Behavior of Concrete under Varying Strain Gradients

Stress-strain relationships developed for concrete subjected to concentric compressive loadings are used to predict the response of concrete subjected to eccentric loadings. The computed response is compared with the results of 19 test specimens subjected to strain gradients in which the strain at one face of the specimen was held at zero and the strain at the other face was varied. The results indicate that under monotonic loading to failure, the stress strain curve for concrete subjected to strain gradients is essentially the same as for concrete subjected to uniform strains. The response of concrete under repeated eccentric loading is reliably predicted using the stress-strain relations developed for concrete under repeated concentric loading.