Construction and Building Materials 248 (2020) 118666

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Construction and Building Materials

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Utilising super absorbent polymers as alternative method to test plastic

shrinkage cracks in concrete
D.M. Meyer a, W.P. Boshoff b, R. Combrinck a,⇑
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
b
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Pretoria, South Africa

h i g h l i g h t s

 Sprinkling super absorbent polymers on fresh concrete surface to mimic evaporation.

 Novel method of causing plastic shrinkage cracks in concrete without climate room.
 The method mimics evaporation and causes plastic shrinkage cracking of concrete.
 The same super absorbent polymer can be used to compare results internationally.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Plastic shrinkage cracking in concrete is due to evaporation, which is aggravated by harsh environmental
Received 9 October 2019 conditions. By controlling the conditions in a laboratory to cause high evaporation rates, plastic shrinkage
Received in revised form 25 February 2020 cracks can be induced and then tested. However, in order to control these conditions (wind, temperature,
Accepted 3 March 2020
humidity) a large and expensive climate controlled chamber is required. Super absorbent polymers (SAP)
are designed to absorb water and could possibly be used to mimic evaporation and thus induce plastic
shrinkage cracks. In this study, by testing varying amounts and types of SAP, as well as different concrete
Keywords:
mixes, the validity of using SAP as a novel method for testing plastic shrinkage cracking is investigated.
Super absorbent polymers
SAP
The test results indicated that by using the method proposed and placing SAP on the surface of the con-
Plastic shrinkage cracking crete, plastic settlement and shrinkage occurs in the concrete. The results showed that higher amounts of
Plastic settlement SAP placed on the surface of the concrete resulted in more plastic shrinkage and ultimately larger plastic
Evaporation shrinkage cracks. Larger plastic shrinkage cracks also formed when SAP with a higher and faster absorp-
tion was used. Based on the results of the tested proposition, the proposed method of placing SAP on the
surface of the concrete can be utilised to induce plastic shrinkage cracks in concrete. If the same SAP is
used internationally for this purpose, all tests could be compared using the same test procedure.
Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction During the fresh state of concrete, the concrete is subject to a

Fresh state concrete is defined as concrete which is still wet and
mouldable. It is the state of the concrete from the time that it is
mixed, until it sets or reaches a hardened state. The properties
and characteristics of fresh concrete are important, as they have
a great effect on the quality and durability of hardened concrete
[1–3]. One of the most significant influences that affect the quality
and durability is the effectiveness of the curing [4], since effective
curing prevents the build-up of capillary pressure in the concrete,
and thereby essentially reduce the risk of plastic cracking [4].
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: rcom@sun.ac.za (R. Combrinck).
change in volume in the form of settlement and shrinkage [1].
Fresh concrete has no significant strength or stiffness, compared
to hardened concrete [5], and thus these volume changes may lead
to cracking where there are restraints in the concrete [1,6,7]. Two
types of cracking may occur, namely plastic settlement cracking
and plastic shrinkage cracking. Plastic settlement cracks can be
identified as multiple surface cracks with additional cracks below
the surface, caused by shear strain, and are located above restraints
such as steel bars [5]. Plastic shrinkage cracking, on the other hand,
has a well-defined single cracking pattern, known as a ‘crazed’ pat-
tern [6], which forms suddenly and often through the entire sec-
tion of the concrete [5]. These cracks also interact, where the
earlier forming plastic settlement cracks are often widened by
plastic shrinkage cracking [5]. Slab-like elements with large

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.118666
0950-0618/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 D.M. Meyer et al. / Construction and Building Materials 248 (2020) 118666

