New Test Method for Obtaining Softening Response of
Unnotched Concrete Specimen Under Uniaxial Tension
by Z. Li, S.M. Kulkarni and S.P. Shah
ABSTRACT--A new method was developed to obtain the
complete stress-deformation response of an unnotched
concrete specimen. This method employs a digitally con-
trolled closed-loop testing machine and five control chan-
nels: stroke LVDT and four LVDTs mounted on the
specimen. The test portion of the specimen was fully
spanned by these four LVDTs. The outputs of these control
channels and the load cell were monitored during the test
by a computer equipped with LabTech's Notebook soft-
ware. A 'C' language program was written to enable quick
switching of the mode of control from one LVDT to another.
The problem of uncertainty in the location of the major crack
was tackled by the said LVDT arrangement and the com-
puter program. It was demonstrated that it is always possi-
ble to obtain stable post-peak response provided one
ensures that at any time during the test, the feedback used
is the LVDT that exhibits, at that time, the largest slope of
the response-time curve. An acoustic emission (AE) meas-
urement system of six channels was also used in the
experiments. Monitoring of signals from the AE transducers
provided valuable information which helped in making the
decision to switch control.
Introduction
Compared with its compressive behavior, concrete's
tensile behavior has received little attention in the past;
partly because it is common practice to ignore tensile
resistance of concrete in reinforced concrete design. Inter-
est in tensile properties has grown substantially in recent
years. Some of the important reasons for this are: introduc-
tion of fracture mechanics in the field of concrete struc-
tures, advent of powerful computers, and increasing
availability of useful numerical techniques. However,
available information on the complete load-deformation
response of plain concrete and fiber-reinforced concrete
under tension is scarce, especially for an unnotched speci-
Z. Li and S.M. Kulkarni are Research Assistants, and S.P~ Shah (SEM
Member) is Walter P. Murphy Professor of Civil Engineering and Direc-
tor of NSF Science and Technology Center for Advanced Cement-Based
Materials, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208.
Original manuscript submitted: June 29, 1992. Final manuscript re-
ceived: February 25, 1993.
men. This is mainly due to control difficulties in direct
uniaxial tension test.
To obtain a stable response in the post-peak region for a
uniaxial tension test, one can use an elastic load-sharing
system parallel to the specimen (in the loading direction).
In this way, unstable failure near the peak load (resulting
from sudden release of stored elastic energy) is avoided.
Such a test was conducted by Evans and Marathe, l who
obtained the post-peak response for plain concrete by
pulling the specimen together with a steel frame. Peters-
2 . . . . . . .
son carned out a slmdar experiment using surf aluminum
columns. In his test, however, the load was indirectly
applied to the concrete specimen by heating the aluminum
columns. Schorn and Berger-Bocker3 followed Evans and
Marathe's idea and conducted a uniaxial tensile test with
the help of steel bars parallel to the specimen to get the post
peak response. A major drawback of the method of using
a parallel load-sharing system is that accuracy of the results
obtained is limited. Load shared by concrete is obtained by
subtracting the contribution of the load-sharing system
from the total load, implying subtraction of two relatively
large numbers to obtain a small number. It may be noted
here that significant difference exists in the test results
reported by Evans and Marathe, and Petersson.
Noting the disadvantages of the parallel load-sharing
method, attempts were made to perform tensile tests using
closed-loop control. Tensile failure of concrete is the result
of opening of a single 'major' crack. If the opening of the
crack is controlled in a closed-loop manner, gradual failure
can be obtained and instability near the peak load can be
avoided. However, since the location of the major crack
cannot be known a priori, choice of an appropriate control
channel is difficult if an unnotched specimen is used. A
pair of displacement sensors (one on each side of the
specimen) having a large gage length (perhaps covering
the entire specimen) can be used and a control signal can
be obtained by averaging the signals of the two sensors.
However, such a signal may lead to unstable failure near
the peak load as described later in this paper. Essentially,
this signal consists of two parts: (1) a monotonically in-
creasing part corresponding to the opening of the major
crack and (2) another part which increases in the prepeak
Experimental Mechanics 9 181
region, but decreases near the peak load. Often, dominance
of the second part forces the signal to decrease during the
test, leading to unstable failure. This has been explained in
some more detail later in this paper. If the gage length is
reduced significantly, the probability of the major crack
forming within the span of the two sensors reduces. If the
major crack forms outside the span of the sensors, the
specimen will fail in an uncontrolled manner near the peak
load. Consequently, such an attempt has a discouragingly
small success rate.
If the location of the major crack is predetermined by
introducing a notch in the specimen, opening of the notch
