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Effect of Moisture and Temperature on the Mechanical Properties of Concrete

Conference Paper · June 2009

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 Proceedings of the SEM Annual Conference
June 1-4, 2009 Albuquerque New Mexico USA
©2009 Society for Experimental Mechanics Inc.

Effect of Moisture and Temperature on the Mechanical Properties of

Concrete

Samir N. Shoukry, Gergis W. William*, Mourad Y. Riad, Brian Downie

West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

ABSTRACT

Concrete mechanical properties are determined under laboratory conditions of ideal air temperatures between 20
and 22 °C and relative humidity between 40 and 60 percent. This paper describes the development of concrete
mechanical properties when cured under different environmental conditions. Tests to measure Modulus of
elasticity, compressive strength, and split tensile strength were conducted at varying temperatures and humidity
conditions to examine what their effects on normal concrete. This was done with the aid of an environmental
chamber constructed of widely available materials in the laboratory. The chamber works in conjunction with a
freezer to provide chilled air and a heat gun to provide hot air. The chamber heating and cooling functions were
controlled via a microcontroller. The moisture content in the concrete specimens was controlled by massing the
specimens. The results indicate that concrete strength and modulus of elasticity are inversely related to
temperature as well as moisture content in the concrete. Concrete modulus of elasticity was directly related to
concrete compressive strength in both temperature and moisture testing. Mathematical formulas were developed
for modulus of elasticity, compressive strength, tensile strength, and Poisson’s ratio.

INTRODUCTION

Concrete is widely used in various structures that are exposed to continuous variations in temperature and
moisture content. The mechanical and physical properties of concrete are more complex than most materials as
they are impacted by the environmental conditions when it is poured and cured [1]. Enormous research was
conducted on the curing of concrete during extreme cold and dry conditions, cool and damp conditions, warm and
humid conditions, as well as extreme hot and dry conditions [2, 3]. As a result, in extreme weather conditions
such as extreme cold or hot, construction may be delayed until the environment improves unless precautions are
taken for concrete curing. For example, normal concrete can be poured in sub-freezing temperatures if the
surfaces are heated and the concrete is covered. Normal concrete can also be poured in hot dry conditions if the
surface is wetted periodically and covered. However, the main concern is how such a concrete would behave
after curing under varying temperature and moisture conditions. Previous studies indicated that concrete exhibits
change in its compressive strength and its modulus of elasticity as environmental conditions change [1, 4-7].

Lawson et al. [8] indicated that the concrete loses 50 percent of its compressive strength for every 100 °C rise in
temperature up to about 200 °C, after which the strength starts to drop significantly. This is also confirmed by the
results reported by Phan and Carino [9] who also found that concrete would permanently lose strength if exposed
to repeated extreme temperatures. This was attributed to the formation of shrinkage cracks when concrete is
exposed to cool damp conditions then exposed to hot dry conditions. Another reason was that the porosity allows
moisture to slowly infiltrate the concrete specimen. The water vapor expands faster than it can escape the
sample, which creates vapor pressure inside the specimen. When this pressure becomes greater than strength
of the concrete sample, the sample will start to crack internally, which may not be visible from the outside of the
specimen and the entire specimen may not break for an extended period. This is because as cracks form the
moisture is allowed to escape. This in turn puts more pressure on the outer shell of the specimen, which will
eventually fail. Carette and Malhotra [10] investigated the effects of sustained high heat on cured concrete
properties. The results indicated that concrete strength is continually lost during the period of exposure to high

*
Corresponding Author. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, PO Box 6103 Morgantown, WV
26506. Email: Gergis.William@mail.wvu.edu
temperature; however most of the strength loss occurs during the first thirty days of exposure. At higher
temperatures, the concrete strength is lost faster than at lower temperatures.

