Compressive strength

In mechanics, compressive strength (or compression strength) is the capacity of a material or

structure to withstand loads tending to reduce size (compression). It is opposed to tensile
strength which withstands loads tending to elongate, resisting tension (being pulled apart). In the
study of strength of materials, compressive strength, tensile strength, and shear strength can be
analyzed independently.

Measuring the compressive

strength of a steel drum

Some materials fracture at their compressive strength limit; others deform irreversibly, so a given
amount of deformation may be considered as the limit for compressive load. Compressive
strength is a key value for design of structures.

Compressive strength is often measured on a universal testing machine. Measurements of

compressive strength are affected by the specific test method and conditions of measurement.
Compressive strengths are usually reported in relationship to a specific technical standard.

Introduction
 Tension Compressi
on

When a specimen of material is loaded in such a way that it extends it is said to be in tension. On
the other hand, if the material compresses and shortens it is said to be in compression.

On an atomic level, molecules or atoms are forced together when in compression, whereas they
are pulled apart when in tension. Since atoms in solids always try to find an equilibrium position,
and distance between other atoms, forces arise throughout the entire material which oppose
both tension or compression. The phenomena prevailing on an atomic level are therefore similar.

The "strain" is the relative change in length under applied stress; positive strain characterizes an
object under tension load which tends to lengthen it, and a compressive stress that shortens an
object gives negative strain. Tension tends to pull small sideways deflections back into
alignment, while compression tends to amplify such deflection into buckling.

Compressive strength is measured on materials, components,[1] and structures.[2]

The ultimate compressive strength of a material is the maximum uniaxial compressive stress
that it can withstand before complete failure. This value is typically determined through a
compressive test conducted using a universal testing machine. During the test, a steadily
increasing uniaxial compressive load is applied to the test specimen until it fails.The specimen,
often cylindrical in shape, experiences both axial shortening and lateral expansion under the
load. As the load increases, the machine records the corresponding deformation, plotting a
stress-strain curve that would look similar to the following:

True stress-strain curve for a typical

specimen

The compressive strength of the material corresponds to the stress at the red point shown on
the curve. In a compression test, there is a linear region where the material follows Hooke's law.
Hence, for this region, where, this time, E refers to the Young's modulus for
compression. In this region, the material deforms elastically and returns to its original length
when the stress is removed.

This linear region terminates at what is known as the yield point. Above this point the material
behaves plastically and will not return to its original length once the load is removed.

There is a difference between the engineering stress and the true stress. By its basic definition
the uniaxial stress is given by:

where F is load applied [N] and A is area [m2].

As stated, the area of the specimen varies on compression. In reality therefore the area is some
function of the applied load i.e. A = f (F). Indeed, stress is defined as the force divided by the area
at the start of the experiment. This is known as the engineering stress, and is defined by

where A0 is the original specimen area [m2].

Correspondingly, the engineering strain is defined by

where l is the current specimen length [m] and l0 is the original specimen length [m]. True strain,
also known as logarithmic strain or natural strain, provides a more accurate measure of large
deformations, such as in materials like ductile metals[3]

The compressive strength therefore corresponds to the point on the engineering stress–strain
curve defined by

where F* is the load applied just before crushing and l* is the specimen length just before
crushing.

Deviation of engineering stress from true stress

Barrelling

When a uniaxial compressive load is applied to an object it will become shorter and spread
laterally so its original cross sectional area ( ) increases to the loaded area ( ).[3] Thus the
true stress ( ) deviates from engineering stress ( ). Tests that measure the
engineering stress at the point of failure in a material are often sufficient for many routine
applications, such as quality control in concrete production. However, determining the true stress
in materials under compressive loads is important for research focused on the properties on
new materials and their processing.

The geometry of test specimens and friction can significantly influence the results of
compressive stress tests.[3][4] Friction at the contact points between the testing machine and the
specimen can restrict the lateral expansion at its ends (also known as 'barreling') leading to non-
uniform stress distribution. This is discussed in section on contact with friction.
Frictionless contact

With a compressive load on a test specimen it will become shorter and spread laterally so its
cross sectional area increases and the true compressive stress is

and the engineering stress is

The cross sectional area ( ) and consequently the stress ( ) are uniform along the length of
the specimen because there are no external lateral constraints. This condition represents an
ideal test condition. For all practical purposes the volume of a high bulk modulus material (e.g.
solid metals) is not changed by uniaxial compression.[3] So

Using the strain equation from above[3]

and

Note that compressive strain is negative, so the true stress ( ) is less than the engineering
stress ( ). The true strain ( ) can be used in these formulas instead of engineering strain ( )
when the deformation is large.

Contact with friction

As the load is applied, friction at the interface between the specimen and the test machine
restricts the lateral expansion at its ends. This has two effects:

It can cause non-uniform stress distribution across the specimen, with higher stress at the
centre and lower stress at the edges, which affects the accuracy of the result.

