How can concrete fail on

compression?
If you have stacking of particles, splitting
forces are driving forces for cracking. Cracking
starts at:
Imperfections Voids Particles Microcracks
Interfaces

Cube vs cylinder

Note top and bottom triaxial compression force

(3C)
At the sides, we have tensile splitting

Silica Fume: When silica fume is added to concrete, initially it remains inert. Once
portland cement and water in the mix start reacting with each other (hydrating),
primary chemical reactions produce two chemical compounds: Calcium Silicate
Hydrate (CSH), which is the strength producing crystallization, and Calcium Hydroxide
(CH), a by-product also called free lime which is responsible for nothing much other
than lining available pores within concrete as a filler or leaching out of inferior
concrete. Pozzolanic reaction occurs between silica fume and the CH, producing
additional CSH in many of the voids around hydrated cement particles. This additional
CSH provides the concrete with not only improved compressive, flexural and bondstrength but also a much denser matrix, mostly in areas that would have remained as
small voids subject to possible ingress of deleterious materials.
Fly Ash: Fly ash is a pozzolanic material. It is a finely-divided amorphous aluminosilicate with varying amounts of calcium, which when mixed with portland cement and
water, will react with the calcium hydroxide released by the hydration of portland
cement to produce various calcium-silicate hydrates (C-S-H) and calcium-aluminate
hydrates. Some fly ashes with higher amounts of calcium will also display
cementitious behavior by reacting with water to produce hydrates in the absence of a
source of calcium hydroxide. These pozzolanic reactions are beneficial to the concrete
in that they increase the quantity of the cementitious binder phase (C-S-H) and, to a
lesser extent, calcium-aluminate hydrates, improving the longterm strength and
reducing the permeability of the system. Both of these mechanisms enhance the
durability of the concrete.

Other pozzolan e.g. rice husk, metakaolin, diatomaceous earth etc.

Fibre Reinforced Concrete:

fibres for small cracks. Fibres reduce crack width. It improves post peak behaviour
Concrete loaded in tension
With fibres

From the above, it improves the tensile strength, and improve post peak behaviour.
Increased fracture energy
Steel fibre reinforced
Improves toughness of concrete
Flexural strength is improved by up to 30% by decreasing the propagation of cracks
Improves tensile strength More economical than steel reinforcement
Less prone to corrosion
Gives an alternative way to reinforce concrete other then traditional steel rebar
But.they should be everywhere!!
Fibre matrix interaction: studied
with pull-out test. There will be
frictional resistance as you try to pull
out the bar. Pfr is actually the pull out
frorce after friction. See different
behaviours observed

Fibres at different
dimensions
Small fibres stop the microcracks (increase of pre-peak
strength) prevents/controls
crack initiation
Large fibres prevent cracks
from opening (increase of
fracture energy) i.e. stop its
propagation
Application: coupling beams; shotcrete; slabs on grade; Thin sheets Shingles Roof
tiles Pipes Prefabricated shapes Panels Shotcrete Curtain walls Slabs on grade
Precast elements Composite decks Vaults, safes Impact resisting structures Wing
slabs Coupling beams Tunnel linings Skate parks

High Value Concrete

High Performance
Concrete
High Early
Strength Concrete
High Strength Concrete
High Durability Concrete
Self-Consolidating /
Compacting Concrete
Reactive Powder
Concrete
(slide 54 -76. Also see
April 17 Wellopt)

Special concretes
EN 206 Concrete - normal weight, heavy weight and lightweight. SCC , concret for
massive structure, fibre concrete etc.

non EN 206 concrete e.g. sprayed concrete, foam concrete, Concrete with density less than 800
kg/m3, Refractory concrete. ..