exposed surface areas are more prone to plastic shrinkage cracking mine the effect of SAP as a plastic shrinkage inducer and how it
than elements with less area exposed [1,2]. compares to conventional evaporation. The impact of varying
One of the fundamental mechanisms that contributes to plastic amounts of SAP, different types of SAP, as well as different concrete
shrinkage cracking is the build-up of capillary pressure [2,8,9]. mixes were also tested.
Many studies have been done on the capillary pressure build-up
in concrete and its direct correlation to plastic shrinkage cracks
2. Experimental framework
[6,8–11]. Bleeding occurs when the fresh concrete consolidates
and a thin layer of water forms on the surface of the concrete. This
The test procedure followed for inducing plastic shrinkage
layer of water is referred to as bleed water. The capillary pressure
cracks with SAP is very similar to standard methods of testing plas-
increase once the bleed water has evaporated and the pore water
tic shrinkage cracking, such as ASTM C1579 [27]. The major differ-
within the concrete starts to evaporate [6,12,3]. As the pore water
ence is that the use of a climate chamber or room to create and
is drawn from the concrete, water menisci are formed within the
control high evaporation rates was substituted by placing SAP on
pores, which subjects the remaining pore water to tensile stresses
the concrete surface to mimic by absorption the high evaporation
that cause the concrete body to contract or shrink [4,13]. The lower
caused by the climatic chamber. This means that the tests could
the capillary pressure build-up, the lower the potential for the
be conducted in any environment, even in environments with
cracking of fresh concrete [4,10,9]. When the concrete is subjected
low evaporation rates.
to high evaporation rates, a steep gradient in the build-up of the
The SAP was evenly distributed over the entire surface of the
internal negative capillary pressure results [8]. The high capillary
concrete. In order to achieve an even distribution of the SAP, the
pressure causes high tensile stresses in the concrete which
surface area of the concrete was divided into small equal sections
increases the potential and severity of cracking [4].
of 100  100 mm. The amount of SAP required for the total area to
The evaporation rate is affected mainly by the surrounding cli-
be treated was also divided into the same number of sections per
mate, which depends on elements such as the air temperature,
mould and then weighed per section. By covering all the sections
wind velocity and relative humidity [2,14]. For testing in a labora-
except for one, the required amount of SAP was placed in a plastic
tory, these climatic elements need to be amplified in order to
scoop and carefully sprinkled, as evenly as possible, over the
ensure that cracks are induced [15]. In order to control and amplify
uncovered section. This process was repeated for all the sections
these elements the use of a controlled-climate chamber or environ-
until the entire surface of the concrete was covered with SAP.
ment is often required. To construct, operate and maintain such a
The only exceptions were the surface areas where settlement and
climate chamber is expensive.
surface cracks were measured, as discussed in Sections 2.3.3 and
The use of super absorbent polymers (SAP) as an alternative
2.3.4 respectively. For these sections, the amount of SAP needed
method to mimic evaporation, and also see to the removal of bleed
were adjusted accordingly.
and pore water from the concrete could be considered as a simpler
To ensure that the results remained comparable between mixes,
alternative to inducing plastic shrinkage cracking in a laboratory
all tests reported in this paper were conducted in a climate con-
and even on construction sites.
trolled room with an air temperature of 23 °C, a relative humidity
SAP is a synthetic cross-linked polymer [16,17] which has the
of 60% and no wind. The concrete placing temperature was also
ability to absorb large amounts of water or aqueous-solutions
23 °C for all mixes tested. These conditions are often used as a stan-
[18,19]. The polymers form a hydrogel solution once the water
dard for a wide range of laboratory tests and result in a low evap-
has been fully absorbed. Although SAPs are commonly known as
oration rate of 0.09 kg/m2/h based on Uno’s Eq. [2]. This gives a low
the material used inside diapers, SAPs are also mixed into cemen-
potential for plastic shrinkage cracking. Furthermore, all the tests,
titious materials to provide internal curing to high strength con-
except the capillary pressure tests, were conducted at least three
crete mixes with low water to cement ratios, which are prone to
times on different samples with the average result of the samples
self-desiccation and thereby greater autogenous shrinkage
being given throughout the rest of this paper. The repeatability of
[18,20–22]. The internal curing provided by the SAP, by the release
the results for all tests is acceptable and is therefore not indicated
of the absorbed water inside the concrete as the concrete starts to
on figures to avoid a cluttered presentation of results. The capillary
dry [23,24,17,18,20], improves the durability of concrete. SAPs
pressure was measured on only one sample for each test.
have also been shown to reduce plastic shrinkage cracking,
improve the self-healing and self-sealing of concrete, modify the
rheology and improve the resistance of concrete to freezing 2.1. Concrete mix proportions and aggregate properties
[17,18,20,25,26].
It is important to know the kinetic behaviour, the physical prop- Three concrete mixes were tested and compared to evaluate the
erties, as well as the absorption and desorption capacities of the effect that certain properties of the concrete had on the cracking
SAP. Desorption occurs in certain SAPs where the water is absorbed and also on the capillary pressure build-up, the plastic settlement
by the polymer, but then released again after a period of time [18]. and plastic shrinkage. The material constituents and proportions
This desorption action occurs in certain SAPs when placed under for all concrete mixes are summarised in Table 1. The concrete
mechanical pressure or stress, while others release the water with- mixes are described as follows:
out any pressure [18,20]. These characteristics determine the effect
of the SAP on the cementitious material.  A standard concrete mix to serve as a benchmark with a design
Placing SAP on the surface of the concrete should result in the strength of 30 MPa with a 75 mm slump.
SAP absorbing the bleed and pore water, and thereby result in  A slag mix to minimise the effect of hydration in the fresh state
the build-up of capillary pressure. This could essentially lead to of concrete. For this mix the cement is fully replaced by ground
shrinkage and possibly cause the fresh concrete to form cracks. granulated corex slag (GGCS) by mass.
No literature could be found that reported utilisation of SAP for this  A self-compacting concrete (SCC) mix in order to test a mix with
purpose and, if successful, this could be considered as a novel almost no bleeding. The self-compacting concrete mix contains
method for the induction and testing of plastic shrinkage cracking. additional DurraPozz fly-ash as well as a polycarboxylate (PCE)
The objective of this paper is to determine whether SAP can be based superplasticiser, with the commercial name Chryso Fluid
used as an alternative method to induce and test plastic shrinkage Premia 310, added at a dosage of 1.34 kg per 100 kg of cement
cracking. In order to achieve this, tests were carried out to deter- [28].
 D.M. Meyer et al. / Construction and Building Materials 248 (2020) 118666 3

Table 1
Material constituents for concrete mix design.

Relative density Standard concrete mix (kg/m3) Slag mix (kg/m3) Self-compacting concrete mix (kg/m3)
Water 1.00 192 192 184
CEM II/A-L 42.5 N cement 3.05 384 – 237
Ground Granulated Corex Slag (GGCS) 3.05 – 384 –
Fly-ash 2.20 – – 158
9.5 mm Greywacke stone 2.73 – – 705
13.2 mm Greywacke stone 2.80 920 920 –
Natural quarry sand 2.60 923 923 1061
PCE superplasticiser – – – 3.17

