Mechanical Properties

Elson John
MACE
Concrete as a Composite Material
• Concrete is a multiphase material.

• In the macroscopic scale, concrete is a composite of

coarse aggregates embedded in cement mortar.

• In the millimetric scale, the mortar consists of sand

embedded in hydrated cement paste.

• In the microscopic scale, the hydrated cement paste

consists of C-S-H, Ca(OH)2, pores and unhydrated
cement.

• In the nanometric scale, the C-S-H is made up of

poorly crystallized agglomerations of particles and gel
pores.
 Concrete as a Composite Material
Multi-scale approach to the behaviour

Structural
scale

Material macro-
and millimetric-
scales

Microscopic
scale
Zerbino
 Elastic Behaviour
Composite models
• Parallel (or uniform strain) model:
EC = E1V1 + E2V2
• Series (or uniform stress) model:
1/EC = V1/E1 + V2/E2
where EC = modulus of elasticity of
composite
E1, E2 = moduli of elasticity of the
two components
V1, V2 = volume fractions of the
two components
In concrete, components 1 and 2 can be taken as the aggregate and
the paste matrix.
Concrete with hard aggregates conforms more to series model and
concrete with soft aggregates conforms more to parallel model.
Mindess & Young
 Elastic Behaviour
Composite models
• Hirsch model:
1  1   V p Va 
 x   (1  x)  
Ec V E V E  E E 
 p p a a   p a 
where Ec = modulus of elasticity of concrete
Ea, Ep = moduli of elasticity of the
aggregates and paste, respectively
Va, Vp = volume fractions of the aggregates
and paste, respectively
When there is no aggregate-paste bond then x = 0;
the model reduces to series model, and for
perfect bond, x = 1, becomes the parallel model.
At least for some concretes, x = 0.5.

Mindess & Young

 Elastic Behaviour
Composite models

• Counto model:

1 1  Va 1
 
Ec Ep  
1  Va / Va E p  Ea 
where Ec = modulus of elasticity of concrete
Ea, Ep = moduli of elasticity of the aggregates
and paste, respectively
Va, Vp = volume fractions of the aggregates
and paste, respectively

Mindess & Young

 Elastic Behaviour
Composite models
• Aggregate model:

 1  Va E p  1  Va Ea 
Ec   Ep
 1  Va E p  1  Va Ea 
where Ec = modulus of elasticity of concrete
Ea, Ep = moduli of elasticity of the aggregates
and paste, respectively
Va, Vp = volume fractions of the aggregates
and paste, respectively

Valid when there is no interaction between

aggregates and when there is perfect bond (?)
Young et al.
 Elastic Behaviour
Composite response

Young et al.
 Elastic Behaviour
Composite response

Baalbaki formula (1997):

Ec = 5.5 (Em)0.53 (Ea)0.22 (na)0.38

where Ec, Em and Ea are the

elastic moduli of the concrete,
mortar and aggregate,
respectively, and na is the
Poisson’s ratio of the coarse
aggregate.

Aïtcin
 Elastic Behaviour

Poisson' ratio
• Ratio between the magnitudes of the transversal
and axial strains
• Measured under uniaxial compression
• Usually between 0.18 and 0.24 for concrete
 Composite Response

Young et al.
 Composite Response

Aggregate type has a larger influence on compressive strength

than on elastic modulus, especially in high strength concrete.
Shah and Ahmad
 Composite Response Also Depends
on the Cement-Aggregate Bond
Factors that affect the cement-aggregate bond:
• Shape and texture of the coarse aggregate are
important; flexural and tensile strengths of concrete
made with rough aggregates maybe upto 30% higher
than those made with smooth aggregates.
• Vibration of the concrete is important for bond strength
since air voids tend to weaken the interface.
• The process of water absorption by the aggregates
improves bond; porous aggregates have an excellent
bond with mortar.
• Some aggregates, such as limestone, may react with
the cement, leading to better bond
 Compressive Failure
Factors that affect the compressive response in a test
• End restraint between specimen and loading platten

Increase in friction on the loading surfaces results in higher maximum load.

