Effects of frost-damage on mechanical performance of concrete.

The aim of this study is to provide the quantificational change laws of strength, stiffness, and deformation capacity of frost-damaged concrete relating to a united index, the data were obtained by different researchers. Then the index of relative compressive strength ( RCS) was introduced as the indicator of frost damage and a large number of mechanical performance testing data of frost-damaged concrete were collected and analyzed. By curve fitting, the correlations between RCS and the initial elastic modulus, the strain at peak compressive stress, and biaxial compressive strength, and tensile strength, and the strain at peak tensile stress were established. Thereafter, the analytical stress-strain response of frost-damaged concrete under monotonic loading was presented using RCS and compared with that of the experimental data. Moreover, an isotropic elastoplastic damage model of frost-damaged concrete subjected to repeated loading was established. Finally, we can systematically estimate the effects of frost-damage on the mechanical performance of concrete, which can be provided for the numerical simulation of frost-damaged concrete structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]