The relevant properties of the aggregates used for the tests are 2.3. Measurement methods
summarised in Table 2. Stones with a nominal size of 9.5 and
13.2 mm, as graded according to SANS 1083 [33], were used. The 2.3.1. SAP absorption
9.5 mm stone was used in the self-compacting concrete, whereas The testing method used to determine the absorption behaviour
the 13.2 mm stone was used in the standard concrete mix, as well of various SAPs was based on the recommendations of RILEM TC
as the slag mix. The stones had an angular shape since they were 260-RSC [29]. This method is commonly referred to as the teabag
mechanically crushed. test method. Fig. 1 shows the testing of SAP I during the teabag test
The sand used was a natural quarry sand known as Malmesbury method. A small amount of SAP was placed inside a teabag and
sand, which was formed by natural disintegration and weathering immersed in a cement filtrate solution. The cement filtrate con-
of rock and therefore has a round particle shape. sisted of a solution of water and cement mixed in a ratio of 5:1
based on the mass of each of the materials. The mass of the dry
SAP was measured prior to the start of the test. The mass of the
2.2. Super absorbent polymers wet teabag was also measured and excluded from all absorption
calculations. The teabag with SAP was submerged in the cement
Three different super absorbent polymers with different charac- filtrate solution and then weighed after 1, 5, 10, 30, 60 and
teristics were considered for testing. The main characteristics to 180 min and after 24 h. Based on these measurements the absorp-
consider were the absorption and desorption capacities, as well tion capacity of the SAPs were determined [29].
as the absorption rate of the various SAPs.
SAP I is a white powder based on a high-molecular weight syn-
2.3.2. Capillary pressure
thetic copolymer used for construction materials [16]. This SAP is
The test setup used electronic pressure sensors to measure the
supplied by BASF and known by the commercial name Starvis S
pressure in the pore system of each of the various concrete mixes.
3911F. This polymer is most used as a rheology modifying agent
The sensor was connected to a metal tube with a diameter of
and is suitable for sag resistant applications, as well as to improve
approximately 3 mm and the tube was embedded horizontally in
the workability of cementitious materials. SAP I can release any
the concrete through a hole in the side of a square
water it has absorbed by being put under mechanical stress.
300  300  100 mm PVC mould. The sensor tip was embedded
According to the manufacturer’s description of the product, the
20 mm below the surface of the concrete in the middle of the
absorbed water can be released according to the demand for
mould. Before the tube was embedded in the concrete, it was filled
cement hydration [16]. SAP I has a maximum drying loss of 10%
with distilled water. The open end of the tube was sealed with a
[16].
sponge to prevent the ingress of cementitious paste into the tube.
SAP II is a white to slightly yellow powder also based on a high-
The capillary pressure tests were only conducted once per sample,
molecular weight synthetic copolymer [17]. The commercial name
while all the other tests were repeated at least three times and the
for SAP II is Starvis S 5514F and it is also supplied by BASF. This SAP
average reported. Fig. 2 illustrates the setup for measuring the cap-
stores water and acts as a reservoir at constant water content,
illary pressure in the concrete.
which has a great influence on the water balance of mortars.
According to the manufacturer, mixing SAP II into concrete
improves the properties of hardened mortars and is beneficial in 2.3.3. Plastic settlement and shrinkage
hot climatic conditions [17]. The plastic settlement and shrinkage was measured in a
SAP III is a white/clear fine particle SAP with desorption proper- 300  300  100 mm mould, with LVDTs measuring the settlement
ties and is known to release water relatively quickly after absorp- and shrinkage. The LVDT measuring the settlement was installed
tion. The commercial name for SAP III is FLOSET 27 CS. The SAP is a
covalently cross-linked polymer of acrylic acid and acrylamide,
neutralised by alkali hydroxide, and produced by SNF Floerger in
France. This SAP has a grain size of <300 mm. The relevant proper-
ties of SAP III and how it reacted as an absorbing polymer were
tested in order to enable its use as an experimental SAP.

Table 2
Aggregate properties.

Material Relative Fineness Particle

density modulus shape
9.5 mm Greywacke stone 2.73 – Angular
13.2 mm Greywacke stone 2.80 – Angular
Natural quarry sand 2.60 2.60 Round
Fig. 1. SAP I during RILEM TC 260-RSC teabag test method.
4 D.M. Meyer et al. / Construction and Building Materials 248 (2020) 118666

100 mm

Metal tube

Pressure sensor connected to

metal tube

Fig. 2. Setup for measuring capillary pressure.

vertically and connected to a 40  40 mm metallic mesh lattice
placed on the top surface of the concrete. The SAP was distributed
evenly over the surface of the concrete, except for the 40  40 mm
area where the wire lattice was positioned; where no SAP was
placed since the SAP swells as it absorb the water, which could
influence the measurement.
The LVDTs measuring the shrinkage were installed horizontally
and connected to markers embedded in the concrete from two
sides of the mould. The markers moved with the concrete as it
shrunk. The LVDTs measuring the shrinkage were spring-loaded
to follow the movement of the embedded marker. The measure-
ment methods for settlement and shrinkage as well as the capillary
pressure, were similar to those used by Slowik et al. [8]. Fig. 3 illus-
trates the setup used to measure the plastic shrinkage and settle-
ment in the concrete.
2.3.4. Cracks
A test mould specifically designed to induce and observe the
behaviour of plastic shrinkage cracks was used. This mould was
constructed in accordance with the ASTM C1579 testing method
[27] and adjusted by adding steel bars to provide additional
restraint to the concrete as shown in Fig. 4. The length of the mould
remained 600 mm as per ASTM C1579 recommendations, while
the width was adjusted from 355 mm to 200 mm. Fig. 4 shows
the setup of the test mould. The SAP was evenly distributed across
the entire surface area of the sample, with the exception of the

Mounting bracket
300 mm
for LVDT LVDT
Mounting bracket
100 mm
for LVDT
LVDT

Markers embedded
in concrete
Metallic wire
lattice

300 mm

100 mm

Fig. 3. Setup for testing plastic shrinkage (left) and plastic settlement (right).
 D.M. Meyer et al. / Construction and Building Materials 248 (2020) 118666 5

100 mm 200 mm
100 mm 27 mm
63.5 mm
200 mm 32 mm

Additional steel bars

60 mm
25 mm 50 mm

Fig. 4. Setup of plastic shrinkage crack mould.

100  200 mm surface area above the central stress riser, in order
to be able to see and measure the cracks at the surface.
High-resolution photos were taken of the developed cracks
every 20 min. These photos of the cracks were analysed, using
CAD software, to scale and measure the crack area in accordance
with ASTM C1579 [27].

