Strain softening of rock, soil and concrete — a review article

This paper explores the physical bases of strain softening in rock, soil and concrete, in order to determine if such softening is a true property of these materials, and examines the effect that strain softening has on stress wave propagation in softening materials. It is concluded that the strain softening inferred in the usual manner from conventional laboratory tests is not a true material property of rock, soil and concrete and that strain softening can cause stress wave propagation problems for some softening materials to become ill-posed.