Creep characteristics and instability analysis of concrete specimens with horizontal holes

Uniaxial compressive strength test and uniaxial compression creep one were produced on four groups of twelve concrete specimens with different hole number by RLW-2000 rock triaxial rheology test system. The relationships between horizontal holes and instantaneous failure stress, the strain, and creep failure stress, the strain, and the relationships between stress level and instantaneous strain, creep strain were studied, and the relationship between horizontal holes and failure mode was determined. The results showed that: with horizontal hole number increasing, compressive strength of the specimens decreased whereas its peak strain increased, while both creep failure strength and its peak strain decreased. The relationships between horizontal holes and compressive strength of the specimens, the peak strain, were represented in quadratic polynomial, the relationships between horizontal holes and creep failure strength, the peak strain were represented in both linear and quadratic polynomial, respectively. Instantaneous strain decreased with stress level increasing, and the more holes in the blocks the less the damping of instantaneous strain were recorded. In the failure stress level, instantaneous strain reversally increased, creep strain showed three stages: decreasing, increasing, and sharp increasing; in same stress level, the less holes the less creep strain rate was recorded. The compressive-shear failure was produced along specimen diagonal line where the master surface of creep failure occurred, the more holes in a block, the higher chances of specimen failure and the more obvious master surface were.