can be used as a feedback signal. Gopalaratnam and Shah 4
conducted such a test by introducing a double edge-notch
in the test specimen. Their feedback signal was notch-
opening displacement averaged for two sensors on the two
sides of the specimen. Following Gopalaratnam and
Shah's work, several researchers used notched specimens
to obtain the comsPlete tensile response. For instance, Li,
Chan and Leaung conducted a test by using compact-ten-
sion specimen to obtain tension-softening response of
mortar. Hordijk and Reinhardt 6 carried out a tension test
using a single-notched specimen. Cho, E1-Shakra and
Gopalaratnam7 used the notched-specimen technique to
study the toughening and failure mechanisms of fiber-re-
inforced concrete. One of the problems associated with a
notched specimen is that it forces the major crack to form
at a predetermined location. Also, the state of stress in the
specimen is not truly uniform. When a notched specimen
is used, it is not possible to study accumulation of damage
and strain localization--phenomena which are of great
interest in the failure process.
In the work reported here the above problems were
solved. A new test method to obtain the response of a
concrete specimen under uniaxial tension (without either
a notch or a parallel load-sharing system) was developed.
Details of Experiments
Closed-loop Digitally Controlled Testing
Machine
Tests reported in this paper were conducted using a
closed-loop digitally controlled testing system at North-
western University. This system, marketed by MTS Sys-
tems Corp., consists of a loading frame, a digital controller,
load unit control panel (LUC Pod), and a personal com-
puter. Any test performed using the machine is controlled
by the digital controller using the instructions of a com-
puter program (vendor-provided or user-written). MTS
Corp. provides a basic control software called TestStar.
Some 'high-level' applications such as the TestWare SX
program are also available which simplify the process of
'programming' a test. A 790 C programming interface is
also provided to allow users to write involved programs
for unconventional tests.
C Language Program for Uniaxial Tension Test
In order to resolve the aforementioned difficulties in
control, two major steps were taken: (1) The arrangement
182 9 September1993
chosen for displacement sensors (LVDTs) was such that
the entire test-portion of the specimen was spanned by four
LVDTs. (2) Readings of all four LVDTs were monitored
and a C language program, developed specially for the
purpose of this test, was used to enable rapid switching of
control among the control channels.
The experiment proceeded on an anticipatory basis.
From the monitored LVDT readings and acoustic event
data (described later), a continuous judgement of location
of the region of maximum damage (potentially the region
where the major crack may develop) was made, resulting
in the choice of a control channel. If the selected choice
was incorrect, that would be indicated by subsequent
LVDT response as well as the acoustic-activity signals
acquired. In such a ease, another choice was made. It was
found that the time required for the judging and the switch-
ing of the control mode was short enough (switching time
was about one second) to permit a stable post-peak re-
sponse for all the specimens tested.
Available application programs such as TestWare SX
do not currently provide the facility of such quick and
arbitrary switching among control modes when a test is in
progress. Hence development of a new program was nec-
essary. This program starts the test in stroke control by
applying a ramp function. At any point on this ramp,
depending on the user's judgement, it is possible to switch
control to any one of the four LVDTs by simply pressing
one of the 'Function keys' on the load unit control (LUC
Pod). After this, the user can continue the process of
switching control among the four LVDTs. Each time
switching is desired, one needs to press a designated
function key on the LUC Pod.
The program was complied by using Microsoft C 6.0 in
protect mode. After compilation, the executable file was
retrieved into TestStar through the System Administrator
program.
Specimen Preparation
Three types of specimens--plain concrete, steel-fiber-
reinforced concrete (SFRC) and polypropylene-fiber-rein-
forced concrete (PFRC) were prepared. The plain concrete
specimens were prepared using a mix proportion of 1 : 0.65
: 2.6 : 2,6 (cement: water : sand : coarse aggregate) by
weight. The SFRC specimens were prepared using a pro-
portion of 1 : 0.6 : 2.45 : 2.45 (cement: water: sand : coarse
aggregate) by weight. 0.5 percent by volume of hooked
steel fibers manufactured and provided by Bekaert Corp.
(designation ZC 50/0.50) were added into the mixture. In
addition, superplasticizer (1.7 ml per pound of cement)
was added to achieve reasonable workability. The PFRC
specimens were prepared with a mix proportion of 1 : 0.56
: 2.4:2.4 (cement: water: sand: coarse aggregate) by
weight. 0.5 percent by volume of fibrillated polypropylene
fibers (length = 50 mm) made by Fibermesh company were
added into the mixture. The mix proportions for fiber-re-
inforced-concrete specimens were selected so as to match
a round-robin test program on fiber-reinforced concrete.8
All the specimens were demolded 24 hours after casting
and left in a water bath for curing. The specimens were
tested at the age of 28 days. Two days before testing, the
specimens were taken out of the bath and left to dry. Steel
 330 turn

