Current World Environment

Vol. 10(Special Issue 1), 782-788 (2015)

Constitutive Model for Concrete: An Overview

MEHDI SHEKARBEIGI* and HASAN SHARAFI

School of faculty Engineering, Razi University, kermanshah, Iran.

http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.10.Special-Issue1.94

(Received: November, 2014; Accepted: April, 2015)

Abstract

In the last three decades, the constitutive modelling of concrete evolved considerably. This
paper describes various developments in this field based on different approaches such anelasticity,
plasticity, continuum damage mechanics, plastic fracturing, endochronic theory, microplane models,
etc. In this article the material is assumed to undergo small deformations. Only time independent
constitutive models and the issues related to their implementation are discussed.

Key words: Constitutive modelling, Plasticity, Failure criteria,

Continuum damage mechanics, Endochronic theory, Microplane model.

INTRODUCTION conditions of a particular problem. These statically

and kinematically admissible sets are independent
Concrete is a heterogeneous, cohesive- of each other, and to link them material constitutive
frictional material and exhibits complex non-linear relations are required ( Buyukozturk et al., 1985).
inelastic behaviour under multi-axial stress states. In recent decades, considerable effort has been
The increased use of concrete as primary structural undertaken to achieve this goal has resulted in partial
material in building complex structures such as success. With the present state of development
reactor vessels, dams, offshore structures, etc., of computer programs related to finite element
necessitates the development of sophisticated method, inadequate modelling of engineering
material models for accurate prediction of the materials in general and concrete in particular is
material response to a variety of loading situations. often one of the major factors limiting the capability
The new development swhich are taking place in of structural analysis (Chen., 1982), (Bouzaiene
the area of concrete technology resulted in new et al.,1997).Concrete contains a large number of
generation of concretes, which are better in terms of micro-cracks, especially at the interface between
performance, such as high strength concrete (HSC) aggregates and mortar, even before the application
( Khaloo and Ahmad (Ju, J.W., 1989 ), ACI state-of of the external load. Many theories proposed in the
art report (ACI Committee 363., 1984), (Candappa literature for the prediction of the concrete behaviour
et al., 2001), reactive powder concrete (RPC), high such as empirical models, linear elastic, nonlinear
performance light weight concrete (HPLC) and self elastic, plasticity based models, models based
compacting concrete, etc.( Kmita., 2000) and Aitcin on endochronic theory of inelasticity, fracturing
further stressed the need for new material models. models and continuum damage mechanics models,
micromechanics models, etc., are discussed in the
Concrete structures are often analyzed by following sections.
means of the finite element method. Analysis of a
tructural engineering problem by finite element method Empirical models
is based on solution of a set of equilibrium equations The material constitutive law is, in general
and a kinematically admissible displacement field. gained through a series of experiments (Chen, W.F.,
These are supplemented by boundary and initial 1994). The experimental data is then used to propose
783 SHEKARBEIGI & SHARAFI., Curr. World Environ., Vol. 10(Special Issue 1), 782-788 (2015)

functions, which describe the material behaviour, stress.Smith and Young.

by curve fitting. Obtaining the experimental data −e
is not so easy. Even for the uniaxial case, there ep
is little information available on strain softening s = Ee ...(3)
portion and the difficulties are much more in case
of multiaxial stress situations. One reason for E
where, e = , E 0 inital tan gent mod ulus.
insufficient experimental information after peak E0
is due to difficulties associated with the testing The European Concrete Committee (CEB)
techniques of materials (Popovics, S., 1970). Many for short-term loading gives a parabola and astraight
testing machines used for standard compression line up to ultimate strain u å as
test apply increasing loads rather than deformation
s kh − h 2
which results in uncontrolled sudden failure after c
=
peak load. Several investigators have developed s u 1 + (k − 2)h ...(4)
techniques to overcome this difficulty but some of where óc is the cylindrical compressive
them are costly which require stiff testing equipment strength of concrete.
which is not available in a normal testing lab (Shah et ó u = Ultimate stress
al.,1984). In most laboratories, cylindrical specimens
are used for triaxial testing but the type of loading is h=
eu
, k=
[0.0022(1.1E )]
unfortunately not truly triaxial in nature. The loading 0.002 s ...(5)
u

