A Performance Dependent Failure Criterion for Normal & High Strength Concretes

Abstract

A new approach to describe the maximum strength criterion of concretes with different strength capacities is formulated. The proposed failure criterion incorporates the so-called “performance parameter” (βP) that controls the dependence of the maximum strength on the concrete quality. To assure the feasibility of the solution procedure for any possible set of known data, different methods are proposed to determine βP according to the available material data. The performance dependent strength criterion presented in this work is expressed in terms of the Haigh Westergaard stress coordinates and as a function of four material parameters that fully define the compressive and tensile meridians of the failure criterion. The variation of the shear strength between these two meridians follows an earlier elliptic interpolation. The proposal includes approximating functions that define the dependence of the above mentioned four material parameters on the two fundamental mechanical properties of concrete: the uniaxial compressive strength f′c and the performance parameter βP. The capability of the proposed criterion to predict peak stresses of both normal- and high-strength concretes is verified with experimental data available in the literature corresponding to uniaxial, biaxial, and triaxial compression tests.