Conceptual models for concrete:

1. Degree of hydration 2. Isothermal hydration

3. Semi (adiabatic) hydration

The cement paste contain the cement gel (with

CSH, CaOH2 and ettringite), unhydrated
cement, capillary water and air. At 0% hydration
(i.e. before hydration), only unhydrated cement,
water and air. With ibcreasing hydration, gel
structure is formed and both the unhydrated
cement and capillar water reduces with
increasing DoH.
The cwater filled spaces in the fresh concrete
are called capillary pores. Within the gel itself,
there exist interstitial spaces called gel pores.
Capillarry pores represent the gross volume
which has not been filled with hydration
products.. Capillary porosity depends on the
water-cement ratio, and the DoH. Where the
capillary pores are connected leads to increase
in permeability and susceptibility to thawing
and freezing Hydration increases the solid
content, and newly formed products can block
the capillary pores.
As total volume of gel increases, capillary pores
reduces. On the other hand, gel pores increases
as it increases with gel volume

Non evaporable water contains chemically bound water. Physically bound water (even in the
gel pores) can evaporate.

How can we approximate the DoH? It has

to be something measurable that :

Heat production could be estimated on

site. Bound/non evaporable water in a
lab

Qpot and Wn,pot depend on the

chemical composition of the powder
(cement) i.e. proportion of C3A, C3S,
C2S AND C4AF
C3A produces a lot of early heat. C3S
next. Much lower heat produced by C2S
and C4AF. The different component
produce different amount. We use the
weighted average

Isothermal hydration assumes hydration

takes place at one constant temperature
throughout
Adiabatic assumes no heat is lost to the
environment. All heat produced is used to
heat up the concrete and temperature
rises. This one is illustrated in the
diagram. See as DoH follow adiabatic
temperature.
Semi adiabatic more like the actual
situation. It understands that there will be
loss of temperature to environment.
Adiabatic for sometime, then it becomes
semi

Though we said 0.4g water to 1g

cement. It is never so. You never get
100%. You can never get a perfect
mix
Effect of initial mix temperature
on adiabatic temperature rise
Where the initial mix temperature is
high e.g. say 30 degrees, the reaction
starts faster. Later however, the mix
(with say 10 degrees) which start
slower would have more reaction
MIX DESIGN
Design criteria for concrete mixes are
typically
1. Strength 2. Workability 3. Durability
A good concrete is one that performs
satisfactorily in hardened state and also
while fresh.
Workability (consistency classes 1, 2, 3,4)
1. Particle size distribution aggregate
2. Max. particle size aggregate
3. Percentage of fine material (< 250 m)
4. Amount of water
Fines (< 250 m) has high specific surface,
thus they absorb water, and determine the
stickiness
Strength: usually specified as e.g. C12/15 i.e. 12MPa xtic cylinder strength and 15MPa xtic
cube strength
Why? On account of friction between the plate and the specimen which introduces
biaxial stress
In hardened concrete, we have the matrix, aggregates and the interfacial zone.
Strength parameters: water cement ratio, type of cement (norm strength), maximum
particles aggregate diameter.
Where N is the norm strength of
mortar made 3:1 ratio of
sand:cement and water cement
ration of 0.5.
Everything else is a constant apart
from Norm strength and w/c. Thus
these 2 parameters are what you
manipulate for strength. Seems
the norm strength is determined
by cement type and its component

So the higher the norm strength, the higher the strength. The lower the water cement
ratio, the higher the concrete strength also

2. Workability

A concrete is said to be workable if it is easily transported, placed, compacted and

finished without any segregation or bleeding. Unworkable concrete needs more work
or effort to be compacted in place, also honeycombs &/or pockets may also be visible
in finished concrete.

Classification of concrete
1. No slump concrete
2. Semi-plastic
3. Plastic
4. Flowable

Influencing factors:
Particle grading of aggregate (sieve line)
Maximum particle diameter
Percentage fine material (< 250 m)
Amount of water
(Super)plasticizers

