A physically consistent stress-strain model for actively confined concrete

With a special attention to the different stages of a typical loading path travelled in a fluid confined concrete test, this paper introduces a physically consistent model for the stress-strain curve of actively confined normal-strength concrete in the axial direction. The model comprises of the five elements of: (1) a criterion for the peak or failure strength, (2) an equation for the peak strain, (3) a backbone hydrostatic curve, (4) a transient hardening curve linking the point of departure from the hydrostatic curve to the failure point, and finally (5) a set of formulas for the post-peak region. Alongside, relevant details and shortcomings of existing models will be discussed in each part. Finally, the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed model have been verified in a set of simulations which compare well with the experimental results from the literature.