2.3.5. Bleeding and evaporation

The total amount of bleed water and the bleeding rate were
determined in accordance with ASTM C232 [30]. Cylindrical PVC
moulds with a diameter and height of 120 mm were used. These
moulds were filled with concrete up to a depth of 100 mm. The
moulds were covered with plastic to minimise evaporation. The
mass of each mould was established before and after each mea-
surement, to account for any possible loss due to evaporation dur-
ing the test. Before the measurements were taken, the moulds
were tilted for two minutes on a 50 mm block to accumulate the
bleed water at one extraction point. The accumulated bleed water
was then weighed at 20 min intervals.
The evaporation rate of a concrete mix was tested using square
moulds with a width of 200 mm and a depth of 100 mm. The
moulds were filled with concrete and weighed before placement
in the required conditions. The moulds were then weighed at
20 min intervals to determine the cumulative amount of evapora-
tion, as well as the evaporation rate. The evaporation tests were
conducted under two evaporation conditions. The first condition’s
parameters were set to result in a high evaporation rate of 1 kg/m2/
h as calculated using Uno’s equation [2], referred to as Climate E.
Climate E is achieved in a climate chamber [5] with an air temper-
ature of 40 °C, relative humidity of 10% and wind speed of 22 km/h.
The second condition’s parameters were set to result in a low evap-
oration rate of 0.09 kg/m2/h, referred to as Climate N. Climate N
was achieved in a climate controlled room with an air temperature
of 23 °C, relative humidity of 60% and no wind.
2.3.6. Water extraction by SAP
The same 200  200  100 mm moulds used for the evapora-
tion tests were also used to determine the amount of water
extracted from the concrete surface by the SAP. The SAP needed
to be separated from the concrete sample in order to be able to
weigh the SAP at intervals. The SAP was placed into permeable tea-
bags, which were placed on the surface of the concrete, covering
the entire concrete surface. Fig. 5 shows the arrangement of the
SAP filled tea bags on the surface of the concrete. At each 20 min
measuring interval the SAP filled teabags were removed from the
Fig. 5. Arrangement of tea bags filled with SAP on the concrete surface.
concrete surface and weighed, after which the teabags were
replaced on the concrete surface.
3. Test results and discussions
3.1. Absorption of SAPs
Fig. 6 illustrates the absorption behaviour of the three SAPs
determined using the teabag test method. The figure shows the
absorption of 1 g of SAP over time. According to the manufacturer’s
description, SAP I has the ability to release the absorbed water
when under mechanical stress [16]. This desorbing action of the
SAP was not evident in the teabag test, since no mechanical stress
is introduced to the SAP during this test. SAP I shows a steady rate
of absorption, although the initial rate of absorption was much
lower than those of SAPs II and III. After three hours the absorption
capacity of SAP I was 19.61 g per gram of SAP.
SAP II had a rapid initial absorption rate, which decreased over
time. It also had the highest absorption capacity of the tested SAPs.
The absorption capacity of SAP II was 33.3 g per gram of SAP after
three hours, which was much higher than the capacity of SAP I.
Although SAP II had a faster absorption rate and a higher absorp-
tion capacity, the absorption behaviour pattern was similar to
SAP I, with both SAP I and II not releasing any of the absorbed
water during the test.
6 D.M. Meyer et al. / Construction and Building Materials 248 (2020) 118666

40

35

30

25 SAP I
Absoprtion [g/g]

20 SAP II

15 SAP III

10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Time [min]

Fig. 6. Absorption of SAPs.

SAP III had the fastest initial absorbing capabilities; however, evaporation occurring per surface area. The use of SAP on the sur-
this was followed by a slow release of the absorbed water without face of the concrete in order to mimic evaporation was compared
the influence of mechanical stress. This behaviour of SAP III was to the conventional evaporation caused by both extreme and nor-
very different from those of SAPs I and II. SAP III achieved a maxi- mal climate conditions. The sample sizes and methods used to
mum absorption capacity of 29.9 g/g after 5 min, but thereafter determine the bleeding and evaporation rates as well as the water
gradually started to release the absorbed water. After 3 h the extracted by SAP, have been described in Sections 2.3.5 and 2.3.6.
absorption of SAP III was only 8.6 g/g and had not achieved a The samples were placed under three conditions:
steady state, which indicated that there was a possibility for fur-
ther release of the absorbed water. (i) Conditions set to Climate E, an evaporation rate of 1 kg/m2/h.
(ii) Conditions set to Climate N, an evaporation rate of 0.09 kg/
m2/h.
3.2. Bleeding and evaporation
(iii) Conditions set to Climate N with SAP I in teabags placed on
the surface of the concrete to mimic the effect of evapora-
The total amount of bleeding and evaporation was measured for
tion. 259.40 g/m2 of SAP I was placed on the concrete surface
the standard concrete mix. Fig. 7 illustrates the total cumulative
area of the sample.
amount of bleed water, as well as the total cumulative amount of

4.5
Bleeding
Cumulative bleeding and evaporation per surface area

3.5
Evaporation at
Climate E
3

2.5
Evaporation at
[kg/m2]

Climate N
2

1.5
Evaporation at
Climate N,
1 including water
extraction by SAP
0.5 Water extraction
by SAP
0
0 60 120 180 240 300
Time [min]