Concrete behaves like bingham plastic. There is

internal friction. You need some stress to make it flow.
When concrete is fresh, 2 properties needed are
workability (i.e. mobility and compactibility) and
cohesiveness (i.e. resistance to segregation of the
constituents during transport, compaction and
placement).
Resistance to flow is caused by friction and
interference between aggregates/solids and the
cement particles. This resistance is reduced when
the solid become coated with water and are pushed
apart. Thus concrete then becomes workable. The
amount of water depend on their surface area.
Mechanism of concrete flow is like bingham plastic. It deform quite elastically up to a paint,
and preserves its shape against gravity. However, when applied stress is sufficient,
interparticle friction is overcome. The stress can be applied by vibration. It begins to flow
when the shear stress exceed a critical. Resistance to flow is reduced as water increases. A
concrete with higher w/c ratio will require lower stress to flow. Vibration is thus essential.
We want the concrete to completely fill the mould; surround reinforcing steel; minimize air
in concrete. The more the compaction, the less the void , and thus higher strength.
Honeycombing, corrosion due to poor compaction however, too much water will push the
cement grains apart, and capillary pore volume will increase, thus less strength and
durability. How to solve, produce concrete with the lowest w/c ration to achieve full
compaction

Important factors: water content; w/c ration; aggregate shape (e.g rounded is
more workable than angular); surface area (e.g. small aggregates are less
workable than large aggregate because they have large surface areas); particle
grading
Why should we measure/control workability on site?
1. To ensure it is sufficiently workable to be compacted
2. To ensure it doesnt contain excess water that is detrimental to strength and
durability
Seems the measurement of the workability of a concrete mixture is obtained indirectly
through its consistency. consistency is the relative mobility, or ability of freshly
mixed concrete to flow. It is indicative of the wetness of the mix.

Slump test: A meaure of consistency. The

mould is a cone of Abrams with opening at the
top. Its filled with fresh concrete. After filling,
the cone is lifted slowly, and the now
unsupported concrete will slump. The decrease
in height of the fresh concrete is the slump. Very
stiff concrete have no slump. For C2 and C3
Compacting factor: equipment is 2 hoppers
(cone shaped) and 1 cylinder. The upper hopper
is filled with concrete (without any form of
compaction). The bottom of the hopper is
released so it fall to the 2nd hopper (wich would
be smaller so it will be filled to overflowing). The
bottom of this 2nd hopper is released so it fall in
the cylinder. The density is calculated and
compared with density of fully compacted (for
C1)
Flow table test: The flow table is wetted. The cone is placed in the center of the flow
table and filled with fresh concrete in two equal layers. Each layer is tamped 10 times with
a tamping rod. Wait 30 seconds before lifting the cone. The cone is lifted, allowing the
concrete to flow. After this the diameter of the concrete (pancake) is measured. Class F4
F7 even C4
Vebe test: The apparatus consists of a metal cylindrical container mounted on a vibrating
table. a slump cone is placed in the center of the cylinder and filled in the same manner as
in the standard slump test. After the slump cone is remove, The Vebe table is started and
the time for the concrete to remold from the slump cone shape to the shape of the outer
cylindrical container is recorded as a measure of consistency. Useful for C1 consistency
class

Fineness Modulus: The index number, which describes the relative sizes of coarse and fine
aggregates, is called as fineness modulus (FM). Fineness modulus is determined separately by
sieving coarse and fine aggregates through the following set of sieve. (ASTM sieve numbers
100,50,30,16,8,4 with 100 being 150m and 4 being 5mm.
The FM is 1/100*sum of cumulative residue retained on sieves. Coarse aggregates thus has higher
fineness modulus than fine aggregate. This is because higher number of are retained and these
cumulative continues.
The fineness value and the slump value can be used to determine the amount of sand and gravel

Fine materials (<250 m) consists of cement, fillers and fine sand, air bubble(air entraining
agents). Minimum amount of fine/m3 is related to maximum diameter Dmax of aggregate. The larger
Dmax, the smaller the amount of fines. If you use small Dmax, youll need more aggregate.
Air content affects workability, strength and durability. 1% air results in a strength reduction of
about 5%.
AB you need less water than BC. More coarse
hence less specific area

Durability
The denser the concrete, the more durable it become.
This implies less water. But if affect workability.
Durability issues define environmental classes in codes.
(dry, humid; humid with deicing salt; sea water;
aggressive). The main concerns addressed by
environmental classes in Eurocode include: Rebar
corrosion (Carbonation-induced corrosion; Chlorideinduced corrosion), ASR Alkali-Silica Reaction, Sulphate
attack (sea water), Leaching processes (acid attack);
freeze thaw attack.
Denser cement paste gives higher durability 1. Type of cement 2. Water/cement
(binder) ratio 3. Cement content 4. Curing (Prevent early evaporation, Better curing
gives higher degree of hydration, Keep temperature low)
Example: mass concrete. Environmental class 2, see slides 57 74
Formwork pressure (A function of consistency) Wellopt 20-23 Jan. & 17 july
green strength as concrete that has set but not appreciably hardened. Application of
green strength e.g. in slip forming, in no-slump concrete or brick block.