It causes a barreling effect (bulging at the centre) in ductile materials. This changes the
specimen's geometry and affects its load-bearing capacity, leading to a higher apparent
compressive strength.

Various methods can be used to reduce the friction according to the application:

Applying a suitable lubricant, such as MoS2, oil or grease; however, care must be taken not to
affect the material properties with the lubricant used.

Use of PTFE or other low-friction sheets between the test machine and specimen.

A spherical or self-aligning test fixture, which can minimize friction by applying the load more
evenly across the specimen's surface.

Three methods can be used to compensate for the effects of friction on the test result:

1. Correction formulas
 2. Geometric extrapolation

3. Finite element analysis

Correction formulas

Round test specimens made from ductile materials with a high bulk modulus, such as metals,
tend to form a barrel shape under axial compressive loading due to frictional contact at the ends.
For this case the equivalent true compressive stress for this condition can be calculated using[4]

where

is the loaded length of the test specimen,

is the loaded diameter of the test specimen at its ends, and
is the maximum loaded diameter of the test specimen.

Note that if there is frictionless contact between the ends of the specimen and the test machine,
the bulge radius becomes infinite ( ) and .[4] In this case, the formulas yield the
same result as because changes according to the ratio .

The parameters ( ) obtained from a test result can be used with these formulas to
calculate the equivalent true stress at failure.
 Specimen shape effect

The graph of specimen shape effect shows how the ratio of true stress to engineering stress (σ´/
σe) varies with the aspect ratio of the test specimen ( ). The curves were calculated using
the formulas provided above, based on the specific values presented in the table for specimen
shape effect calculations. For the curves where end restraint is applied to the specimens, they
are assumed to be fully laterally restrained, meaning that the coefficient of friction at the contact
points between the specimen and the testing machine is greater than or equal to one (μ ⩾ 1). As
shown in the graph, as the relative length of the specimen increases ( ), the ratio of
true to engineering stress ( ) approaches the value corresponding to frictionless contact
between the specimen and the machine, which is the ideal test condition.

Specimen shape effect calculations

Frictionless Laterally Constrained

Constant volume

Equal diameters

Solve for

Equivalent stress ratio

Engineering stress

Average stress

Average stress ratio

True strain
Geometric extrapolation

As shown in the section on correction formulas, as the length of test specimens is increased and
their aspect ratio approaches zero ( ), the compressive stresses (σ) approach the
true value (σ′). However, conducting tests with excessively long specimens is impractical, as they
would fail by buckling before reaching the material's true compressive strength. To overcome
this, a series of tests can be conducted using specimens with varying aspect ratios, and the true
compressive strength can then be determined through extrapolation.[3]

Finite element analysis

Comparison of compressive and tensile strengths

Concrete and ceramics typically have much higher compressive strengths than tensile strengths.
Composite materials, such as glass fiber epoxy matrix composite, tend to have higher tensile
strengths than compressive strengths. Metals are difficult to test to failure in tension vs
compression. In compression metals fail from buckling/crumbling/45° shear which is much
different (though higher stresses) than tension which fails from defects or necking down.
Compressive failure modes

A cylinder being crushed under a UTM

If the ratio of the length to the effective radius of the material loaded in compression
(Slenderness ratio) is too high, it is likely that the material will fail under buckling. Otherwise, if
the material is ductile yielding usually occurs which displaying the barreling effect discussed
above. A brittle material in compression typically will fail by axial splitting, shear fracture, or
ductile failure depending on the level of constraint in the direction perpendicular to the direction
of loading. If there is no constraint (also called confining pressure), the brittle material is likely to
fail by axial splitting. Moderate confining pressure often results in shear fracture, while high
confining pressure often leads to ductile failure, even in brittle materials.[5]

Axial Splitting relieves elastic energy in brittle material by releasing strain energy in the directions
perpendicular to the applied compressive stress. As defined by a materials Poisson ratio a
material compressed elastically in one direction will strain in the other two directions. During
axial splitting a crack may release that tensile strain by forming a new surface parallel to the
applied load. The material then proceeds to separate in two or more pieces. Hence the axial
splitting occurs most often when there is no confining pressure, i.e. a lesser compressive load on
axis perpendicular to the main applied load.[6] The material now split into micro columns will feel
different frictional forces either due to inhomogeneity of interfaces on the free end or stress
shielding. In the case of stress shielding, inhomogeneity in the materials can lead to different
Young's modulus. This will in turn cause the stress to be disproportionately distributed, leading
to a difference in frictional forces. In either case this will cause the material sections to begin
bending and lead to ultimate failure.[7]
Microcracking

Figure 1: microcrack nucleation and

propagation

Microcracks are a leading cause of failure under compression for brittle and quasi-brittle
materials. Sliding along crack tips leads to tensile forces along the tip of the crack. Microcracks
tend to form around any pre-existing crack tips. In all cases it is the overall global compressive
stress interacting with local microstructural anomalies to create local areas of tension.
Microcracks can stem from a few factors.