/ Spec~imen //~T -2'mm

Aligning pins I , , '!/'/~-~7 m~
\~,~ , AIi,qnfq,q ~ips e~ I"r .........
~~Loading end tabs~ . ~ _ _ _
/<--the bottom ~ "~-~6 5 mm

390 mm Base aluminunplate

Fig. lmProcedure for glueing steel end tabs to the
specimen

loading plates were then glued to the specimens. Before
glueing the loading plates, both the specimen surface and
the steel plates were polished with #400 sand paper and
cleaned with acetone. As shown in Fig. 1, to ensure good
alignment of the loading holes, two steel plates were first
fixed on the base aluminum plate through four aligning
pins. Well-mixed epoxy was then spread on the plates. The
specimen was placed on the plates and aligned carefully so
that the center line of the bottom plates and that of the
specimen coincided. Epoxy was spread on the exposed
(top) surface of the specimen, Next, the other two loading
plates were slid down on the top surface of the specimen
through the aligning pins. After squeezing out the air
bubbles, a 20-1b weight was placed on each of the top steel
plates to keep good contact during the epoxy hardening
process. The entire specimen size was 330 127 28 mm.
After gluing the loading plates, the test portion left was 127
127 28 ram.
Test Setup
The setup for the test is shown in Fig. 2. Two identical
loading fixtures were used: one mounted on the machine's
actuator and the other connected to the load cell. In each
fixture, a sliding steel block was provided which helped
center the specimen. This kind of setup provides boundary
conditions close to those provided by nonrotatable loading
platens. 9 The thickness of the loading plates was gradually
reduced (Fig. 1) from 9.5 mm to 1.6 mm to avoid a drastic
change in stiffness and consequent stress concentration.
Four LVDTs with a working range of 0.635 mm and gage
length of 69.85 mm were mounted on the specimen (Fig.
2). The signals from the LVDTs (including the stroke
LVDT) and the load cell were acquired using LabTech
Notebook software. The readings of all six sensors were
displayed in six individual windows (sensor reading as a
function of time) on the Notebook screen. These graphs
were useful in making decisions regarding switching of the
control mode. Six PZT transducers were also glued (Fig.
2) on the surface of the specimen to monitor the acoustic
emission (AE) activity.
]~ ~ ~ SteelPlatefor-
....................................................
I L~adTransfer
Fig. 2--Test setup
AE Data-acquisition System
Data-acquisition system shown in Fig. 3 was used to
acquire AE data. The system consisted of transducers,
preamplifiers and A-D modules. Six channels were em-
ployed. The transducers were purchased from Physical
Acoustics Corporation (model number micro 80). These
general-purpose transducers are made of piezoelectric
crystal and are hence called PZT transducers. They are
convenient to use because of their small size (9.5-ram
diameter and I l-ram height), negligible weight (5 g) and
desirable sensitivity. These transducers have an essentially
flat amplitude response of approximately _+9 dB in the
frequency range of 100 kHz to 1.2 MHz. The preamplifiers
used were also purchased from Physical Acoustics Corpo-
ration (model number 1220B). These preamplifiers have a
bandwidth of 20-1200 kHz and a gain of 40 or 60 dB
(interchangeable). In the system, channel A was used as a
trigger channel and was connected to a 6103 amplifier
trigger module. The other five channels were used as
working channels and were connected to five TR8837F
digitizer modules which have a digitizing rate of 16 MHz.
A 6128 fan-out module was used to receive the signal from
the 6103 amplifier and to trigger all working channels
simultaneously. A LeCroy 8901A interface board was
used to communicate with an IBM-AT via a GPIB cable.
The operation of the LeCroy system was controlled by
Physical Acoustics's CATALYST program which also
stored the digitized data on the computer's hard disk. 3000
data points were stored for each channel.