Fig. 7. Total cumulative amount of bleeding, evaporation and water extraction by SAP I for the standard concrete mix.
 D.M. Meyer et al. / Construction and Building Materials 248 (2020) 118666
The total amount of bleeding after 6 h was 1.24 kg/m2, although
after 3 h almost 95% of the total amount of bleeding had been
completed.
The results for the climatic conditions causing evaporation were
as expected, with the conditions set for Climate E, resulting in a
higher cumulative amount of evaporation, as well as a higher evap-
oration rate, compared to Climate N. The actual evaporation rates
were slightly lower than the evaporation rates calculated using
Uno’s equation [2].
The amount and rate of evaporation that occurred at Climate N
was low, indicating that almost no evaporation had taken place
when the concrete was placed under the specified conditions. In
general, the conditions at Climate N did not result in enough evap-
oration to induce plastic shrinkage cracks.
The evaporation behaviour under normal evaporation condi-
tions differs from the behaviour of the water extraction with the
use of SAP. The evaporation under normal or extreme climatic con-
ditions, Climate N and Climate E, occurred at a nearly constant lin-
ear rate, whereas the use of SAP induced a high initial extraction
rate, which decreased over time. The non-linear behaviour was
related to the bleeding rate of the concrete, as well as the absorp-
tion behaviour of the SAP.
Although the surface area of the concrete was covered with SAP,
it was evident that a small amount of water still evaporated from
the SAP and the concrete surface. The rate at which the absorbed
water evaporated from the SAP under the testing conditions (Cli-
mate N) was 0.07 kg/m2/h, which is insignificant. Fig. 7 illustrates
the absorption, or water extraction, of the SAP from the concrete
surface with and without considering the evaporation.
The total cumulative amount of evaporation occurring at Cli-
mate E was 3.91 kg/m2, compared to 0.35 kg/m2 at Climate N.
The total cumulative amount of water extracted with the use of
SAP including evaporation from the SAP and concrete surface
was 1.92 kg/m2.
The water extraction with the use of SAP followed the same
curve pattern as the bleeding. The amount of bleed water was
not enough to saturate the absorption capacity of the SAP. The
SAP absorbed more than the bleed water produced by the concrete
mix indicating that the SAP extracted pore water from within the
concrete. The water extraction behaviour of SAP I was also similar
to the behaviour of SAP I during the teabag test, as indicated in
Fig. 6. Although Climate N resulted in only a small amount of evap-
oration, it should be noted that some evaporation from the SAP and
concrete did occur while testing.
3.3. Effect of varying amounts of SAP
To determine the effect of the amount of SAP placed on the con-
crete surface, a series of tests was conducted and compared. For
each test the standard concrete mix, as well as the same type of
SAP was used, but the amount of SAP was incrementally changed
to observe the effect it had on the volume change and cracking
of the concrete. SAP I was considered for these tests.
The amount of SAP was determined based on the bleeding
capacity of the standard concrete mix and the absorption capac-
ity of the SAP as shown in the previous sections. The standard
concrete mix had a total bleeding amount of 1.24 kg/m2 after
6 h (refer to Fig. 7). Considering that most of the bleeding was
completed after 3 h, the absorption capacity of the SAP after
3 h was used for calculations. The absorption capacity of SAP I
was 19.61 g/g of SAP (refer to Fig. 6) after 3 h. Thus, an amount
of 64.6 g of SAP I was required to absorb the total amount of
bleed water per m2. This amount of SAP is referred to as ratio
1. Table 3 specifies the amount of SAP I required for the various
ratios per surface area.
7
Table 3
Amount of SAP I used for various ratios.
Ratio Amount of SAP I (g/m2)
1 64.6
2 129.2
3 193.8
4 259.4
5 323.0
3.3.1. Capillary pressure
The capillary pressure was measured for the SAP ratios of 0, 2
and 4, as described in Table 3. The results obtained from measuring
the capillary pressure are illustrated in Fig. 8. The rate and magni-
tude at which the capillary pressure build-up increased with the
amount of SAP on the surface of the concrete was significant, com-
pared to almost no build-up with no SAP used under the same con-
ditions. This indicated that the use of SAP does mimic evaporation
in the sense that the surface bleed water was absorbed, initiating
the suction of the water out of the concrete pores, resulting in
the rise of the negative capillary pressure.
Based on the rate of the build-up of the capillary pressure in the
concrete, this should lead to internal tensile stresses between the
particles of the concrete, which could lead to plastic shrinkage
cracks forming. The capillary pressure in the concrete with a higher
ratio of SAP used on the surface also had a steeper gradient com-
pared to that with less SAP. The amount of free bleed water pro-
duced by the concrete mix was less than the absorption capacity
of the SAP, which can be observed in Fig. 7. The SAP therefor
extracted pore water from within the concrete. Due to the greater
amount of SAP used in ratio 4, a greater amount of pore water was
extracted than at ratio 2, resulting in a steeper gradient in the
build-up of the capillary pressure in the concrete.
3.3.2. Plastic settlement and shrinkage
The plastic settlement and shrinkage results for the varying pro-
portions of the SAP used, as described in Table 3, are illustrated in
Fig. 9. The results illustrate that there was a significant increase in
the amount of settlement that occurred when SAP was used on the
surface of the concrete compared to that when no SAP was used.
Using ratio 2 compared to ratio 5 provided similar settlement
results, indicating that adding more SAP does not change the
settlement.
Settlement is the consolidation of the concrete in a vertical
direction where the downward movement of the denser materials
displaces the less dense material, such as the water, to the surface
of the concrete [5,8]. Although the downward movement of parti-
cles is mostly driven by gravitation, the SAP on the surface also
absorbed the bleed water, and extracts water from within the con-
crete pores. This increased the amount of water extracted, as well
as the rate at which the consolidation of the concrete occurs.
However, the concrete can only be condensed to a certain
extent until the constituents of the concrete cannot be packed
any more densely in the vertical direction, due to physical contact
between particles, especially the larger ones such as sand and
stone [5]. This limits the amount of settlement that can occur
and increasing the amount of SAP on the concrete surface cannot
overcome this physical restraint which is most often reached
before the initial setting time [5]. The rate at which the settlement
occurred during the first 100 min was high, after which most of the
settlement had been completed. This high rate of settlement can be
seen for all tests conducted, irrespective of the amount of SAP used.
Approximately 90% of the total plastic settlement occurred within
the first 100 min for all tested samples.
Plastic shrinkage, in comparison, to plastic settlement is a 3D
volume change driven by the extraction of concrete pore water
8 D.M. Meyer et al. / Construction and Building Materials 248 (2020) 118666

-12

-10

Capillary pressure [kPa]

-8 No SAP

Ratio 2
-6
Ratio 4

-4

-2

0
0 60 120 180 240 300 360
Time [min]

Fig. 8. Capillary pressure in concrete for various ratios of SAP, using SAP I instead of conventional evaporation.