may be. Sometimes these are called untrue triaxial The value of åu is given between 0.003 and
test or false triaxial test. Several investigators tried 0.0035
to develop a true triaxial system where all the three
principal stresses can be varied independently and A monotonically increasing uniaxial stress
also for obtaining homogeneous state of stress in and axial strain equation proposed by Sarginand
specimens. Bangash reported experimental results modified by Attard and Setunge
for triaxial compression (see Figure 3).
Another reason for the scarcity of test data is scatter A
X +BX 2
Y= 2
of the test data associated with machine precession, 1+ C
X +D
X ...(6)
testing technique and statistical variation of material X , Y r e fe r s t o s t r e s s a n d s t r a i n
properties from sample to sample. non-dimensional zed with respect to the
correspondingvalues at peak stress. Where A, B, C
Figures 1,2 shows a typical uniaxial and D are material constants (Shah., 1984).Richard
compressive and biaxial stress-strain curves and Abbott (Richard et al., 1975) proposed a three
respectively. Some ofthe uniaxial stress-strain parameter stress-strain relation
relations proposed by various researchers are given E1e
s = + E pe
below:Desayi and Krishan (Desayi et al., 1964) 1
  E e n  n
1 +  1  
  s 0  
Ee  
...(7)
s = 2
 e whereEp is plastic modulus,óo is a reference
1+   plastic stress,Ep1 = E “E and n is a shapeparameter of
e 
 p ...(1) stress-strain curve.Carreira and Chu [16] proposed
where Ã, µ are stress and strain tensors, a stress-strain relation for reinforced concrete in
E is Young’s modulus, p µ is strain at peak stress. tension
Saenz (Sanez.,1964) b
e 
b 
Ee st
=  e' 
s = 2 s 't e 
 e  e   e  b − 1 +  
1+  − 2  +   et '  ...(8)
E  e   e 
 p  p   p  ...(2) where stress corresponding to the strainå,
where Ep is Young’s modulus at peak s t point of maximum stress,straincorresponding to
 SHEKARBEIGI & SHARAFI., Curr. World Environ., Vol. 10(Special Issue 1), 782-788 (2015) 784

maximum stress s 't , b is a parameter depends on

the shape of thestress-strain diagram.Mander et For triaxial tension and compression
al.
E0eiu
e s =
s pc r  E0  eiu e  e
e pc 1 + R + − 2 − ( 2 R − 1)  iu  + R ( iu ) 3
s =  Es  eic  eic  eic
r
 e 
r −1 +   where
e 
 pc  ...(9) s ic
E0 ( − 1)
s if e
where s pc and e are peak stress and strain
pc R=
eic
− ic
Es ( − 1) 2 e if
of confined concrete. eif
Ec
r=
Ec − E s s if eif
, Coordinates of some point on
s pc the descending branch of the stress-equivalent
Ec = 5000 s , Es =
e pc straincurve.
...(10)
Gerstle proposed a biaxial stress-strain
relation by conducting biaxial compressionTests Apar t from the above many stress-
strain relations specific for ascending branch
 −2 G0  and fordifferent kind of loading are available in
 goct 
 t oct the literature (Popovics.S., 1970 and Chen W.F.,
t oct = t p (1 + e 
1994).
...(11)
Go = Initial shear modulus.
Linear elastic models
t oct Linear elastic models are the simplest
= Octahedral shear stress.
constitutive models available in the literature( Chen,
goct = Octahedral shear strain. WF., 1994 ). In linear elastic models concrete is
treated as linear elastic until it reaches ultimate
tp strength and subsequently it fails in brittle manner.
= Peak octahedral shear stress obtained from
the failure envelope. For concrete under tension, since the failure strength
is small, linear elastic model is quite accurate and
Equivalent uniaxial stress-strain relations Chen sufficient to predict the behaviour of concrete till
[8] are also available for biaxial andtriaxial stress failure. Linear elastic stress-strain relation using
conditions of concrete. For biaxial compression index notation can be written as (Ahmad and
Shah)