ExperimentalMechanics~ 183
 Test Results

Five plain concrete specimens, three PFRC specimens

-4 ~,m I
--I TrJc~t~er I
n| ,,,,i.
and three SFRC specimens were tested. Each test started
I E;128 I under stroke control with a ramp rate of 0.0156 mm of
I Fan-out I
_-r~. piston displacement per minute. At the beginning of the
"3 TR8837F |I loading [region A in Figs. 4(a) and 5(a)] the specimen
-J Di#i:'er
|

board
f....
|
E
~=BI IBM-
Cata
behaved elastically as expected and the outputs of the four
LVDTs increased linearly with time. Corresponding load-
deformation curves are shown in Figs. 4(b) and 5(b). The
readings of the LVDTs were almost identical in this region,
indicating uniformity of deformation throughout the speci-
men. As loading continued, (that is, at about 1/3 to 1/2 of
LeCroyData the peak load for plain concrete and 3/5 to 3/4 of the peak
I kquisition
System load for fiber-reinforced concrete) some AE events were
Data typically registered. Also, the readings of the LVDTs
Storage
started to exhibit some difference. The control mode was
then switched to the LVDT which exhibited the largest
Fig. 3--AE data-acquisition setup
time-rate of output. As the load increased further, more

S t e e l Fiber S p e c i m e n SFRC-F21 S t e e l f i b e r s p e c i m e n (SFRC-F21)

(0.5 p e r c e n t f i b e r by v o l u m e ) 20 ( 0 . 5 p e r c e n L by v o l u m e )

151
0.075

0.055 LVDT-3 LVDT-

"~

(D
0.035

0,015
I .~10

o
. A- r LVDT-4

-0.005
A: Stroke Control
B: LYDT-2, 4 or 1 Control
C: LVDT- 1 Control
-0.025 0~ ~-~
2000 4000 6000 8000 -0.0064 0.0037 0.0137 0.0237
Time (second) Displacement (ram)

Fig. 4--(a) Deformation-time curves for SFRC specimen SFRC-F21 ; b) Load-deformation curves for
SFRC specimen SFRC-F21

Deformation-time curves for concrete Load d i s p l a c e m e n t c u r v e s

specimen C - M I 0 for s p e c i m e n C - M 1 0
20:
0.069

LVDT-4
15-
B-C' r-4
~9= 0.029
LVDT-2//
.~ 1 0 ;
LVDT-3
0 LVDT-1
,-B
m~-0.011
LVDT-2 5;

A: Stroke control
B: LVDT 3 or 4 control
C: LVDT 4 control
-0.051
0 2000 4000 6000 0000 -0.010 O.OOO 0.010 0.020 0,030
Time (second) Displacement (ram)

Fig. 5--(a) Deformation-time curves for concrete specimen C-MIO; (b) Load-deformation curves for con-
crete specimen C-MIO