1.2
Settlement No SAP

Settlement ratio 1
Plastic settlement and shrinkage [mm]

1
Settlement ratio 2

Settlement ratio 3
0.8
Settlement ratio 4

Settlement ratio 5
0.6
Shrinkage No SAP

Shrinkage ratio 1
0.4
Shrinkage ratio 2

0.2 Shrinkage ratio 3

Shrinkage ratio 4

0 Shrinkage ratio 5
0 60 120 180 240 300 360
Time [min]

Fig. 9. Plastic settlement and shrinkage of concrete with various ratios of SAP I instead of conventional evaporation.

and not gravitation [8]. Although the vertical component of plastic
shrinkage is significantly influenced by this physical restraint in
the vertical direction, the horizontal component (as measured in
the experiments) is not. The horizontal shrinkage, which is driven
by the extraction of concrete pore water up to a few hours after the
final setting time [8] is, however, significantly increased if more
SAP is present on the concrete surface to extract pore water from
the concrete. This explains the results in Fig. 9, where it is shown
that the horisontal shrinkage significantly increased at higher
SAP ratios, while the settlement did not.
The rate at which plastic shrinkage occurred was low for the
first 100 min (depending on the amount of SAP), where after the
rate rapidly increased. This occurred at approximately the same
time as the plastic settlement rate started to decrease, as indicated
in Fig. 9. The higher the amount of SAP used, the earlier the rate of
shrinkage started to increase and the higher the total amount of
shrinkage at the end. Finally, although the total amount of shrink-
age increased as the amount of SAP increased, the difference
between each increment decreased slightly.
3.3.3. Plastic shrinkage cracking
The plastic shrinkage cracks of the standard concrete mix were
tested, as described in Section 2.2.4, using varying amounts of SAP
I. Fig. 10 illustrates the development of the cracks over time, in
terms of the crack area, for the different ratios of SAP. The results
show that although ratio 1 should theoretically be enough SAP to
absorp all the bleed water on the surface of the concrete, it was
not enough to induce plastic shrinkage cracks in the concrete.
The rate of the build-up of capillary pressure in the concrete and
the amount of shrinkage occuring needs to be high enough to
 D.M. Meyer et al. / Construction and Building Materials 248 (2020) 118666 9

140

120

100
Ratio 1
Crack area [mm2]

80
Ratio 2

60 Ratio 3

Ratio 4
40
Ratio 5

20

0
0 60 120 180 240 300 360
Time [min]

Fig. 10. Crack development with varying ratios of SAP I.

induce cracking. For SAP I, plastic shrinkage cracks formed only
with ratio 3 and higher.
The crack area increased incrementally as the amount of SAP
increased. The cracks that developed were well defined cracks,
similar to those that develop when testing the concrete in a climate
controlled chamber at high evaporation rates. The cracks started to
develop earlier when a higher amount of SAP was used. With ratio
5, the plastic shrinkage crack had already started to form at 80 min
after casting the concrete, where with ratios 4 and 3 they started to
form only at 180 and 220 min respectively. The crack at ratio 3 did
not develop through the entire length of the sample. This indicates
that ratio 3 replicated a relatively low evaporation rate and that
higher amounts of SAP should be consider for higher cracking
potential.
The cracks at ratios 4 and 5 developed fully through the entire
length of the mould before they stabilised. Figs. 11–13 show the
plastic shrinkage cracks after 6 h, using ratios 3, 4 and 5 of SAP I
on the surface of the concrete.
3.4. Effect of varying SAPs
The type of SAP used can significantly influence the use of SAP
as a novel method of testing plastic shrinkage cracking behaviour
of concrete. This is due to the fact that not all SAPs have the same
characteristics when it comes to their absorption and desorption
capabilities, as some SAPs have a high absorption capacity, some
tend to release the absorbed water when placed under mechanical
stress, while others release the water without any mechanical
pressure. The tests were conducted using SAPs with varying char-
acteristics. For each of these tests, the same amount of SAP was
used on the surface of the concrete. For each SAP, 259.40 g/m2
was added to the surface, relative to the surface area of the mould,
which was equivalent to ratio 4 when using SAP I.
3.4.1. Capillary pressure
Fig. 14 illustrates the build-up of the capillary pressure in the
standard concrete mix with the use of different SAPs, as well as
the capillary pressure under the same conditions but without the
use of any SAP. The effect of the differences in the absorption char-
acteristics of SAP can be seen when comparing the capillary pres-
sures. Referring to Fig. 6, SAP I had a lower total absorption
capacity as well as a slower rate of absorption than SAP II. The gra-
dient of the capillary pressure for SAP I was therefore slightly lower
than for SAP II, as shown in Fig. 14.
The results also show that the initial gradients of the build-up of
the capillary pressure for SAPs II and III were the steepest, which
concurs with the fast and high absorption capacities of SAPs II
and III, as shown in Fig. 6. The behaviour of SAP III did differ from
those of SAPs I and II. After the initial high evaporation rate, SAP III
slowly released the absorbed water without the influence of
mechanical stress, as shown in Fig. 6. This characteristic of SAP
III was also evident from the capillary pressure results, which
reduced in rate after their initial high rate, due to the slow release
of water from the SAP. In Fig. 14, the build-up of the capillary pres-
sure of all three SAPs was similar up to approximately 70 min.
Thereafter the gradient of the capillary pressure increased with
SAPs I and II, while the gradient of SAP III gradually decreased, indi-
cating a release of water from the SAP to the concrete.

0 5 10

mm

Fig. 11. Plastic shrinkage crack using SAP at ratio 3.