E0eiu s ij = Fij (e kl ) s ij = Cijkl e kl

s =
E e e 
2
Fij Cijkl
1 +  0 − 2 iu +  iu  Where is a function and represents
E
 s e
 ic  eic  material stiffness.
...(12)
Eo = Initial tangent modulus of elasticity.
But this simple linear elastic constitutive
law is often inappropriate as concrete falls under
s ic pressure sensitive group of materials whose general
Es =
eic =Secant modulus at the maximum (peak) response under imposed load is highly nonlinear and
compressive stress. inelastic. Also, in case of reversal of loading, these
models fail to predict the concrete behaviour.
eic = Equivalent uniaxial strain corresponding to
peak compressive principal stress. Nonlinear elastic models
Concrete under multiaxial compressive
eiu = Equivalent uniaxial strain. stress states exhibit significant nonlinearity and
785 SHEKARBEIGI & SHARAFI., Curr. World Environ., Vol. 10(Special Issue 1), 782-788 (2015)

linear elastic models fail in these situations. stress-strain and failure behaviour of material
Significant improvements can be made in this under multidimensional stress states (Domingo et
situation using nonlinear constitutive models. There al.,Chuan-Zhi et al, Tsai, Richard et al. ) have certain
are two basic approaches followed for nonlinear advantages and disadvantages, which depend, to
modelling namely secant formulation (Total stress- a large extent on their particular application. Yield
strain) and tangential stress strain (Incremental) criteria, flow rule and hardening rule are the three
formulation. Incremental stress-strain relation using corner stones of any plasticity model.In plasticity
index notation can be written in the following form. theory the total strain increment tensor is assumed to
t
be the sum of the elastic and plastic strain increment
ds = Cijkl de kl
ij
Here Cijkl is the tangent material tensors
stiffness.
ds ij = ds ije + ds ij
p
...(13)
Plasticity based models
Classical plasticity based models form a big Hooke’s law provides the necessary
group in literature in the recent past. The mechanism relationship between incremental stress and elastic
of material non-linearity in concrete consists of both strain. The plastic part of the strain increment tensor
plastic slip and micro cracking. The large variety needs a flow rule to define the direction of plastic
of models which are available to characterize the flow as explained bellow.

Fig. 1: Uniaxial stress-strain curve Fig. 2: Biaxial stress-strain curve

Fig. 3: Triaxial stress-strain curve

 SHEKARBEIGI & SHARAFI., Curr. World Environ., Vol. 10(Special Issue 1), 782-788 (2015) 786

Yield criteria Endochronic theory of inelasticity

Yield criteria of material should be known In the classical plasticity-based models,
from experiments. Bridgman in his experiments finding the yield surface pose many problems and
pressure showed that hydrostatic pressure has an attempt was made to develop a continuous
negligible effect on the yield point but this is not the model for inelastic behaviour which did not require
case with all the materials. Concrete is one such the existence of the yield condition. This model is
material whose behavior is influenced by the effect based on the concept of intrinsic(or endochronic)
of hydrostatic pressure. Yield criterion, which are time, defined in terms of strain or stress and used
hydrostatic pressure dependent and hydrostatic to measure the degree of damage occurred to the
pressure independent. internal structure of the material. This model was
primarily developed for metals by Valanis. Sandler
Flow rules studied its stability and uniqueness and Rivlin
A stress increment dó to the current state critically evaluated the theory. It has been extended
of stress ó results in elastic as well as plastic strain, to concrete By Bazant et al, to fibre reinforced
if the stress state falls outside the elastic region. To concrete by Reddy and Gopal.
describe the stress-strain relationship for an elastic-
plastic deformation, we must define flow rule which Endochronic model can describe inelastic
define the direction of the plastic strain increment volume dilatancy, unloading, strain softening,
without any information regarding magnitude. Flow hydrostatic pressure sensitivity and pinching of
rule may or may not be associated with the yield hysteresis loops under cyclic loading. Even though
criteria. this model gives superior results, its popularity is
restricted by its complexity.
∂Q
deijp = dl The numerous numerical coefficients
∂s ij
...(14) required for the development of a constitutive law are
estimated by curve fitting of available experimental
Where dl is a non-negative scalar; Q is data. The main obstacle in the development and
plastic potential function. application of this method is the large number of

