Experimental analysis of concrete behavior under high confinement: Effect of the saturation ratio

X.H. Vu (1, 2) , Y. Malecot (1, 2) , L. Daudeville (1, 2) , E. Buzaud (3)

1 3SR - Laboratoire sols, solides, structures - risques [Grenoble]
2 RV - Risques, Vulnérabilité des structures et comportement mécanique des matériaux
3 DAM/GRAMAT - GRAMAT

This study focuses on the identification of concrete behavior under severe triaxial loading in order to better evaluate the vulnerability of sensitive infrastructure to near-field detonations or ballistic impacts. For the purpose of reproducing high stress levels with well-controlled loading paths, static tests have been conducted on concrete samples using a triaxial press offering very high capacities (stress levels of around 1 GPa). It is a well-known fact that the concrete drying process is a slow phenomenon. Massive concrete structures, such as bridge piers, dams and nuclear reactors, could retain a quasi-saturated core throughout most of their lifetime, even though their facing dries very quickly. The objective of this article is to evaluate the effect of the saturation ratio on concrete behavior under high confinement; this article will present triaxial test results on concrete samples over a saturation ratio range extending from dried to quasi-saturated concretes. The subsequent analysis of results will show that the saturation ratio exerts a major influence on concrete behavior, particularly on both the concrete strength capacity and shape of the limit state curve for saturation ratios above 50%. This analysis also highlights that while the strength of dried concrete strongly increases with confining pressure, it remains constant over a given confining pressure range for either wet or saturated samples. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mots clés: Concrete behaviors; Infra structures; Ballistic impacts; Concrete drying; Nuclear propulsion; Nuclear reactors; Plasmas; Rock pressure; Testing; High stresses; High capacities; High confinement; Experimental analyses; Controlled loadings; Confining pressures; Concrete strengths; Concrete samples; Life-times; Limit states; Massive concretes; Near fields; Saturated concretes; Saturated cores; Saturation ratio; Static tests; Stress levels; Triaxial loadings; Subsequent analyses; Triaxial test; Concretes; Concrete construction

Domaines: Mécanique [physics.med-ph]

X.H. Vu, Y. Malecot, L. Daudeville, E. Buzaud. Experimental analysis of concrete behavior under high confinement: Effect of the saturation ratio. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 2009, 46 (5), pp.1105-1120. ⟨10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2008.10.015⟩. ⟨hal-01998319⟩