Lee et al. [11] showed that compressive strength, split tensile strength of concrete, Young’s modulus and
Poisson’s ratio increase as temperature decreases. The Young’s modulus of concrete was also found to increase
at low temperature but in a smaller rate than the compressive strength. It was also reported that there is a
reduction in concrete compressive strength and Young’s modulus under the effect of cyclic temperature changes,
which may not be neglected in reinforced concrete design in seasonally cold regions with freezing cycles in the
winter.

Standard concrete specimens are usually cured and tested under ideal laboratory conditions at temperature
between 20 and 22 °C and 50 percent relative humidity. To date, the information available on the performance on
concrete, under high and low temperature conditions, is limited [12]. Therefore, to design a long lasting concrete
structure, there is a need for a mathematical model that can be used to estimate concrete mechanical properties
such as compressive strength and modulus of elasticity based on the standard condition properties and
magnitude of temperature and moisture levels. This would enable the designer to check the factor of safety and
the adequacy of the structure to sustain all applied loads safely.

The objective of this paper is to examine the effect of temperature and moisture variations on the mechanical
properties of concrete that has completely cured. The research also aims at developing relations that can be
used to determine the properties of concrete at different temperatures and degrees of saturation that are normally
experienced in outside conditions in most climates with their corresponding values at standard laboratory
conditions.

PREPARATION OF CONCRETE SPECIMENS

A total of 137 standard concrete cylindrical specimens were made for testing. Seventy one cylindrical specimens
0.15 m (6 in.) in diameter and 0.305 m (12 in.) high were produced for testing under axial compressive loads in
the compression and modulus of elasticity tests, while the rest 0.10 m (4 in.) in diameter and 0.2 m (8 in.) high
were made exclusively for split tensile testing. Five out the 89 cylinders were fitted with a 90° vibrating strain
gage rosette mounted at the specimen center such that one strain gage is mounted along its vertical axis, while
the other one is mounted horizontally. The strain rosette is fitted with a thermistor that enables measuring the
actual concrete temperature inside the specimen near its core. To avoid misalignment of the gages they are glued
and tied to each other in position with a thread. The two gages were positioned exactly at the center of the
cylinder by cutting the cylinder into two halves and opening a small groove on the lower half to pull the wires out
of the cylinder, which shows the steps in casting the instrumented cylinders

Standard concrete specimen molds were prepared according to ASTM standard C470. Each mold was
thoroughly cleaned, dried, and then coated with a film of oil before any concrete was poured. The film of oil made
it simpler to remove specimens from their molds once the curing process was complete. Greater care was used
when working with the instrumented cylinder molds to make sure that the strain gages were kept properly
oriented. The concrete specimens were set to cure about one day before the molds were removed. Special care
was taken while removing the concrete specimens from their molds in order not to introduce any damage.
Compressed air was used to remove the molds from all specimens while those fitted with strain gages had to be
cut off in order to keep the lead wires intact. The concrete specimens were cured according to ASTM standard
C192. After filling the cylindrical molds with concrete and compaction, the top surface was finished. After one
hour the concrete specimens were covered and kept moist by covering them with burlap and plastic. They were
also rewetted daily for 30 days. Concrete that is kept saturated and at room temperature achieves more than 99
percent of its maximum attainable strength.

The modulus of elasticity testing was completed using an MTS actuator with a capacity of 49 kN supported by a 6
m high steel frame as shown in Figure 1. A small environmental chamber was designed and built to be situated
under the actuator. The chamber is cubic with an edge length of 0.60 m. The specimen was positioned in the
environmental chamber and loaded axially with the actuator. Vertical and horizontal strains were recorded as well
as the magnitude of the applied load. This enables calculating both the concrete modulus of elasticity and
Poisson’s ratio.
 (a) Compression (b) Split Tensile (c) Modulus of
Test Test Elasticity Test
Figure 1 Testing Setup

The environmental chamber was designed to be capable of producing temperatures between -30°C to 55°C to
store the concrete specimens to measure the stress-strain relation of the concrete under different temperatures
and degrees of saturation. This presented a number of challenges because concrete specimens have to be
maintained at the desired temperature for the duration of testing. The storage chamber was required to be large
enough to allow concrete specimens to properly fit inside, and the chamber had to properly fit under the loading
actuator in the laboratory.