Evolution of materials properties

Concrete is a 3 phase material as in the figure. See

important aspect of the phases relevant to strength of
the concrete.
Strength/stiffness evolution with time important for:
Formwork pressure; Slipforming; Formwork removal;
Application of prestress Process control (steam
curing or cooling)
Time is not a reliable parameter for prediction of
strength development. No, except you know the
temperature Different possibilities in characterizing
strength development e.g. time, maturity, DoH,
gel/space ratio, microstructure.
Monitoring strength (destructive or non-destructive)

On the LHS, see the rate of hydration on the cement components. C3A react rapidly
followed by C3S. C2S and C4AF rather slowly. On the RHS, see the contribution to
strength
Maturity concepts See July 15
Analytical Approach (scandanavia): Assume Isothermal temperature. Strength gain
with time expressed using Arrhenius Function:. Effect of temperature (e.g. curing temp)- with
higher temperature, the rate of strength gain is faster. Below in the figure Temp T2 > T1 hence
higher strength at same time

Equivalent time te [hrs]

Graphical approach (Dutch approach; De Vree): The fact that the strength of
concrete increases with progress of hydration, could with the fact that the rate of
hydration increases with an increase in temperature led to the proposition that
strength can be expressed as a function of time(or age)-temperature combination.
It is essentially the area under the graph that
is the maturity in degree Celsius hour. Only
temperature above a datum (reference)
temperature are taken (say -10). We expect a
linear relationship between Log of maturity
and the compressive strength. However,
researcher found out that the linear
relationship expected does not hold for any
aribrary concrete. To make it work, they use a
weighted maturity method (by the term Cn) in
the expression which depend on the cement
type.
Gel-Space Ratio & Degree of hydration (see July 12)
For component of concrete, aggregate make
over 70 percent. See the expression for gel
space ratio. It simply volume of gel produced
as a function of that of liquid, air and gel

If we know the gel/space ratio, we can relate

it to the strength using the power law:

f c =k . X n

where X is the gel space ratio.

Where k is a intrinsic value depending on the

cement type, and n=2.5 - 3
The gel/space ratio is however a function of
DoH. DoH is simply expressing

vol . of cement used up

original volume of cement .

So we see that we can use gel/space ratio. It

however depend on degree of hydration.
How do we determine DoH? Is it possible to
determine the degree of hydration on site?
YES. What do you need?

1. Adiabatic (or isothermal) hydration curve (measured in lab)

2. Actual concrete temperature (measured on site or calculated)
So either isothermal or adiabatic curve (LHS and RHS in the figure below

Note that its same like before just that its heat now (not strength). For the adiabatic,
notice how closely the Adiabatic heat looks like the adiabatic temperature. Its
because all heat produced is transferred to concrete. Notice however that the process
temperature and process heat is smaller. This is more like the actual situation, not the
adiabatic which is an ideal situation.

From this heat, we can get DoH by the formula

See linear relationships in the figure

between strength and DoH. Where fmax
is a reference value, and

depends on the concrete type.

As hydration proceeds, the element
particles are gradually connected more
to each other. Having reached a
critical DoH, the relationship is quite
linear going forward. This DoH depend
on the w/c ratio. For high w/c ration,
the DoH must be higher for before the
hydrating particles bridge the
interparticle distance, and contact with
each other. Thus for this reason, the
HSC with lower w/c ration needs lower

0 to start gaining strength and

stiffness than the NSC.

