3.

Crack Control

Enhancing the Service Life of Concrete Structures

through the Control of Cracking
A fundamental requirement of any concrete structure is its Water or other fluids transport damaging agents into
performance over its intended design life. Concrete must the concrete and cause expansion through corrosion of
be able to withstand wear and deterioration given the reinforcing steel, freezing of water, and other effects.
environment and maintenance regime for which it was
High strength concretes are especially vulnerable to early
designed. If a concrete structure meets its intended design
cracking due to the use of fine materials. They have higher
life when exposed to its anticipated environment then it
cohesion, generate greater heat of hydration and have less
can be described as being durable.
bleed water.
The most obvious, and common, form of concrete
Careful engineering design and care during construction is
deterioration is cracking. Once concrete is cracked it
critical to overcome the problems caused by uncontrolled
becomes vulnerable to the penetration of damaging fluids
cracking and to ensure a structure meets its design life.
and is more prone to spalling, wear and abrasive damage.

Why the Control of Cracks in Concrete is Important

The New Zealand Concrete Structures Standard NZS3101
defines durability as the ability to withstand the expected
wear and deterioration throughout the intended life of
the structure without the need for undue maintenance.
The Standard applies to the detailing and specifying of
concrete structures with a design life of 50 years.

The corrosion of steel reinforcement through the

penetration of chloride ions is recognised within this
standard as the most common and obvious form of
durability failure. Uncontrolled cracks lower chloride
resistance.

The type, width and orientation of cracking in a structural

element normally provides an indication of the risk of
corrosion. Cracks wider than 0.30mm seldom heal, on the
contrary they tend to enlarge through spalling, leaching
and stresses. Concretes that contain slag cements and/
or high reactivity pozzolans (such as silica fume) have
less capacity to self-heal due to the reduced quantity of
calcium hydroxide.

The American Concrete Institute (ACI) recommends

0.15mm as the maximum limiting crack width at the
tensile face of a reinforced concrete structure subjected
to wetting and drying cycles or sea water spray.

Engineered Concrete Solutions Crack Control 13

Figure 3.1: Structural location of different types of cracks

Types Location of Likely Element Primary Cause Secondary Time of Reference

Direction Cause Appearance
Plastic Diagonal Slabs 1
Shrinkage Reinforced
Random Rapid Low rate of 30 minutes 2
slabs
evaporation bleeding to 6 hours
Reinforced
Over reinforcement 3
slabs
Plastic Over reinforcement Deep section 4
Settlement Arching over
Top of columns 10 minutes to 5
columns Bleeding
3 hours
Suspended
Change of depth 6
floor
Early Thermal Restraint
11
Contraction External constraint Walls or slabs of thermal
8
movement
Excess
Rapid 1 day to
Internal constraint Thick masses temperature 12
cooling 2-3 weeks
gradients
Restraint
Mirrors underlying Appears over
of thermal 13
reinforcement reinforcement
movement
Crazing “Fair-faced” Excess paste at Poor curing,
Against form-work Anytime after 9
concrete surface poor
hardening 10
Flat-work Slabs Over trowelling placement
Drying Weeks,
Shrinkage Slabs and walls Inefficient joints months, 8
years
Construction Sub-grade Preparation of
Slabs, footings Anytime 7
Movement Movement sub-base
Accident Accidental Vulnerable at
Exposed surfaces Typically slabs 14
Overload overload 1-2 days

9 4
4
13 2 8 8

3 6

11
5
5
12
1
8 7
14
8

14 Engineered Concrete Solutions Crack Control

Tensile Cracking of Concrete
Concrete cracks when its tensile strength is unable to
withstand the forces to which the concrete is subjected.
The tensile strain capacity of concrete varies with the age
of the concrete and the rate of application of the strain.
Crazing occurs when good concrete practice is not
followed, eg. poor curing, wet mixes, rapid surface drying
or when concrete is finished too early while bleed water is
still present.

It must be recognised that concrete has an inherent To prevent crazing the following precautions should be
potential to crack because of its low tensile capacity. followed:

Crack control is an integral part of reinforced concrete
design and construction. Primary reinforcement will
control crack widths but excessive amounts of reinforcing
steel can increase the risk of cracking. Reinforcement does
not eliminate or reduce shrinkage cracking in concrete.
Rather, it transforms a few wide cracks into many fine
cracks and micro-cracks.
Plastic Shrinkage Cracking
Plastic shrinkage cracks occur on the surface of freshly
placed concrete during finishing or soon after.
These types of cracks occur when the rate of evaporation
of surface moisture exceeds the rate at which bleed water
is rising through the concrete. Plastic shrinkage cracking
occurs most often in summer with conditions of heat,
wind and low humidity.
Concretes that are most susceptible to this form of
cracking are those with:
• High cement content
• Finer cements
• Lower water-cement ratios including superplasticized
concrete
• Don’t finish concrete while bleed water exists
• Never sprinkle or trowel dry cement into plastic
concrete to absorb water
Plastic Settlement Cracking
In plastic concrete bleed water surfaces due to gravity. If
the accompanying settlement is restricted by form work
or reinforcement, cracking may occur.
Typical plastic settlement is approximately 6-8mm per
metre depth of the concrete element (corresponding to a
typical bleeding rate of 6-8 litres per cubic metre).
Measures to reduce the possibility of plastic settlement
cracking include:
• Revibrate concrete where necessary
• Control concrete slump (80-100mm) to restrict bleed
water
• Provide sufficient concrete cover to reinforcement
• Use air entrained concrete

