SHIRNKAGE OF

CONCRETE
BY: C H A N D A N I C H A N D R A N E U PA N E
ST115587

OUTLINE
Introduction
Types
Factors affecting shrinkage
Effects
Prevention
Conclusion

INTRODUCTION
Shrinkage is a reduction in volume, and in concrete,
it is mainly caused by the loss of water.
In most cases, shrinkage is
measured by monitoring
longitudinal strain.
When tensile stresses due to
restrained volume contraction
exceed the tensile strength of
concrete, the shrinkage leads to cracking, which is
called shrinkage cracking.

INTRODUCTION

CONT...

Concrete is subjected to changes in volume either

autogenous or induced. Volume change is one of the
most detrimental properties of concrete, which affects
the long-term strength and durability.
All concrete, even shrinkage-compensating concrete,
shrinks.
Because of a loss in volume, concrete shrinkage can lead
to cracking when base friction or other restraint occurs.
Shrinkage also causes curling/warping which can lead to
a variety of slab issues including decreased load-carrying
capacity (structural cracking) and joint stability problem.

TYPES OF SHRINKAGE IN CONCRETE

Shrinkage can beclassifiedin the following way:
(a) Plastic Shrinkage
(b) Drying Shrinkage
(c) Autogeneous Shrinkage
(d) Carbonation Shrinkage
(e) Thermal Shrinkage

PLASTIC SHRINKAGE
Volumetric contraction ,which takes place while
the concrete is still in the plastic state (Fresh
Concrete) is known as Plastic Shrinkage(also
called Early Volume Change)
Loss of water by
1. Evaporation from surfaceof concrete
2. Absorption by aggregate or subbase

PLASTIC SHRINKAGE

CONT

Rate of evaporation is accelerated by of

1. High wind speed
2. Low relative humidity
3. High ambient temperature
Other causes of Plastic Shrinkage
. Unintended vibration or yielding of formwork support
. High water/cement ratio
. Badly proportioned concrete
. Rapid drying
. Greater bleeding

PLASTIC SHRINKAGE

CONT

Reported if rate of evaporation exceeds about

0.5 kg/m2/h.
IN ACI 305R[2] ,precautions should be taken if
rate expected to approach 1.0 kg/m2/h.
Evaporation rate can be estimated by using
nomograph.

PLASTIC SHRINKAGE

CONT

Plastic shrinkage can be reduced by

Preventing the rapid loss of water from surface
Covering the surface with polyethylene sheeting
immediately on finishing operation
Monomolecular coatings by fog spray that keeps
the surface moist
Working at night
Revibrate the concrete in a controlled manner
Use of small quantity of aluminium power is also
suggested to offset the effect of plastic shrinkage

PLASTIC SHRINKAGE

CONT

Reducing the temperature of concrete mixture

and increasing its rate of setting (accelerating
admixture)
Use of monosynthetic fibers
Temporary windbreaks and sunshades
Expansive cement or shrinkage compensating
cement also can be used
Further, use of unneeded high slump concrete,
over sanded mix, higher air entraining should be
discouraged

DRYING SHRINKAGE
After hardening, concrete begins to shrink as water
not consumed by cement hydration leaves the
system. This is known as
drying shrinkage.

It is inevitable unless the concrete is completely

submerged in water or in an 100% RH environment
In general, the higher water content, the higher the
shrinkage potential.

DRYING SHRINKAGE

CONT

It is the loss of water held in gel pores that causes

the change in the volume.
Under drying conditions, the gel water is lost
progressively over a long time, as long as the
concrete is kept in drying conditions.
The drying shrinkage of concrete can be
determined in laboratory.
Expressed as a percentage or in millionths(*10^6)
Physically, concrete that experiences a drying
shrinkage of about 0.05%.(50mm for every 100m)

DRYING SHRINKAGE

CONT

Cement paste shrinks more than mortar and mortar

shrinks more than concrete.
Concrete made with smaller size aggregate shrinks
more than concrete made with bigger size aggregate.
The magnitude of drying shrinkage is also a function
of the fineness of gel. The finer the gel the more is
the shrinkage.
It has been pointed out earlier that the high pressure
steam cured concrete with low specific surface of gel,
shrinks much less than that of normally cured cement
gel.

DRYING SHRINKAGE

CONT

Drying shrinkage can be reduced by

Reducing water content as low as possible
o By Using a high content of hard and rigid aggregate
o By Using Water reducing admixtures

Shrinkage reducing admixture

o
o
o
o

Reduce Drying shrinkage and rate of drying shrinkage

Improve cracking resistance
Reduce curling height and rate of curling
Reduce joint opening and rate of joint opening

AUTOGENEOUS SHRINKAGE

No moisture movement to or from the paste is

permitted and when temperature is constant ,
some shrinkage may occur. The shrinkage is
known as autogeneous shrinkage.
If no extra water is available for cement hydration,
all pore water is progressively consumed. This
process empties the pores in the concrete and
produces a drop of the internal relative humidity
(self-desiccation). Emptying of the pores and selfdesiccation leads to capillary stresses in the pore
water, which induce an external volume
contraction, called autogenous shrinkage.

AUTOGENEOUS SHRINKAGE

CONT

Contrary to drying shrinkage, autogenous

shrinkage occurs without any loss of moisture
from the concrete. Autogenous shrinkage
becomes important with w/c<0.45 and increases
with the decrease of w/c.
Autogeneous shrinkage is not significant and is
not applicable in practice to many situations
except that of mass of concrete in the interior of a
concrete dam.
The magnitude of autogeneous shrinkage is in the
order of about 100 microns.

AUTOGENEOUS SHRINKAGE

CONT.

Internal curing is an efficient method for reducing

autogenous shrinkage .
Saturated lightweight aggregate or
superabsorbent polymers can be added to
concrete to keep the capillary pores filled with
water. This reduces the capillary underpressure in
the pores and the autogenous shrinkage of the
concrete.

Transport of water (coloured with blue ink) from a lightweight aggregate

particle to concrete

CARBONATION SHRINKAGE
Carbonation shrinkage is very recently
recognized.
Carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere reacts
in the presence of water with hydrated cement.
Ca(OH)2 gets converted to CaCo3 and also some
other cement compounds are decomposed. Such
a complete decomposition of calcium compound
in hydrated cement is chemically possible even at
the low pressure of carbon dioxide in normal
atmosphere.

CARBONATION SHRINKAGE

CONT.

The rate of penetration of carbon dioxide depends

also on the moisture content of the concrete and
the relative humidity of the ambient medium.
Carbonation is accompanied by an increase in
weight of the concrete and by shrinkage.
Carbonation shrinkage is probably caused by the
dissolution of crystals of Ca(OH)2 and deposition
of CaCo3 in its place.
As the new product is less in volume than the
product replaced, shrinkage takes place.

THERMAL SHRINKAGE
Also called Thermal Contraction.
After batching, temperature of fresh concrete
increases due to hydration process.
As the hot concrete cools to the ambient
temperature, it contracts and volume reduction
occurs, known as thermal shrinkage.
Cracking in concrete may occur due to
temperature change.

CONCLUSION
Drying shrinkage is inevitable and because of
restraint, cracking can occur.
Shrinkage and subsequent cracking can be
minimized with good concreting and construction
practices.

REFERENCES
AM Neville, Properties of concrete (1973)
BASF Construction chemicals, Admixture system
www.masterbuilder.com
Shrinkage and Thermal Cracking of Fast Setting
Hydraulic Cement Concrete Pavements in
Palmdale, California, Andrew C. Heath and Jeffery
R. Roesler (1999)