DoH is not enough to characterize
strength. E.g. you can have a high
DoH, but still low strength id your w/c
ratio is high. The reverse also.
While you need 0.4g of water to fully
hydrate 1g of cement. HSC usually
have 0.2 -0.3 w/c ratio. Thus HSC can
never get full hydration.
Microstructural models for hydration and (micro)structure formation
Spherical particle model (HYMOSTRUC); pixel model; nanostructure models
Effect of initial mix temperature on adiabatic temperature rise

That it can be understood from the microstructure. At higher temperature, the layer of
the reaction product has a coarser capillary pore structure. The reaction product seem
denser around the hydrating particle, and this retards subsequent hydration. It also
produces low quality concrete with more pores hence the reduced strength. Also, nonuniform distribution of hydration products will mean lower gel/space ratio. Thus local
weaker area reduces the strength of the whole

Low early strength gain is beneficial on strength (even if it was caused by use of
retarders). These matter e.g. some people use steam curing on precast so as to
demould quickly and reuse formwork
Neville: While a rise in curing temperature speeds up the chemical reaction and thus
beneficially affects the early strength. It reduces the length of the dormant period so
that overall, the structure of the hydrated cement paste becomes established early
enough.
However, from 7 days on, it may adversely affect the strength. The explanation is that
rapid initial hydration appears to form products of a poorer physical structure more
porous, so that a proportion of the pores will always remain unfilled. It follows from the
gel/space ratio rule that this will lead to lower strength compared with a non-porous,
though slowly hydrating concrete in which a high gel-space ratio will be eventually
reached.
The explanation is thus is that initial rate of hydration at higher temperature retards
the subsequent hydration and produced a non-uniform distribution of hydration
products within the paste. At high initial temperature, there is insufficient time for the
diffusion of the products of hydration away from the cement particle, and for uniform
precipitation of the interstitial space (as in the case of lower temperatures). As a result
of the high concentration of the hydration products in the vicinity of the hydrating
particles, this retards subsequent hydration and thus lower long term strength.

The above shows the effect of temperature on outward growth. At elevated

temperature, less outward growth. Probably because it is retarded by early high tem.
More porous at same w/c ratio.

Non-destructive testing by USPV (Ultrasonic pulse velocity can be used to detect and measure
porosity). Could be good to detecting gel/space ratio. Pulse at one end and receiver on the other

In simulating microstructure development, consider 3 stages: 1. Early hydration; 2.

Cluster formation and embedding (i.e. products start joining and forming cluster) 3.
Bridging between clusters
Volume changes: Shrinkage and swelling
Types of shrinkage include: 1. Plastic shrinkage; 2. Chemical shrinkage; 3. Autogenous
shrinkage; 4. Drying shrinkage 5. Carbonation shrinkage 6. Thermal shrinkage
Plastic shrinkage occurs when the concrete is still plastic; while chemical and
autogenous shrinkage take place during hardening (hence jointly called hardening
shrinkage).
Plastic shrinkage: Concrete is a porous material. When not all the pores are
completely filled anymore, we have capillary suction. Inside the freshly cast concrete,
the heaviest parts of the mixture tend to move downwards under the influence of the

gravitational forces. As a result, water moves upwards. Depending on the surrounding

conditions (wind, temperature, RH), this water layer evaporates more or less rapid
In case of a high evaporation rate, the thin water layer might disappear completely
and plastic shrinkage is very likely to occur. The background of this phenomenon is the
presence of an under-pressure in the fresh concrete. Imagine young concrete as being
a system of a high number of water-filled pores. Initially, in the water-saturated
system, a hydrostatic pressure is present. When the surface water evaporates, an
under-pressure develops. This under-pressure results in tensile stresses in the
hardening mass. If these tensile stresses exceed the actual concrete tensile strength,
cracking appears. Capillary stresses in pore due to Excessive early evaporation is the
main cause.