184 9 September1993
 AE s i g n a l s oeeured at t= 2380 second
for the specimen shown in Fig. 5 mation was used to decide the mode of control in cases
4.0 where two or more choices existed on the basis of LVDT
readings. In such cases, information from the latest AE
2 Transducer E
80 ~a; events was used to reduce the number of choices to one.
In fact, AE was given somewhat higher importance in such
Transducer D decisions. Although this might appear highly subjective,
success rate of the experiments conducted (almost 100
Transducer C percent) indicates that such subjectivity is not a significant
i 1.0 problem.
Locations of AE events that were registered during the
[- /ran time indicated by region A of Fig. 5(a) are shown in Fig.
7(a). Region A corresponds to time t bounded as 0 < t <
1490 s. (Please note that this source-location analysis was
-1.0 -~ ............. i, ............. i done after the test and is exact within limitations of experi-
O.O0000 0.00006 0.00012
Time (second) mental measurements.) Roughly speaking, these locations
Fig. 6--AE signals for the specimen C-M10 at are closest to LVDT-3. At the border between regions A
t = 2380 se and B in Fig. 5(a), control mode was first switched to
LVDT-3 despite the fact that slopes of the curves of
LVDT-3 and LVDT-4 were almost identical, and that the
reading of LVDT-3 was actually smaller of the two.
Source locations at a later time in the region B of Fig.
AE events were recorded, As explained earlier, and as 5(a) are shown in Fig. 7(b). Region B corresponds to the
indicated in Fig. 4(a) and Fig. 5(a), the control mode had time interval 1490 s < t < 2500 s. During this time,
to be changed frequently at this stage in accordance with acoustic events continued to originate at locations near to
the current time-rates of outputs of the LVDTs. In many either LVDT-3 or LVDT-4, that is, roughly in the right half
cases, near the peak load, one of the LVDTs showed a of the specimen, but these locations were otherwise ran-
rather sudden jump in its reading. For example, in Fig. 4(a), dom. Owing to this randomness, the control mode had to
LVDT-1 exhibits such a sudden jump (in comparison with be changed frequently between LVDT-3 and LVDT-4. In
other LVDTs). At that time, control was quickly switched this context, it is instructive to examine readings of LVDT-
to LVDT-1. (A slight delay in this operation would have 3 and LVDT-4 in the region B. Notice that the slopes of
caused unstable failure. It is at this point that the ability of
quick switching of the control anode is critically impor-
tant). After this time the controlling LVDT continued to
show a linear increase in output. Responses of the other 120.00
~fr
LVDTs exhibited a significant change in slope (of the
response-time curve). In fact, the slopes changed from Cr ~z
positive to negative. It is important to observe that LVDT- v 80.00

3 which was located on the opposite side of the controlling

LVDT (that is, LVDT-1) showed the largest change in
slope. This implies that in the post-peak region, the speci- I 40.00
>..
men tends to rotate in its plane as the major crack propa-
gates, mThe amount of rotation observed in a test obviously
depends on the boundary conditions provided by the load- r
0.00 . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ing fixtures used. 0.00 40.00 80.00 i 80.08
X-direction (mm)
AE e v e n t s d u r i n g stage A

D e f o r m a t i o a - t i m e curves for concrete

The Role of AE ~iraen C-MIO
0.089 y

Use was made of the AE signals to obtain qualitative

2 4X LVDT-4
information about cracking within the specimen. By in-
specting the signals on the CATALYST screen, it is pos-
sible to quickly deduce (albeit approximately) the location
of the AE source. An example is provided in Fig. 6. It is
clear from this figure that the source of this AE event is
closest to transducer B and farthest from transducer E. In 9e~
~ LVDT-2

other words, the source is closest to LVDT-1 and farthest

~:. Strolce c o n t r o l
from LVDT-4. Moreover, comparison of amplitudes of LVDT 3 o r 4 c o n t r o l
C: LVDT4 c o n t r o l
different signals obtained from two different events also --0.051 ~
2000
.....
4000
, ......... ,. . . .
6000
9 ....
8000
Time (second)
gives the experimenter an idea of relative amounts of
energy release corresponding to the two events. Fig. 7(a)-- Locations of AE events reg-
Information from AE events was u'sed as a supplement istered during stage A for specimen
to the information from LVDT signals. Often, AE infor- C-M10

ExperimentalMechanics 9 185
 120.00
120.00

80.00

BO.O0 r
0
c) I 40.00

I 40.00

4w~ ~,r 0.00

0.O0 40,00 80,00 120.00
X-direction (ram)
AE events during stage C
0.00
0.00 40.00 ao.oo 1~o.oo Deformation-time curves for concrete
X-direction mm) ~eoimen C-MIO

AE events during stage B 0.969

I . ' 3
D e f o r m a t i o n - t i m e curves for concrete LVDT 4
specimen C - k i 1 0
0.069 -~ 8.029

LVDT-3
g
~ L V D T - l
~-0.011
9~ 0.029 LVDT-2

DT-3 ~: Stroke control

LVDT3 or 4 control
CI LVDT 4 control
-0.051
~ ~ B IC "~_ _LVDT-t 2000 4000 6000 8000
Time (second)
~-0.011
c~ LVDT-2
7(c)-- Locations of AE events regis-
tered during stage C for specimen C-
A: Stroke control
B: LVDT 3 or 4 control M10.
C: LVDT 4 control
-0.051 ................... , ......... , . . . . . . . . .

