Three‐Parameter Failure Criterion for Concrete

Abstract

It is well known that concrete will fail in the form of cracking or crushing for the uniaxial tension or compression. However, it would be difficult to classify and define precisely the failure form for the multiaxial stress state with tension and compression. In this paper, a suggestion about the identification of cracking and crushing failure is given based on the macroscopical failure phenomenon of concrete. The failure criterion that can represent the cracking and crushing is also proposed. The present failure criterion involves three independent material parameters. They may be determined by the uniaxial tensile and compressive as well as equal biaxial compressive strengths. The comparisons between the failure criterion and both the experimental data and the theory suggested previously are made in biaxial, triaxial, and octahedral planes. These comparisons show that the present failure theory is able to predict the characteristics of failure and is available for both biaxial and triaxial stress state for the concrete.