Young et al.
 Compressive Failure
Factors that affect the compressive response in a test
• End restraint between specimen and loading platten

Use of a soft loading platten or

intermediate layer will lead to a
reduction in the compressive
strength due to tensile stresses
in the contact zone.

van Mier
 Compressive Failure
Factors that affect the compressive response in a test

• Specimen dimensions
• Increase in the specimen slenderness decreases
the maximum stress.

Neville
 Compressive Failure
Factors that affect the compressive response in a test

• Loading rate
• A higher loading rate generally leads to higher strength
and a slightly higher elastic modulus

Neville Young et al.

 Compressive Failure
Factors that affect the compressive response in a test

• Loading surface of specimen

• The surfaces of the specimen that are placed
under load should be as parallel to each other and
plane as possible.
• Good quality rigid moulds should be used.
• For cylinders, sulphur mortar or other suitable
capping is needed to ensure plane top surface.
Failure of capping before that of specimen must
be avoided; for high strength concrete, cylinder
faces may need to be ground to get plane
surface.
 Compressive Failure
Factors that affect the compressive response in a test

• Testing machine characteristics

• Load capacity of machine should be at least 25%
higher than that of the specimen.
• Loading plate should be
spherically-seated. The radius
of curvature of the spherical
seating should be about
half of the specimen width
or diameter.

Aitcin
 Compressive Failure
Mode of cracking

Mindess & Young

 Compressive Failure
Stress-strain response
As the strength (or maximum
stress) increases, the stress-
strain curve under uniaxial
compression usually shows a
slightly higher elastic modulus,
a longer linear response and a
sharper post-peak descent.

Neville
 Compressive Failure
Stress-strain response

Beyond a certain axial

stress (σA), the transversal
strain increases
considerably causing an
apparent increase in the
Poisson’s ratio.

Mindess & Young

 Compressive Failure
Stress-strain response under confinement

As lateral confinement increases the

effective strength and ductility of the
concrete increase.

The effectiveness of the confinement is

lower for higher strength concretes.

van Mier
 Multiaxial Stresses
Mohr rupture diagram for concrete

Even though the Mohr-Coulomb theory is not directly applicable to

concrete, it is a convenient way of representing failure under multiaxial
stresses.
Mindess & Young
 Tensile Strength
Indirect tension test: Brazilian splitting-tension test

2P
 max 
 DL
where P is the load, and
D and L are the diameter
and length of the disk or
cylinder, respectively

Young et al.
 Tensile Strength
Relation between tensile and compressive strengths

Tensile strength of concrete is 8-12% of the compressive strength.

Neville
 Fatigue Strength
Fatigue load spectrum for concrete structures

Shah and Ahmad

 Fatigue Strength
Fatigue life is often represented through an S-N diagram
or Wöhler curve

Shah and Ahmad

 Steel-Concrete Bond
Bond failure of steel reinforcing bars occurs due to
crushing and cracking of the surrounding concrete
splitting cracks in the cover

confining action of concrete inclined cracks develop from the ribs

wedging forces from the ribs of the bar

van Mier
 References
• Concrete, S. Mindess and J.F. Young, Prentice-Hall, USA,
1981
• Properties of Concrete, A.M. Neville, Pearson Education, Delhi,
2004
• The Science and Technology of Civil Engineering Materials,
J.F. Young, S. Mindess, R.J. Gray and A. Bentur, Prentice Hall,
1998
• Concrete: Microstructure, properties and materials, P.K. Mehta
and P.J.M. Monteiro, Indian Concrete Institute, Chennai, 1999
• High-Performance Concrete, P.-C. Aïtcin, E&FN Spon, London,
1998
• High Performance Concretes and Applications, Eds. S.P. Shah
and S.H. Ahmad, Edward Arnold Publ., London, 1994