In order to measure the compressive strength and tensile strength of concrete at different temperatures and
degrees of saturation, the uninstrumented concrete specimens were tested. Since the compressive and tensile
tests only last about a minute and require a much larger force than the modulus of elasticity testing, a
compressive machine was used. The temperature controlled testing chamber was not used since the
compression and tensile tests were so short. The uninstrumented specimens were pre-chilled or pre-heated to a
uniform temperature and then tested right away. During the moisture testing the specimens were tested once
they reached the desired degrees of saturation.

CONCRETE COMPRESSIVE AND TENSILE STRENGTH

Standard concrete cylindrical specimens were tested at different ages to measure the gain in concrete
mechanical properties as it ages. The temperature was kept at 20 °C for all tests. Three specimens were tested
at each time interval for both compression and tensile tests. An average of the three specimens is shown in
Figure 2 (a) and (b). Concrete strength increases as the concrete cures according to the compression and split
tensile tests. The rate of curing is much faster early on and then slows by day 14 as shown in Figures 3 (a) and
(b). The strength gain was found to be fitting the hyperbolic relation developed by Geiker (1983):

k (t − to )
S ( t ) = Su ………………………………. (1)
1 + k (t − to )

where,
S is Compressive strength at age t, days
Su is Limiting strength
K is Rate constant, 1/day
to is Age at start of strength development, days
 35 3.5

Compressive Strength, MPa

Tensile Strength, MPa

30 3.0
25 2.5
20 2.0
15 1.5
10 1.0
Experimental data 0.5 Experimental data
5
Equation 1 Equation 1
0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time, days Time, days
a. Compressive Strength b. Tensile Strength
Figure 2 Concrete Strength Gain with Age.

Compression and split tensile tests were performed at various temperatures on day 28 and the results were
summarized in Figure 3. The concrete compressive and tensile strengths were found to decrease noticeably as
the temperature increases. For the temperature range considered in this study, the strength and temperature
data could be fitted to linear relationships. The data in Figure 3 indicate that increasing the concrete temperature
by 80 °C results in decreases the compressive and tensile strengths by 38% and 26% respectively. This was
found to be in agreement with Lawson (2000) and Phan and Carino (2003) who reported that concrete loses up to
50% of its compressive strength as the temperature increases by 100 °C.

50 5.0
45 4.5
Compressive Strength, MPa

40 4.0
Tensile Strength, MPa

35 3.5
30 3.0
25 2.5
20 2.0
15 f c' = − 0.13T + 34.8 1.5
ft ' = − 0.018 T + 3.3
10 1.0
R 2 = 0.95 R 2 = 0.86
5 0.5
0 0
-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Temperature, °C Temperature, °C

a. Compressive Strength b. Tensile Strength

Figure 3 Effect of Temperature on 28-day Compressive and Tensile Strengths

Similarly, compression and tension tests were performed on concrete specimens at the moisture levels at the age
of 28 days. Concrete specimens were found stronger at lower degrees of saturation as shown in Figure 4. The
compressive strength and tensile strength decreased noticeably in all specimens and data could be fitted to linear
relationships.

