Experimental and theoretical investigation of the high-pressure behavior of concrete

The results of an experimental study aimed at characterizing the behavior of concrete for high confining Pressures (LIP to 500 MPa) are reported. The main characteristics of the response under deviatoric conditions are quasi-linearity in the elastic regime, stress-path dependency, and gradual change from compressibility to dilatanCy under increasing deviatoric stress. By performing the cyclic triaxial cornpression tests with several load-creep-unload and reload cycles, the time influence on the overall behavior was detected. Further, whether the main features of the observed behavior can be described within the framework of elastic/viscoplasticity theory was investigated. For this purpose, Cristescu's (Rock Rheology. Kluwer Academic Publishers: The Netherlands, 1989) approach was used. It was shown that the proposed elastic/viscoplastic model captures the main features of concrete behavior at. high pressures. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.