Triaxial mechanical behavior of early age concrete: Experimental and modelling research

Considering the triaxial behavior of concrete is highly related to its hydration process with curing temperature and time, the triaxial mechanical behavior of early age concrete under different curing conditions is investigated. Uniaxial/triaxial compression tests of a C30 concrete cured at representative temperature and time are performed while its pore characteristic is determined. Based on experimental analysis, a curing factor indicative of the effect of curing conditions is proposed and discussed by empirical functions. It is found that the uniaxial/triaxial failure strength and elastic modulus increase with curing factor, but the deformation decreases slightly. The pore structures evolve with curing factor. Furthermore, the influence of curing factor on the strength decreases with the confining pressure. Finally, a hydration dependent modelling is proposed by introducing curing factor. Numerical simulations show that the proposed modelling can well predict the triaxial mechanical behavior of early age concrete under different curing conditions.