Strain-rate sensitivity of concrete: Influence of moisture content

Understanding the behavior of concrete under dynamic loading great significance in earthquake engineering. Moisture content has an important influence on the strain-rate effect of concrete. In this study, both tensile and compressive experiments were carried out to investigate the rate-dcpendent behavior of concrete. Tensile experiments of dumbbell-shaped specimens were conducted on a MTS810 testing machine and compressive tests of Cubic specimens were performed on a servo-hydraulic testing machine designed and manufactured at Dalian University of Technology, China. The strain rate varied in a wide range. The analytical formulations between the dynamic strength and strain rate were proposed for both compressive tests and tensile tests. It was concluded from the results that with the increasing strain rate, strengths of specimens with both moisture contents tended to increase and the increase seemed to be more remarkable for the saturated specimens: based on the experimental observation, a better explanation for the dynamic behavior is presented.