Precautions to avoid plastic shrinkage include:

• Use of anti-evaporation spray-on solutions after

screeding or floating and before finishing
• Avoiding adverse conditions through early morning or
afternoon pours that avoid the windiest and/or driest
part of the day
• Start curing as soon as possible after finishing
• Dampen form-work, subgrade and reinforcement
• Cover with polythene prior to finishing
• Use of plastic fibres

Craze Cracking
Crazing is the development of a network of fine random
cracks on the surface of concrete caused by shrinkage of
the surface layer. The cracks are rarely more than 2mm
deep and typically form hexagonal shaped areas no more
than 40mm across. They are more likely to occur on steel
trowelled surfaces. These cracks are unsightly but rarely
compromise structural integrity of the concrete.

Engineered Concrete Solutions Crack Control 15

Early Thermal Cracking
As concrete hardens the cement hydration process
produces heat and the concrete element expands.
The element then contracts as it cools. If contraction
is restrained the resulting tensile stresses may cause
cracking.

Concrete is most vulnerable to early thermal cracking on

the day it is poured when the heat of day and the heat of
hydration abates and is replaced by a cold evening.

Typical thermal movements are of the order of 0.1mm

per metre length (100 microstrain) per 10ºC change in
temperature. Thermal cracks are common and the practice
of joints not being cut for up to 48 hours leaves concrete
vulnerable to this mechanism.

In mass concrete pours the resulting thermal effects

need special treatment. Typical solutions involve the use
of a concrete that generates low thermal heat (via a slag
cement such as Duracem), and/or the use of insulating
form work. Insulating form work controls the release of
heat so avoiding excessive thermal gradients between the
core and the surface.

To reduce the risks of early thermal cracking:

• Start curing as soon as possible

• Use a grooved jointing tool, crack inducers, early age
cutting and isolation joints
• Cover concrete to slow heat loss at night or exposure
to wind
• Delay removal of formwork

Figure 3.2: Time of appearance of cracking

Types of Cracking Time

Plastic Settlement
Plastic Shrinkage
Early Thermal Movement
Drying Shrinkage
Excess Loading
Corrosion
Hours Days Weeks Months Years

16 Engineered Concrete Solutions Crack Control

Drying Shrinkage Cracking
Drying shrinkage cracks can be a significant cause of
damage to a concrete structure. These rarely appear
earlier than 5-7 days following placing. Shrinkage occurs
over a prolonged period and typically 70-80% of total
drying shrinkage is reached after 12 months.
Drying shrinkage can be defined as the “loss in concrete
volume resulting from the loss of water from the concrete
after hardening”. The extent of cracking that can result
from drying shrinkage depends primarily on the amount
of restraint that exists to stop movement. The degree of
drying shrinkage, strength and elasticity of the concrete
will all have some influence. All concrete is restrained to
some extent, often by friction with the subgrade under a
floor slab, or by other adjacent parts of the structure.
Typical drying shrinkage movement is 0.55 to 1.00mm per
metre (550-1000 microstrain). This shrinkage movement
represents total shrinkage of 55-100mm in a 100 metre
long slab or 2.8 to 5mm per 5 metre section (isolated by
saw cuts).
The most important aspect in concrete mix design to
control drying shrinkage is the total amount of mix water.
Water is required for hydration purposes and also to provide
for workability. This “water of convenience” needs to be kept
to a minimum. A general rule is that for each 1% increase in
water content drying shrinkage increases by 2%.
The size of aggregate is important. The larger the
aggregate proportion of the concrete mix, the lower
the paste content tends to be. The type and stiffness of
aggregate can also influence the amount of concrete
shrinkage. Tests show that concrete using basalt
aggregates tend to shrink less than greywacke-based
concrete.
The tensile strain capacity of concrete at early days is
typically no more than 100-250 microstrain. Therefore, with
expected final shrinkage in excess of 500 microstrains, no
matter how low the concrete slump, or how low its water-
cement ratio, the concrete cannot withstand the stresses
due to drying shrinkage.
General remedies to control drying shrinkage:
• Use of control and isolation joints
• Use of concrete at 100mm slump or less and with low
shrinkage attributes
• Use of a specialist solution such as shrinkage
compensating admixtures, post tensioning or vacuum
dewatering

Drying shrinkage increases for concretes at higher water-

cement ratios. Concrete with a low volume of mixing
water and a low water-cement ratio will exhibit lower
shrinkage.

