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Experimental analysis of compaction of concrete and mortar
Author(s) -
Burlion Nicolas,
PijaudierCabot Gilles,
Dahan Noël
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
international journal for numerical and analytical methods in geomechanics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.419
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1096-9853
pISSN - 0363-9061
DOI - 10.1002/nag.178
Subject(s) - cementitious , mortar , materials science , aggregate (composite) , hydrostatic equilibrium , compaction , porosity , geotechnical engineering , constitutive equation , compression (physics) , composite material , hydrostatic pressure , tangent , hydrostatic test , structural engineering , mechanics , cement , geology , finite element method , engineering , mathematics , physics , geometry , quantum mechanics
Compaction of concrete is physically a collapse of the material porous microstructure. It produces plastic strains in the material and, at the same time, an increase of its bulk modulus. This paper presents two experimental techniques aimed at obtaining the hydrostatic response of concrete and mortar. The first one is a uniaxial confined compression test which is quite simple to implement and allows to reach hydrostatic pressures of about 600 MPa. The specimen size is large enough so that concrete with aggregate sizes up to 16 mm can be tested. The second one is a true hydrostatic test performed on smaller (mortar) specimens. Test results show that the hydrostatic response of the material is elasto‐plastic with a stiffening effect on both the tangent and unloading bulk moduli. The magnitude of the irreversible volumetric strains depends on the initial porosity of the material. This porosity can be related in a first approximation to the water/cement ratio. A comparison of the hydrostatic responses obtained from the two testing techniques on the same material show that the hydrostatic response of cementitious materials cannot be uncoupled from the deviatoric response, as opposed to the standard assumption in constitutive relations for metal alloys. This feature should be taken into account in the development of constitutive relations for concrete subjected to high confinement pressures which are needed in the modelling of impact problems. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.