Modulus of Elasticity and Poisson’s Ratio

The instrumented concrete cylinders were tested in compression at different ages to measure the modulus of
elasticity and Poisson’s ratio. To avoid any eccentric loads on the cylinder, the end faces of the cylinders were
worked for even and smooth surface finish. The center of the specimen was aligned carefully with the center of
the machine axis. The ends of the specimen were covered with rubber pads to permit even stress distribution
while applying load. Initially, the load indicator was set to zero. The load was applied gradually to the specimen
 50 5

Compressive Strength, MPa 40 4

Tensile Strength, MPa

30 3

20 2

f c' = − 0.088 M + 37 ft ' = − 0.013 M + 3.8

10 1
R 2 = 0.84 R 2 = 0.93
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
Temperature, °C Temperature, °C

a. Compressive Strength b. Tensile Strength

Figure 4 Effect of Degree of Saturation on 28-day Compressive and Tensile Strengths

from zero to 45 kN (well before the failure load) and removed gradually. A precision load cell with capacity of 225
kN was used to measure the applied load. As the load applied, the corresponding temperature and strains were
recorded. The measured stress-strain relation was used to calculate the modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio.

60 60
( )
Modulus of Elasticity, GPa

Modulus of Elasticity, GPa

50 E3 (T ) = E3 20 − 0.24934 (T − 20 )
D
50 ( )
E7 (T ) = E7 20D − 0.24679 (T − 20 )

40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
-20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50
Temperature, °C Temperature, °C
(a) Day 3 (b) Day 7

60 60
( )
Modulus of Elasticity, GPa

E14 (T ) = E14 20D − 0.14946 (T − 20 ) ( )

Modulus of Elasticity, GPa

50 50 E28 (T ) = E28 20D − 0.10627 (T − 20 )

40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
-20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50
Temperature, °C Temperature, °C

(c) Day 14 (d) Day 28

Figure 5 Effect of Temperature on Concrete Modulus of Elasticity at Different Ages.

In total, five instrumented concrete specimens were made. Three of them were tested at different ages as the
concrete cured, while the other two were set aside and tested after 28 days. The behavior of the two specimens
appeared to be no different from the three specimens that were tested while they were curing. In both cases the
specimens were maintained close to a 100 percent moisture level. Figure 5 illustrates the change of the concrete
modulus of elasticity with temperature as the concrete ages. The concrete modulus of elasticity was found to
decrease as the temperature increases. The data in Figure 5 indicate that increasing the temperature from -20°C
to 50°C results in a reduction in the modulus of elasticity that varies from 62% at day 3 to 23% after 28 days as
shown in Figure 6.

80
70
60
Percent Reduction

50
40
30
20
10
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Age, days
Figure 6 Reduction in Modulus of Elasticity at Different Ages Due
to Temperature Increase of 70 °C

The modulus of elasticity of the specimens decreases with increased degrees of saturation. The water molecules
reside in very small pores; thus, it takes several hours for the water molecules to work themselves out of the
pores. The specimen’s modulus of elasticity and corresponding strength increased until the specimen was
completely dry. The results presented in Figure 7 shows that the modulus of elasticity decreased by almost 20
percent from as the moisture level increased from 0 to 100 percent.

40

35
Modulus of Elasticity, GPa

30

25

20

15

10 E ( M ) =28.835 − 0.048653M
5 R 2 = 0.96

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Moisture Level, %

Figure 7 Effect of Moisture Level on Modulus of Elasticity

Moisture may have more impact on the modulus of elasticity of concrete than temperature in temperate climates.
Since the concrete has a high thermal mass it takes much longer to heat up and cool down compared to the air
temperature. During sunny conditions a concrete slab absorbs heat, especially if it is dark in color from stains
much faster than air. Concrete slabs elevated in air will be more subject to temperature extremes than a concrete
slab in contact with the ground. Similar to temperature, moisture affects concrete slabs elevated in air differently.
The slab elevated in air will tend to dry out faster than a slab in contact with the ground. Temperature on average
changes the modulus of elasticity about 23 percent between temperatures of -20 ºC and 50 ºC. Moisture on
average changes the modulus of elasticity about 20 percent between saturated conditions such as during a
prolonged rain and dryness as experienced in a desert. Under typical environmental conditions, moisture will play
a larger role in specimen modulus than temperature. This is not to say temperature will not have a larger impact
in cases where fire is present, though in that case moisture will be very low also. The modulus as stated before
will be greatest at low temperatures and low relative humidity and the modulus will be lowest during periods of
high relative humidity and high temperatures. If concrete is going to be used in hot humid climate adequate
design procedures should be followed taking into consideration moisture and temperature changes.

