Abstract: Dynamic compressive tests on cubic specimens were carried out on the servo-hydraulic static-dynamic testing machine designed and manufactured at the Dalian University of Technology, China. The confining pressure was kept constant at four levels and the strain rate varied from 10-5 s-1 to 10-2 s-1. Variation of strength and deformation of concrete with strain rate and confining pressure was investigated systematically. Based on the tests results a strength formula was proposed for the dynamic failure of concrete with one-dimensional confining pressure, which will contribute to the seismic analysis of large-scale concrete structures such as dams, the offshore concrete oil platforms etc.