10
0 5 10
mm
0 5 10
mm
-7
-6
-5
Capillary pressure [kPa]
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
0 30
Fig. 14. Capillary pressure using various types of SAP instead of conventional evaporation.
3.4.2. Plastic settlement and shrinkage
Fig. 15 illustrates the plastic settlement, as well as the plastic
shrinkage, of the standard concrete mix with the use of each type
of SAP. SAPs I and II showed similar plastic settlement behaviour,
with the exception that SAP II had a slightly higher initial rate at
which the plastic settlement occurred. The plastic shrinkage beha-
viour when using SAPs I and II was also similar, with SAP II induc-
ing slightly more shrinkage than SAP I. The settlement and
shrinkage both also started slightly earlier when using SAP II com-
pared to SAP I. Considering that SAP II has a higher absorption
capacity than SAP I, it should induce a greater shrinkage, as is indi-
cated in the results.
The total amount and rate at which the plastic settlement
occurred when using SAP III was slightly higher than with the
other SAPs. The greater amount of settlement that occurred with
SAP III was due to the fast initial absorption rate of SAP III. The set-
tlement of concrete starts immediately after the concrete has been
cast and is therefore influenced by the initial effect of the SAP on
the concrete. The initial high absorption of SAP III extracted more
concrete pore water compared to SAPs I and II, which also
D.M. Meyer et al. / Construction and Building Materials 248 (2020) 118666
Fig. 12. Plastic shrinkage crack using SAP at ratio 4.
Fig. 13. Plastic shrinkage crack using SAP at ratio 5.
No SAP
SAP I
SAP II
SAP III
60 90 120 150 180 210 240
Time [min]
increased the settlement rate and the total settlement that
occurred. In addition, most of the settlement occurred within the
first hour after the concrete has been cast and within that time
very little water had been released by SAP III.
SAP III induced a much lower shrinkage compared to SAPs I and
II. Plastic shrinkage for SAPs I and II started to increase rapidly after
approximately 80 min. Based on the desorption characteristics of
SAP III, it had already started to slowly release water at that time,
which led to a reduction in the total amount of shrinkage
occurring.
3.4.3. Plastic shrinkage cracking
Fig. 16 illustrates the development of the plastic shrinkage
cracks of the standard concrete mix when using each type of SAP
at ratio 4. The figure includes the minimum and maximum values
obtained for each sample set, creating an envelope of the results
achieved. The different types of SAP all induced plastic shrinkage
cracks, although to a different extent. The crack area when using
SAP II was the largest, with SAP III inducing the smallest crack. This
 D.M. Meyer et al. / Construction and Building Materials 248 (2020) 118666 11

1.4

Plastic settlement and shrinkage [mm]

1.2 Settlement SAP I

1 Settlement SAP II

Settlement SAP III

0.8

Shrinkage SAP I
0.6

Shrinkage SAP II
0.4

Shrinkage SAP III

0.2

0
0 60 120 180 240 300 360
Time [mm]

Fig. 15. Plastic settlement and shrinkage using various types of SAP instead of conventional evaporation.

120

100

No SAP
80
Crack area [mm2]

SAP I

SAP II
60
SAP III

40

20

0
0 60 120 180 240 300 360
Time [min]

Fig. 16. Crack development using various types of SAP instead of conventional evaporation with error bars indicating the minimum and maximum crack areas for each
sample set.

was due to the different absorption rates and capacities of the var-
ious SAPs.
Using SAP II, the crack started to form slightly earlier than with
SAP I. This was due to the higher and faster absorption of SAP II
compared to SAP I. Due to the difference in the absorption charac-
teristics, the capillary pressure, settlement and shrinkage of the
concrete started slightly earlier when using SAP II. This led to the
earlier formation of the plastic shrinkage crack when using SAP
II. Although the formation of the crack was only slightly earlier,
it led to a more significant crack area. Literature [1,4] also confirms
that the earlier the crack forms, the more significant the crack area
will be.
The crack formed when using SAP III started to form more than
an hour later than the cracks using SAPs I and II, and also devel-
oped the smallest crack. Each crack formed a distinctive singular
crack above the stress raiser in the centre of the mould. Although
plastic shrinkage cracks developed with the same amount of SAP,
the starting times and sizes of the cracks differ for the different
types of SAP. Finally, by increasing the amount of SAP and well
as using SAP with a high absorption capacity, such as SAP II, more
distinctive and severe cracks can be induced.
3.5. Effect of varying concrete mixes
The type of concrete mix can significantly influence the use of
SAP as a novel method of testing the plastic shrinkage cracking
behaviour of concrete. This is mainly due to the fact that not all
concrete mixes have the same bleeding characteristics. Tests were
12 D.M. Meyer et al. / Construction and Building Materials 248 (2020) 118666
conducted using three types of concrete mix, as discussed in Sec-
tion 2.1. An amount of 259.40 g/m2 of SAP I was added to the sur-
face area proportional to the surface area of the mould, which was
equivalent to ratio 4.
3.5.1. Capillary pressure
Fig. 17 illustrates the build-up of the capillary pressure in each
type of concrete when using SAP I. The behaviour of the capillary
pressure when the water was extracted using SAP, was similar to
the behaviour when concrete was subjected to conventional evap-
oration [1,8]. The capillary pressure started to build-up as the pore
water was extracted from the surface of the concrete.
The standard concrete mix had a steady rate at which the cap-
illary pressure rose until the air entry was reached. The concrete
mix in which the cement was replaced with slag had the highest
bleeding rate, as well as the highest total amount of bleeding.
Although the bleeding was more for the slag mix, the rate at which
the capillary pressure increased was similar to the build-up of the
standard concrete mix.
The SCC mix did not form a visible water layer on the surface of
the concrete for the SAP to absorb easily. Because there was no
bleed water, it was expected that the SAP would immediately start
extracting the pore water from the concrete and induce an earlier
and faster build-up of the capillary pressure. However, as shown in
Fig. 17, the build-up of the capillary pressure for the SCC was slow.
The slow increase in the capillary pressure indicates that the
extraction of the water, and the effect of the SAP as a plastic shrink-
age inducer, was not only related to the bleed water, but also to the
properties of the mix. The superplasticiser in the SCC reduced the
surface tension and improved the particle distribution of the con-
crete [31,32]. This, together with the higher fine content of the
SCC mix compared to the conventional mixes, made it difficult
for the SAP to extract the water and therefore the rate of the cap-
illary pressure build-up was reduced.
3.5.2. Plastic settlement and shrinkage
Fig. 18 illustrates the plastic settlement, as well as the plastic
shrinkage, in each of the concrete mixes. The plastic settlement
in all three mixes occurred at a rapid rate during the early stages
after placing the concrete. Most of the settlement for the standard
-9
-8
-7
Capillary pressure [kPa]
-6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
0 60
Fig. 17. Capillary pressure for various concrete mixes using SAP I instead of conventional evaporation.
mix, as well as the slag mix occurred within the first 100 min after
placing. However, the settlement of the SCC occurred over a much
longer period and had a higher total measured settlement than
that of the other two mixes with the same amount of SAP used
on the surface. This behaviour was due to the characteristics of
the SCC, and not necessarily due to the use of SAP.
The standard mix started to shrink at a high rate after approx-
imately 70 min. The shrinkage stabilised after five hours. The slag
mix followed the same pattern, except that the shrinkage did not
stabilise but continued at a steady gradient. This difference was
due to effect of cement hydration. The slag mix did not contain
any cement and therefore did not exhibit the same rapid hardening
effect as the cement mix, which developed strength to resist the
shrinkage as hydration starts.
During the first 100 min after the placing of the SCC, little
shrinkage occurred. The shrinkage only started to increase at
around 100 min. The shrinkage in the SCC after 6 h did not seem
to stabilise. Despite the later start in the shrinkage of the SCC, it
reached a higher total shrinkage than in the standard concrete
mix after the tested time.
3.5.3. Plastic shrinkage cracking
Fig. 19 illustrates the development of the plastic shrinkage
cracks for each of the concrete mixes using SAP I. Although the
shrinkage of the slag mix was slightly greater than the shrinkage
of the other two mixes, as illustrated in Fig. 18, the crack area for
the slag mix was much greater than that of the standard and SCC
mixes. The stiffness and strength created by the cement hydration
in the standard mix, as well as the SCC mix, prevented the cracks
from widening as time passed. This was not the case for the slag
mix with no cement, where the crack continued to widen with
time, which led to a much wider crack.
The crack for the standard and SCC mixes were similar,
although the crack in the standard mix started to develop much
earlier than that in the SCC mix. Based on the gradient of the crack
developed in the SCC mix, it was indicated that the crack might not
have fully developed after 6 h and that the crack could still widen
over time. By observing the shrinkage behaviour of the standard
mix and SCC mix in Fig. 18, it could be seen that the shrinkage in
the standard mix had started earlier than that in the SCC.
No SAP
Standard mix
Slag mix
SCC mix
120 180 240 300 360
Time [min]
 D.M. Meyer et al. / Construction and Building Materials 248 (2020) 118666 13