The concrete design factor for an area should assume close to 100 percent moisture level and a temperature at
least 18 degrees higher than the highest ever recorded in sunlight for the given region. For example concrete
exposed to desert conditions just after a rain may have only half the strength of concrete in a cool dry climate. It
is also normal for high temperatures and high humidity to occur together. Since hot air can hold more moisture
than cold air, more rain often occurs. It is also important to factor in the heat from the sun on concrete. The
temperature of the concrete is of more importance than the air temperature.

Poisson’s Ratio for most of the tests was between 0.10 and 0.25 with large scatter as shown in Figure 8.
However, the average values of Poisson’s ratio at different temperatures were found to be varying from 0.17 to
0.196. Temperature changes caused the horizontal strain and vertical strain to change. In general higher
temperature cause both horizontal and vertical strain to increase. Colder temperature causes both strains to
decrease. The net effect on Poisson’s ratio was found to be small since both horizontal and vertical strain change
by a similar amount. The effect of both temperature and moisture on Poisson’s ratio seemed to be negligible after
the concrete had cured. It is difficult to discern any pattern in how Poisson’s ratio reacts to temperature and
moisture. The reason for Poisson’s Ratio varying somewhat is due to the fact that it is difficult to change the
temperature and moisture in the entire specimen at the same rate. When doing the temperature tests, the
moisture inside the specimen may change some as well and at an uneven rate changing the Poisson’s Ratio.

0.40 0.40
ν = 0.1877 − 0.0004T ν = 0.1809
0.35 0.35
R 2 = 0.21 R 2 = 0.99
0.30 0.30
Poisson’s Ratio
Poisson’s Ratio

0.25 0.25
0.20 0.20
0.15 0.15
0.10 0.10
0.05 0.05
0 0
-20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 0 20 40 60 80 100
Temperature, °C Moisture Level, %
(a) Effect of Temperature (b) Effect of Moisture Level

Figure 8 Effect of Temperature and Moisture Level on Poisson’s Ratio

Coefficient of Thermal Expansion

The coefficient of thermal expansion was measured by immersing the concrete cylinder in water whose
temperature was increased gradually by an electric heater and measuring the change in concrete strain
corresponding to the temperature change. The coefficient of thermal expansion of concrete decreased as the
concrete cured as shown in Figure 9. The results indicated that higher strain occurred per unit change in
temperature during the first week of curing than after the fourth week. It was concluded that the coefficient of
thermal expansion decreases as the specimens cure. At 28 days the specimens were essentially completely
cured, thus the value for coefficient of thermal expansion did not continue to fall substantially.

14

Coefficient of Thermal Expansion, /°C

CTE = 10.4 + 5.76 e −0.18t
13
R 2 = 0.92

12

11

10

8
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Time, days
Figure 9 Effect of Age on the Thermal Coefficient of Concrete.

Conclusions

Temperature and moisture played a large role in affecting the properties of concrete. Higher temperature and
higher degrees of saturation will yield lower concrete strength in compression, tension, and corresponding
modulus of elasticity. The effect of temperature and moisture on Poisson’s ratio is negligible. Concrete curing
caused the thermal coefficient of concrete expansion to decrease at early ages. Concrete curing also caused
concrete compressive and tensile strength and corresponding modulus of elasticity to increase. The rate of
property change was related through the use of mathematical formulas.

The temperature range presented in this study covers varieties of sites conditions in hot and cold weather. It is
recommended that the design of concrete structures takes into account the variability of the concrete properties
with temperature and moisture levels as they could influence the structural behavior, strength and stiffness.

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