1. Porosity is the controlling factor for compressive strength in many materials. Microcracks
can form around pores, until about they reach approximately the same size as their parent
pores. (a)

2. Stiff inclusions within a material such as a precipitate can cause localized areas of tension.
(b) When inclusions are grouped up or larger, this effect can be amplified.

3. Even without pores or stiff inclusions, a material can develop microcracks between weak
inclined (relative to applied stress) interfaces. These interfaces can slip and create a
secondary crack. These secondary cracks can continue opening, as the slip of the original
interfaces keeps opening the secondary crack (c). The slipping of interfaces alone is not
solely responsible for secondary crack growth as inhomogeneities in the material's Young's
modulus can lead to an increase in effective misfit strain. Cracks that grow this way are
known as wingtip microcracks.[8]

The growth of microcracks is not the growth of the original crack or imperfection. The cracks
that nucleate do so perpendicular to the original crack and are known as secondary cracks.[9] The
figure below emphasizes this point for wingtip cracks.

These secondary cracks can grow to as long as 10-15 times the length of the original cracks in
simple (uniaxial) compression. However, if a transverse compressive load is applied. The growth
is limited to a few integer multiples of the original crack's length.[9]
 A secondary crack growing
from the tip of a preexisting
crack

shear band formation

Shear bands

If the sample size is large enough such that the worse defect's secondary cracks cannot grow
large enough to break the sample, other defects within the sample will begin to grow secondary
cracks as well. This will occur homogeneously over the entire sample. These micro-cracks form
an echelon that can form an “intrinsic” fracture behavior, the nucleus of a shear fault instability.
Shown right:

Eventually this leads the material deforming non-homogeneously. That is the strain caused by
the material will no longer vary linearly with the load. Creating localized shear bands on which
the material will fail according to deformation theory. “The onset of localized banding does not
necessarily constitute final failure of a material element, but it presumably is at least the
beginning of the primary failure process under compressive loading.”[10]
Typical values

Material Rs (MPa)

Steel 250-1,500

Porcelain 20–1,000[11]

Bone 106-131[12]

Concrete 17-70[13]

Ice (−5 to −20 °C) 5–25[14]

Ice (0 °C) 3[15]

Styrofoam ~1

Compressive strength of concrete

Compressive strength test of

concrete in UTM

For designers, compressive strength is one of the most important engineering properties of
concrete. It is standard industrial practice that the compressive strength of a given concrete mix
is classified by grade. Cubic or cylindrical samples of concrete are tested under a compression
testing machine to measure this value. Test requirements vary by country based on their differing
design codes. Use of a Compressometer is common. As per Indian codes, compressive strength
of concrete is defined as:

Field cured concrete in cubic steel

molds (Greece)
The compressive strength of concrete is given in terms of the characteristic compressive
strength of 150 mm size cubes tested after 28 days (fck). In field, compressive strength tests are
also conducted at interim duration i.e. after 7 days to verify the anticipated compressive strength
expected after 28 days. The same is done to be forewarned of an event of failure and take
necessary precautions. The characteristic strength is defined as the strength of the concrete below
which not more than 5% of the test results are expected to fall.[16]

For design purposes, this compressive strength value is restricted by dividing with a factor of
safety, whose value depends on the design philosophy used.

The construction industry is often involved in a wide array of testing. In addition to simple
compression testing, testing standards such as ASTM C39, ASTM C109, ASTM C469, ASTM
C1609 are among the test methods that can be followed to measure the mechanical properties
of concrete. When measuring the compressive strength and other material properties of
concrete, testing equipment that can be manually controlled or servo-controlled may be selected
depending on the procedure followed. Certain test methods specify or limit the loading rate to a
certain value or a range, whereas other methods request data based on test procedures run at
very low rates.[17]

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is defined as having a compressive strength over 150
MPa.[18]

See also

Buff strength

Container compression test

Crashworthiness

Deformation (engineering)

Schmidt hammer, for measuring compressive strength of materials

Plane strain compression test

References

1. Urbanek, T.; Lee, S.; Johnson, C. "Column Compression Strength of Tubular Packaging
Forms Made of Paper" (https://web.archive.org/web/20140514075837/http://www.fpl.fs.fe
d.us/documnts/pdf2006/fpl_2006_urbanik001.pdf) (PDF). Journal of Testing and
Evaluation. 34 (6): 31–40. Archived from the original (http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pd
f2006/fpl_2006_urbanik001.pdf) (PDF) on 14 May 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.