Mechanical behaviour of different types of concrete under multiaxial compression

The strength of concrete under biaxial compression and triaxial compression is higher than the strength under uniaxial compression, but the level of increase is affected by factors such as the type of concrete, differences in testing machines, loading rate, etc. Based on this, an experimental investigation into the strength of normal air-entrained concrete (NAEC) under biaxial and triaxial compression loading conditions was carried out. The experimental results on NAEC were compared with the multiaxial compression strengths of other types of concrete obtained using the same testing machine. According to the test data, failure criteria and multiaxial ultimate strength envelopes in principal stress space were proposed. The test results indicated that biaxial compressive strength is higher than uniaxial compressive strength and the maximum increase of ultimate strength occurred at a biaxial compression stress ratio of 0·5 for all types of concrete. A relationship between biaxial compressive strength, triaxial compressive strength and stress ratio was developed. This work provides theoretical and experimental foundations for strength analysis of concrete structures.