1.6

1.4
Selement

Plasc selement and shrinkage [mm]

Standard mix
1.2
Selement
Slag mix
1
Selement
SCC mix
0.8
Shrinkage
Standard mix
0.6
Shrinkage
0.4 Slag mix

Shrinkage
0.2 SCC mix

0
0 60 120 180 240 300 360
Time [min]

Fig. 18. Plastic settlement and shrinkage for various concrete mixes using SAP I instead of conventional evaporation.

160

140

120
No SAP
Crack area [mm2]

100
Standard mix
80
Slag mix
60
SCC mix
40

20

0
0 60 120 180 240 300 360
Time [min]

Fig. 19. Crack development with various concrete mixes using SAP I instead of conventional evaporation.

4. Conclusion
The evaluated method for testing plastic shrinkage cracking
with the use of SAP, instead of using climate control conditions,
has been shown to be viable in this study. The use of SAP proved
to mimic the mechanisms of evaporation by absorbing the bleed
water from the surface and extracting pore water from the con-
crete, resulting in capillary pressure build-up, plastic shrinkage
and plastic settlement, as well as cracking, even in conditions with
almost no potential for plastic shrinkage cracking.
By using varying amounts of SAP, the severity of the plastic set-
tlement and shrinkage can be controlled. These volume changes
are influenced by the type of SAP used, as well as the type of con-
crete. It is therefore critical to know the characteristics of the SAP
to be used during this type of test.
The different types of concrete mix all formed plastic shrinkage
cracks with the use of SAP on the surface of the concrete. The
severity and development of the cracks was relative to the type
of concrete, as well as the type and amount of SAP used during
the testing.
Finally, this paper has showed that large plastic shrinkage
cracks can be induced in low evaporation conditions by sprinkling
SAP on the concrete surface. The method described in Section 2 of
this study can be used to induce plastic shrinkage cracks. The
method is based on dividing the concrete surface into small equal
sections of no larger than 100  100 mm. The method can be
improved by placing the weighed SAP for each section into a con-
tainer with small equal openings, similar to a salt-shaker, which
allows the SAP to be discharged at a more controlled rate using
an up and down shaking motion.
14 D.M. Meyer et al. / Construction and Building Materials 248 (2020) 118666
This method can easily be used for comparing the plastic crack-
ing potential of different concrete mixes. If the same SAP is used
internationally for this purpose, all tests could be compared using
the same test procedure. This method can also be used on-site, as
well as by research institutions that do not have climate controlled
chambers.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
D.M. Meyer: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, For-
mal analysis, Writing - original draft, Visualization, Investigation.
W.P. Boshoff: Writing - review & editing. R. Combrinck: Concep-
tualization, Validation, Writing - review & editing, Supervision,
Project administration, Funding acquisition.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This work is based on the research supported in part by the
National Research Foundation of South Africa via the Thuthuka
and Thrip research and development instruments. Any opinion,
finding and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this
material is that of the author(s) and the NRF does not accept any
liability in this regard. The support of Pretoria Portland Cement
(PPC) is also gratefully acknowledged.
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