Fig. 4: Willam and Warkne five-parameter model

Fig. 5: Microplane and stress-strain components on a microplane

787 SHEKARBEIGI & SHARAFI., Curr. World Environ., Vol. 10(Special Issue 1), 782-788 (2015)

parameters required. As a result, this model has Tensor, etc.) are proposed (Mazars and Cabot,
not undergone further development in the last 15-20 Kratzig and Polling and implemented for concrete.
years. Various damage models such as elastic damage,
plastic damage (Ju, Lee et al), damage model
The intrinsic time î (on pseudo-time scale) using bounding surface concept (Voyiadjis ),Wu and
introduced by endochronic theory is Komarakul na nakorn presented an endochronic
z
dz theory of continuum damage mechanics, models
x = ∫ f (z )
0 for cyclic loading, etc. are available in the literature.
where f (z ) > 0 and dz > 0 .The value of f (z ) Continuum damage mechanics based material
is a history-dependent material function. A typical models in the literature basically followed two
constitutive equation for linear endochronic theory approaches one inspired by plasticity and the
with pseudo-time measure z is as allows (which is other followed the thermodynamic fundamentals
similar to a linear viscoelastic model) and energy balance.In the first approach, similar
x to plasticity, assumes a damage surface, damage
∂e kl
s ij = ∫ Eijkl (x − z ' ) loading function and a consistency condition where
∂e '
0 ...(15) as in the second approach assumes a free energy
potential in the form of Helmholtz or Gibbs subjected
Fracturing and continuum damage models to the satisfaction of Clausius-Duhem inequality.
These models are based on the concept
of propagation and coaleesence of micro cracks, CONCLUSIONS
which are present in the concrete even before the
application of the load. Damage based models are In this article concrete constitutive modelling
often used to describe the mechanical behaviour of based on various approaches, their implementation
concrete in tension. In the earlier class of models and the aspects related to strain space formulation
(Dougill, plastic deformation is defined by usual flow are discussed. Elasticity based models are simple
theory of plasticity and the stiffness degradation is and material is modelled up to peak. Many attempts
modelled by fracturing theory. The second class for proposing a suitable failure criterion for concrete
of models is based on the use of a set of state can be found in literature. These efforts resulted in
variables quantifying the internal damage resulting a realistic failure model such as Willam and Warnke
from a certain loading history. The fundamental five parameter and subsequently a three parameter
assumption in these models is that the local damage model of Menetrey and Willam. These models
in the material can be averaged and represented in represent concrete behaviour in a realistic manner.
the form of damage variables, which are related to
the tangential stiffness tensor of the material. The One advantage of theory of plasticity
models of this category can describe progressive is the simple and direct calibration of the stress
damage of concrete occurring at the microscopic state. The yield surface corresponds to a certain
level, through variables defined at the level of the stage of hardening to the strength envelop of
macroscopic stress-strain relationship Krajcinovic concrete, and thus has a strong physical meaning.
and Fonseka. Continuum damage mechanics was The theory of plasticity has a very long tradition
introduced by Kachanov in 1958 for creep related and hence implementation of the formulation is
problems and has been applied to the progressive efficient and thermodynamic validity is assured.
failure of materials. In 1980s, it was established One of the disadvantages is the indirect calibration
that damage mechanics could model accurately the of the deformation behaviour in the form of plastic
strain-softening response of concrete (Krajcinovic, potential.
Lemaitre, Chaboche ). Considering the material
as a system described by a set of variables and a Plasticity theory heavily depends on the
thermodynamic potential, constitutive law is derived assumption of existence of a yield surface. This
which has to obey the kinematics of damage. Various assumption poses a problem while applying plasticity
models of gradually increasing complexity with theory to concrete, where a well defined yield surface
choice of potential and damage parameter (Scalar, and experimental data related to yield surface are
 SHEKARBEIGI & SHARAFI., Curr. World Environ., Vol. 10(Special Issue 1), 782-788 (2015) 788

insufficient. This difficulty gives rise to new theories micromechanics, etc. Each of these models has their
such as endochronic theory, micro plane theory, own strengths and weaknesses as discussed in the
etc. above sections.

Concrete structures subjected to complex It is very important to choose a reasonable

stress states exist widely. Modern analytical tools constitutive model in research and design as it
like finite element method demands a realistic affects the design accuracy to a great extent. More
constitutive model. This need has given researchers experimental results in complex stress states and
a chance to explore various approaches such as more realistic material models are demanded for
endochronic theory, continuum damage mechanics, research and engineering application in the future.

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