A simple and often used measure to avoid plastic cracking is keeping the
concrete wet during hardening. This is achieved by supplying water on top of
the concretes surface or by preventing moisture loss (evaporation). For this
purpose, the concrete surface can be covered with a carpet, plastic cover or a
foil layer, or by applying a curing compound
Chemical shrinkage: The volume of the hydration
products (the gel) is smaller than the product of
both the individual reacting components cement
and water. This volume reduction is denoted as
chemical shrinkage. Chemical shrinkage represents
itself mainly by the formation of capillary pores in
the cement stone and hardly as an outer
deformational change. Therefore, negligible or no
stresses are generated on a macro-scale level. Gel
porosity ~28%.
The air and water is uniformly distributed over the
volume of the paste. Chemical shrinkage results in
internal empty porosity, not in external volume
changes. Chemical shrinkage is more of an
increase in volume of pores
Autogenous Shrinkage: With progress of the hydration process, the water available
reacts slowly. This process results in emptying the pore system. At first, water from
the largest pores in the system reacts, followed by water from the smaller ones. One
can also say that the water withdraws itself into the smaller pores. This is like a drying
process, where no exchange of moisture takes place with the surroundings. In the
English literature, this process is denoted self desiccation. For low water cement
ratios (wcr < 0.5, this self drying results in volume reduction. Autogenous shrinkage
manifests itself mainly for water-cement ratios below 0,4. Large autogenous shrinkage
occurs in high strength concrete.
How is it related to chemical shrinkage? Chemical shrinkage is the reason for the
pores. With continuing hydration, there is demand for more water. If there isnt much,
we have surface tension withing the capillary pores that results in autogenous
shrinkage. These internal drying causes micro cracks. Concrete with low w/c ratio are
most susceptible e.g HSC.

See a plot of autogenous and chemical shrinkage with time. Chemical is much more.
See the second plat with w/c ratio. Initially there is autogenous expansion as there
was water. Later autogenous shrinkage. It depend strongly on the w/c. It could even
be autogenous expansion for long if there is internal water. Cracking can occur is
autogenous shrinkage is more than strain shrinkage. Strain capacity of concrete is
100E-6 to 120E-6. Autogenous shrinkage larger than these would cause cracking.
Apart from W/C, the cement type also matter
How can we reduce autogenous shrinkage? Internal curing!!! To prevent drying
out. since its no more plastic, we can get water in. But options include:
Adding saturated LWA; use of super absorbing polymer; rice husk as replacement
for cement; surface tension reducers; water release from the LWA, rice husk and
polymer could reduce it.

Drying shrinkage: After hardening, concrete begins to shrink as water not

consumed by hydration leaves the system. The change in volume is however
not equals to the volume of water removed. No. The loss of free water cause
little or no shrinkage. However, as drying continues, adsorbed water is
removed and volume change is unrestrained. At that stage, change in volume
would now be equal to water removed. What matters? W/c rato; the higher the
water content, the higher the shrinkage potential.
= k k k
Size of specimen matter. Expression for drying shrinkage r c h b t .
Looks like drying shrinkage potential is higher for a smaller specimen than a
larger one.
Types of water in cement paste: 1.
chemically bound water 2. Adsorbed
water 3. Capillary water

In the above, notice the bound water is in between 2 cement layers. Adsorbed
water is outside so just touching 1 layer of concrete.
Deformation mechanisms explained by the Munich model
1. Up to 40% RH: Deformation due to change of surface tension in the solid
phase
2. Between 40% and 80% RH: Deformation due to disjoining pressure
3. Between 80% and 100%: Deformation due to capillary tension (tension in
capillary water).

Combined autogenous and drying

shrinkage

For NSC more drying shrinkage, but almost no autogenous shrinkage

For the HSC More autogenous shrinkage, but it can even expand if moisture
come later
Autogenous shrinkage
1. Changes in surface tension in solid
particles
2. Disjoining pressure
3. Hydrostatic tension in capillary water

Autogenous swelling
1. Ettringite formation (?)
2. Formation of crystals of calcium
hydroxide
3. Microcracking
4. Hydration expansion

Tightness of concrete: Depending on w/b and

. The red line shows the maximum DoH

achievable for the w/c ratio. The green shows the

DoH needed so that pores are not inter-connected.
We see, at a w/c ratio >0.5, the required DoH
exceeds what we can achieve. Thus, beyond that
w/c ratio, we cannot get concrete without
interconnected pores.

