Uniaxial tensile response and tensile constitutive model of ultra-high performance concrete containing coarse aggregate (CA-UHPC)

To establish the tensile constitutive model of ultra-high performance concrete containing coarse aggregate (CA-UHPC), monotonic and cyclic uniaxial tensile tests for CA-UHPC with fiber volume fractions of 2.5% and 2.0% were conducted. Test results showed that CA-UHPC exhibits approximately linear stress-strain relation up to the tensile strength, and tensile softening response composed of the smeared- and localized-cracking stages, regardless of the tested fiber contents. Based on the monotonic test data, the tensile stress-crack opening model of CA-UHPC was established, and the model was further simplified into tri-linear relation. Based on the cyclic test results, tensile damage evolution laws according to the strain equivalence principle and the energy equivalence principle were developed, respectively. Finally, the proposed tensile constitutive model and the calibrated tensile damage evolution laws were demonstrated to effectively predict the mechanical response of CA-UHPC members under both monotonic tension and cyclic tension through numerical simulations. •Monotonic and cyclic uniaxial tensile tests for ultra-high performance concrete containing coarse aggregate (CA-UHPC).•Establishment of the tensile stress-crack opening model.•Quantification of fracture energy for smeared cracking and localized cracking.•Establishment and calibration of the tensile damage evolution law.•Numerical verification of the proposed tensile stress-crack opening model.