Acoustoelastic Response of Concrete under Uniaxial Compression

Experiments were conducted to evaluate the acoustoelastic behavior of concrete under uniaxial compression. In the first part of the paper, third-order acoustoelastic parameters were experimentally determined for 14 specimens made with 10 different mixtures (nine concretes and one mortar) using ultrasonic pulse velocity measurements of waves propagating perpendicularly to load direction. In the second part of the research, acoustoelastic stress-strain relations, based on Murnaghan third-order parameters determined in the experiments, were used to model concrete behavior and to evaluate changes in concrete elastic properties. Results demonstrate the relevance of the acoustoelastic effect in concrete mechanical behavior and proves that concrete becomes anisotropic due to the acoustoelastic response (acoustoelastic-induced anisotropy).