In
For HSC & LWAC, the crack passes through the
aggregate. For NSC, it passes around the aggregate

Creep and relaxation

Stress-strain relationship of concrete is a function

of time. Creep is defined as the increase in
strain under a sustained stress. It is a
function of the elastic strain

Initially, we get an instantaneous

recovery. Afterwards, we a gradual
decrease of te strain (time dependent)
which we call creep recovery. However,
there is a residual deformation which
remain which we regard as residual
creep. A combination of microstructure
change and moisture moving out. Hence
residual strain
The larger your aggregate, the more creep you have. Type of aggregate
matters. LWAC seem to has higher creep than NWC on account of its lower
modulus of elasticity. Looks like this only has effect on the initial elastic
creep though
How does porosity of aggregate affect? The higher the porosity, the lower
the modulus of elasticity
The picture on the next column is the CEB
expression for creep. It only gives the final
creep.
Power Laws expression (as below) help you
compute creep in time:

Relaxation: If restraint is such that a stressed concrete specimen is subjected

to constant strain, there will be a progressive decrease of stress in time. This is
relaxation
From the power laws used for creep,
we can get expression for creep rate.
Using this along with the stiffness, we
can compute relaxation.

Creep and Relaxation in Hardening concrete: At the hardening phase,

there are complication factors arising from the fact that the microstructure is
still in state of development, and the stiffness is gradually increasing.
In constant stress test hydration causes a
Effect of hydration on creep under
reduction of the creep strain (because the
constant stress
stress/strength ratio gradually decreases).
With each day, the stiffness and strength are
higher, and thus deformation is lower. Thus,
stiffness(E modulus) increase, and creep is lower
mainly because of lower elastic deformation. Thus
you have high creep deformation in young
concrete, and less with older concrete. Also the
time you put the load matters

Next, I would talk on maturing creep concept. In young concrete, more

capillary space, hence more elastic deformation and less creep. In older,
reaction product has fill plenty of the capillary space, thus less creep. Another
concept is solidification concept. I did not get it
In the last page, it was
under constant stress,
here, if we can increase
the stress such that we

maintain a constant f
i.e. stress/strength ratio,
see the behavior in the
pix.
In addition the creep we
had before, we have
additional maturity
creep i.e. extra creep
strain in hardening paste

under constant f
ratio.

Applying this knowledge for relaxation. Stress in early age will

reduce/disappear quickly. In old age, the stress wont disappear. Lots of
relaxation in early age. Less later
A negative aspect of this: Given that we cast a young concrete wall on old
slab. During hydration of the wall, it heats up and want to expand, but the old
bottom slab restrains it. Compressive stresses in you wall. Good!!! Later, its
starts to cool down and tries to shrink; your bottom slab also restrains it;
tensile stresses now in your wall. However, the stiffness (E-Modulus) during the
heating up was small. By the cooling phase, it had increase (say to 2.5 times).
E.g. if E at heating up was 10N/mm2, now it may be like 25N/mm2.
= T . Change in temperature ( T ) may be same thus same strain
being restrained. But the stiffnesss are different, thus the stress is now
predominantly tensile. Not Good!!! To compound it further, there was more
relaxation of the initial compressive stress at a younger age, than the tensile
stress later. These could lead to cracks in the wall.
Step-wise stress calculation in hardening concrete: shows less relaxation with time. If
you load at early stage, almost all is gone. If you load later, not all is gone. Many
remain
Freeze Thaw: Deterioration of concrete from freeze thaw actions may occur when the concrete is
critically saturated. When

water freezes, it expands about 9 percent. As the water in

moist concrete freezes it produces pressure in the pores of the concrete. If the
pressure developed exceeds the tensile strength of the concrete, the cavity will
dilate and rupture. The accumulative effect of successive freeze-thaw cycles
and disruption of paste and aggregate can eventually cause expansion and
cracking, scaling, and crumbling of the concrete. Concrete with high water content and
high water to cement ratio is less frost resistant than concrete with lower water content.
What to do. 1. Use of air entrainment intentionally entrained air. The tiny entrained

air
voids act as empty chambers in the paste for the freezing and migrating water
to enter, thus relieving the pressure in the pores and preventing damage to the
concrete. Concrete with a low permeability (that is, a low water-cement ratio
and adequate curing) is better able to resist freeze-thaw cycles