0 2000 4000 6000 8000

Time (second)
Fig. 7(b)-- Locations of AE events regis- Y
tered during stage B for specimen C-MIO

the curves corresponding to LVDT-3 and LVDT-4 are

almost identical and that the reading of LVDT-3 is smaller
in magnitude compared to that of LVDT-4.
Near the end of region B, LVDT-4 reading was substan-
tially higher than all other LVDT readings. This observa-
tion, coupled with the then most recent AE event locations
(obtained approximately and in real time) suggested that
LVDT-4 be retained as the controlling LVDT at the end of
region B.
Figure 7(c) shows source locations of AE events registered
during the time t > 2500 s. Tendency of the AE sources to
concentrate in a rather narrow zone in the bottom right comer
is easily seen from this figure. This indicates formation of a
major crack. Trace of the major crack visually observed on
the surface of the specimen at the end of the test shown in Fig.
7(d) supports this conclusion.
Some Other Control Methods and Stability
of Tests
Obtaining stable failure in a tes[ depends on the feed-
back signal used. The phrase 'stability of control mode'
will be used in the following discussion to describe
whether a specimen undergoes gradual (stable) faiIure
,,~
Major crackposition
for concretespecimen
C-M10
7(d)-- Major crack position for
concrete specimen C-M10
when a given control mode is used. Results obtained from
this work can be used to examine stability of some control
modes that may be considered intuitive choices in a tension
test. We consider two such choices: (1) the signal obtained
by averaging the signals of the 'controlling' LVDT and the
LVDT situated on the opposite side (for example, LVDT-2
and LVDT-4). (2) Signal obtained by averaging the signals
of all four LVDTs. (This is the same as total extension of
the specimen.)

186 9 September1993
 Deformation-time curves for concrete S n a p b a c k c a u s e d by a v e r a g e o u t p u t
specimen C-)/iI 0 of f o u r LVDTs for s p e c i m e n C-MIO
0.06
5:
LVDT-4
i J

0.04
~3

~0.02

o ,, . . . . . , , i , , . . . . . . . i . . . . . . .
ooo 4000 0ooo ~176 0.0o0 0,005 0,010 o.015 0.020
Time ( s e c o n d ) Average o u t p u t of f o u r LVDTs ( m m )

Fig. 8~Three possible feed-back sig- Fig. 1 O---Snapback caused by average

nals for concrete specimen C-MIO of signals from all four LVDTs for speci-
men C-MIO

Snapback caused by average output Specimen C-M10

of LVDT 2 and 4 for specimen C-MIO

5.00
i 1
,.~ 4.00 t 1~~
.~4

~3 ~3.00

2.00

1.00

0 r ........ , ......... ~......... ,,,, ...... , ......... 0.00 ~ ....... i .... , .... ~ ~ T
0,000 0.005 0.010 0.015 0,020 0.025 0.000 0.020 0.040 0.060
A v e r a g e o u t p u t o f LVDT 2 a n d (mm) O u t p u t of LVDT-4 ( r a m )