The cement type will affect the rate of shrinkage.

Slow hydrating cements such as slag will exhibit slow
shrinkage.

Engineered Concrete Solutions Crack Control 17

Curing
Curing is important for controlling all forms of cracking.
Curing prolongs the cement hydration process as concrete
hardens thereby assisting in strength development.
Curing also retains moisture in the concrete which slows
but doesn’t reduce drying shrinkage.
Technical Data
Plastic shrinkage cracks occur when the rate of evaporation
exceeds the rate at which water rises to the surface of
recently placed concrete. A useful formula for calculating
evaporation is provided by Uno (ACI Materials Journal,
July-August 1998).

See Site Concreting brochure SC4 Curing. E = 5 ([Tc+18]2.5 - r x [Ta+18]2.5) (v+4)x10-6

Where:
Preparation of Subgrade and Formwork E = evaporation rate, kg/m2/h
For slabs on grade all top soil and soft spots should be Tc = concrete (water surface) temperature, oC
removed in site preparation. The remaining soil destined r = (relative humidity %)/100
to be below the slab should be well compacted by rolling Ta = air temperature, oC
or tamping and the subgrade should be sloped in the v = wind velocity, km/h
natural drainage direction. Smooth, well compacted bases
An evaporation rate in excess of 0.50 kg/m2/h is considered
will help to prevent cracking due to movement in the
to expose concrete to an increased risk of plastic shrinkage
finished slab.
cracking. Above 1.0 kg/m2/h cracking will almost always
Formwork must be constructed in a manner that will occur.
enable it to withstand the pressure of the fresh concrete
without any movement. Vapour barriers can increase
bleeding and increase cracking of high slump concrete.

Construction Joints
Designing for concrete movement through jointing, saw
cuts and/or a sand slip layer under a floor slab is important.
Control joints can be formed by sawing, forming, crack
inducers or tooling a groove in the concrete to a depth of
30% of its total thickness. The joints should be no further
apart than 35 times the thickness of unreinforced concrete,
and 45 times the thickness for reinforced concrete.

A 100mm thick concrete floor should have control joints

30mm deep and spaced 3.5 metres apart.

Isolation joints enable adjacent elements such as floors

meeting columns, footings or walls to move independently.
These joints are through the full depth of the concrete
and are constructed by using a barrier to prevent bond or
interlock occurring between elements.

18 Engineered Concrete Solutions Crack Control

Figure 3.3: Effect of concrete and air temperatures, relative humidity, and wind velocity on the rate of
evaporation of surface moisture from concrete

Relative humidity (%) = 100 35

Concrete temperaturee (oC)
90

80
30
70

60
25
50

40 20
30
15
20
10
10 5

5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Wind speed (km/h) 40
4.5
Air temperature (oC)
35
4.0

30
3.5
Use of chart:
1. From air temperature move UP to relative 25
3.0
humidity
2. Move RIGHT to concrete temperature
2.5 20
3. Move DOWN to wind speed
4. Move LEFT to read rate of evaporation. 2.0 15

Note: Evaporation rates approaching 0.5 1.5 10

kg/m2/h are likely to necessitate precautions
against premature drying. 1.0
5

0.5
0
0
Rate of water evaporation (kg/m2/h)

Engineered Concrete Solutions Crack Control 19

Figure 3.4: Drying shrinkage: Effect of different binders

600

Average shrinkage (microstrains)

500

400

300

200

100

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Days

350MP 350GP 350DC

From BRANZ Test Report Nos: 9864017B,C,D

Target water/binder ratio 0.50 for all mixes)
350GP 350kg Type GP cement
350DC 350kg total binder (slag) – Duracem
350MP 350kg total binder, including 8% microsilica

Figure 3.4: Drying shrinkage: Effect of different aggregates and cement contents

800

700
Average shrinkage (microstrains)

600

500

400

300

200

100

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Days

280GP 350GPW 350GPC 350GPA 425GP

From BRANZ Test Report Nos: 9864017B,C,D

280GP Auckland aggregate basalt 280 kg GP, 0.60 water/cement ratio
350GPC Christchurch rounded greywacke, 350 kg cement, 0.44 water/cement ratio
350GPW Wellington crushed greywacke, 350 kg cement, 0.50 water/cement ratio
350GPA Auckland crushed basalt, 350 kg cement, 0.50 water/cement ratio
425GP Auckland crushed basalt, 425 kg cement, 0.40 water/cement ratio

20 Engineered Concrete Solutions Crack Control