artificial material such as broken brick and air cooled slag are also used.

Normal Weight vs Light Weight

( psi ) 12
Normal wt

( psi )
Light wt

4
.001 .002 .003 .004

.001 .002 .003 .004

Normal weight vs Light Weight

The compressive strength of normal weight concrete is reached at a strain of between .002 and .003. For light weight concrete this is reached at between .0035 and .004
All curves show a descending branch after peak stress has been reached. However the characteristics of the curves after peak stress has been reached is highly dependent on the method of testing In order to obtain a stable unloading branch, typically a feedback mechanism must be present in the testing apparatus.

Measuring the unloading response

This is to control the loading rate in response to the decreasing resistance of the cylinder in order to ensure a constant strain rate In such cases a long stable descending branch can be obtained.
In the absence of special devices, unloading past the point of peak stress may be rapid. This is particularly true for high strength concrete which is more brittle than normal strength concrete

Early strength vs normal strength

Information about compressive strength is usually obtained 28 days after casting.
However cement continues to hydrate after this age at a decreasing rate. High early strength cements produce more rapid gain in strength at early ages than normal strength concrete, however the rate of gain in strength in later ages is less. For early strength concretes, often the strength is specified at 7 days rather than 28 days.

Early strength vs normal strength concrete

c c28
1.2

Normal strength
1.0

0.8

Early strength

0.6

0.4

0.2

time
7 days 28 days 5 years