Fig. 9--Snapback caused by average of Fig. 11--Stress-deformation curve for

signals from LVDT-2 and LVDT-4 for LVDT-4 of specimen C-MIO
specimen C-MIO

From the point of view of closed-loop control theory,
feed-back signals for which mechanics of the specimen-
machine system dictates reversal of sign of the slope of
response-time curve will lead to unstable failure at the
point where the sign reversal happens. If the sign of the
slope remains unchanged, then a well-tuned closed-loop
control mode is stable.
For the point of view of structural mechanics, any
system for which the load-displacement curve exhibits
snapback is unstable under either load or displacement
control.
Stability of the two control modes mentioned above can
be discussed with reference to Figs. 8-11. Data from plain
concrete specimen C-M10 is used in these diagrams. In
Fig. 8, the averaged signals exhibit reversal of the sign of
slope, whereas the signal from LVDT-4 increases mono-
tonically as the test proceeds. If the averaged signals are
used, they will lead to unstable failure. Figures 9 and 10
show stress-displacement diagrams corresponding to the
averaged signals. Figure 11 shows the stress-displacement
diagram corresponding to the signal of LVDT-4 (the con-
trolling LVDT). The fact that the averaged signals lead to
snapback implies that they are not suitable for control.
Signal from LVDT-4 does not lead to snapback and is
hence suitable for control.
Stress-deformation Curves
The stress-deformation curves obtained are shown in
Fig. 12 for three plain concrete specimens. The fact that
these curves are virtually coincident implies that the results
of this test method are quite reproducible. 'Deformation'
refers to displacement measured by the LVDT which was
in control in the post-peak region. The curves can be
divided into three parts: linear-elastic part, nonlinear pre-
peak part and post-peak part. In the first part, concrete
behaves elastically. Linear-elastic part is characterized by
uniform deformation and 'global' behavior of the material.
In the second part, due to the damage (indicated by occur-
rence of AE events) in the specimen, the modulus of the
material starts to reduce and thus nonlinearity appears in
the stress-deformation curves. Since damage does not hap-
pen uniformly in the specimen, behavior of the material
ceases to be 'global.'
After the peak-load, a major crack develops in the speci-
men. Behavior of the specimen in this region can be explained

Experimental Mechanics ~ 187


Uniaxial Teasiola Test Results:
Plain Concrete Specimens
4.00
S.O0,l ~
2.00
~
5')
1.00
-- S p e c i m e n C-F14
S p e c i m e n C-MI3
S p e c i m e n C-k126
0,00 ~
0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06
Displacement (turn)
Fig. 12--Stress-deformation curves for
three of the concrete specimens tested
with the help of fracture-mechanics theory. One of the
results from this theory is that stiffness of a specimen
(defined as the ratio of load to load-point displacement)
decreases as a result of growth of a crack. In the tests
described here, the test machine was issued a command to
apply load in such a way that the response of the control-
ling LVDT increased linearly with time, To do this in the
post-peak region, the machine must decrease the load on
the specimen in order to maintain equilibrium. Such reduc-
tion in load was explained in earlier works by hypothesiz-
ing that the material becomes 'soft' in the post-peak
region. Today, it is understood that 'softening' response in
tension is actually a manifestation of growth of a single
crack.
Figure 13 shows stress-deformation curves for the three
materials tested: plain concrete, PFRC and SFRC. General
characteristics of the curves are similar for these three
materials. However, fiber-reinforced concrete shows a
more ductile behavior (greater area under stress-deforma-
tion curve) as expected.
Conclusions
A method to obtain the complete tensile response of an
unnotched concrete specimen has been developed. Results
of the tests reported in this paper are believed to provide
important information about deformation history of four
different portions of the specimen, The test method re-
quires a digitally controlled testing machine and five con-
trol channels. The work reported here also demonstrates
usefulness of information from acoustic emission events
as a valuable guidance in controlling a tensile test al-
though, on a real-time basis, such information is of a
qualitative nature. A limitation of the experimental proce-
dure suggested here is that owing to the absence of fast and
reliable analysis procedure and computing power, it is not
possible to obtain exact source locations of AE events in
real-time. The basic control philosophy of this test method
has the potential to be used in a variety of other tests in
188 9 September1993
4oo/
U n i a x i a t T e n s i o n Test. R e s u l t s :
Plain and Fiber Reinforced Concrete
I - - S p e c i m e n SFRC-F21
5.00 -- S p e c i m e n PFRC-FI8
Specimen C-FI4
~3.00
er
U)2,001.I 00 ~.o~Pl
lypropyl
ainconcrene~
etefibe
~ " 0.00
0.08 0.10 0,000 0.020 0.040 0.060 0.080 0.100
Displacement (rnm)
Fig. 13--Comparison of typical stress-defor-
mation curves for the three materials tested
which arbitrary and quick switching among multiple con-
trol channels is needed for stable response.
Acknowledgment
This research is sponsored by a grant from U.S. Air Force
Office of Scientific Research managed by Dr. Spencer T. Wu.
Support from the NSF Center for Science and Technology of
Advanced Cement-Based Materials is also appreciated.
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