RESEARCH ON DISTINCTIVE CLASSIFICATIONS AND

MITIGATION OF SHRINKAGE IN PRESTRESSED CONCRETE

Submitted by:

Agsalud, Florence
Dinayco, Febbie Kate E.
Ebalobo, Jelly Mae
Galanza, Ronalyn
Hilario, Antoine Kyle
Mon, Stephanie Grace
Trapsi, Hazel Diane F.

A Manuscript Submitted to the College of Engineering as Part of a Research Study for the
course CE 523 D: Prestressed Concrete Design for the Degree Bachelor of Science in Civil
Engineering

Submitted to:

ENGR. JASON MANAS

April 11, 2019

TITLE PAGE 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS 2

Chapter 1: ABSTRACT 3

Chapter 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 5

SHRINKAGE 5

PLASTIC SHRINKAGE 11

AUTOGENOUS SHRINKAGE 15

DRYING SHRINKAGE 18

CARBONATION SHRINKAGE 21

Chapter 3: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 24

BIBLIOGRAPHY 28

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 Chapter 1

ABSTRACT

Concrete experiences volume changes throughout its service life. This total in-service

volume change is the result of applied loads and shrinkage. When loaded, concrete experiences

an instantaneous recoverable elastic deformation and a slow inelastic deformation called creep.

Creep of structures is composed of two components, basic creep or deformation under constant

load without moisture loss or gain, and drying creep. Drying creep is a time-dependent

deformation of a drying specimen under constant load minus the sum of the drying shrinkage

and basic creep. Deformation of concrete in the absence of applied loads is often called

shrinkage.

Shrinkage in concrete happens when a change in length per unit length occur and is

determined by the value of a variable representing time. In prestressed members, shrinkage of

concrete is due to a steady and measured loss of moisture which results in changes in volume.

Its value includes plastic shrinkage, autogenous shrinkage, drying shrinkage, and carbonation

shrinkage. Prestressed concrete structures are sensitive to long-term deformations due to creep

and shrinkage. Such deformations cause extreme cracking and deflections and may cause

failure. Serviceability, durability and long-term safety of concrete structure is at stake when

such breakdown transpired.

Shrinkage, like creep, causes the girder to shorten over time, thus reducing the stress in

the strands and causing prestress losses.

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 Shrinkage has been the focus of a great deal of research along with creep, and several

shrinkage models have also been published. The ambient relative humidity, curing conditions,

the size and shape of the specimen, and mixture proportions affect the rate and extent of

shrinkage. Drying shrinkage occurs when the ambient relative humidity is less than the internal

relative humidity of the concrete, as a result of water loss to the environment. Therefore, a

lower ambient relative humidity will increase shrinkage. ACI-209 (ACI, 1992) and the

AASHTO LRFD Specification (AASHTO, 1998) indicate that shrinkage will increase 67% at

40% relative humidity compared to 80% relative humidity.

Measures to reduce, decelerate, or mitigate shrinkage cracks in concrete may be

conducted with the need to conduct certain reliable methods to predict the shrinkage in

prestressed concrete. This research shows the continuing effect of shrinkage especially to

prestressed concrete, how the different types of shrinkage arise, what materials hasten or

induce the contraction due to shrinkage, and what remedial actions can be employed to lessen

the existence of shrinkage. The influence of the type of the cement and fineness, mineral and

chemical admixtures, ambient conditions, size of specimen, aggregate, various testing and the

shrinkage mechanism is also addressed in this chapter.

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 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

SHRINKAGE

Shrinkage is the shortening of the concrete due to loss of water which results in loss of

the prestressing stress. After an initial high rate of drying shrinkage, concrete continues to

shrink for a long period of time but at a continuously decreasing rate. In general drying

shrinkage is directly proportional to the water-cement ratio and inversely proportional to the

aggregate-cement ratio. For a given water-cement ratio shrinkage increases with increasing

cement content. (Boukendakdji, Touahmia, & Achour, 2017, June 12)

The effect of shrinkage of concrete before transfer is not taken into account in the case

of post-tensioning. (Boukendakdji, Touahmia, & Achour, 2017, June 12)

Deformations due to creep and shrinkage are comparable to elastic deformations in

concrete structures. Often, these deformations cause excessive cracking and deflections or

possible failure with an inherent loss in serviceability, durability and long-term safety of

concrete structures. Thus, there exists a need for a reliable method to predict the creep and

shrinkage, especially for prestressed concrete structures. (Jayakumar, 2011 January)

Shrinkage is defined as the time-dependent strain measured at constant temperature in

an unloaded and unrestrained specimen. Shrinkage is expressed as a dimensionless strain. The

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shrinkage of concrete has a direct influence on prestress losses of prestressed concrete

members and the long-term deformation of girders. Several models are available in the

literature to estimate the creep and shrinkage of concrete. The selection of a reliable model

depends on the actual conditions in which the concrete is mixed and cured, the properties at

the fresh and hardened states estimated. (Jayakumar, 2011 January)

For small, unrestrained concrete specimens (prism), a low ultimate shrinkage (strain)

is considered to be less than 520 millionths (at 50 percentage relatively humidity and [73

degrees Fahrenheit]). Typical concrete has been measured at 520 to 780 millionths. However,

for some mixtures, shrinkage exceeding 1,100 millionths has been documented. (Suganthy &

Gajendran, 2017)

Restrained shrinkage cracking of concrete depends on combination of a variety of

factors, some of which include; the degree of restraint, creep and stress relaxation, rate and

magnitude of shrinkage, mechanical property development, and fracture resistance of the

concrete. (Raoufi & Weiss, 2011)

The cracks on concrete caused by shrinkage let the concrete more vulnerable to

penetration of aggressive substance from the surrounding environment. This harmful substance

can be gaseous (nitrogen, oxygen, CO2, etc.) or liquid (water, dissolved ions, etc.) ones and can

contribute for an increase of concrete degration and, consequently diminishing its service life.

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 The use of SRA additives reduces free and constrained shrinkage of concrete in

accordance with ASTM C1581. Moreover, the use of this additive resulted in an increase in

crack propagation time in cases of constrained shrinkage of concrete. This additive adds to the

electrical resistivity of concrete and simultaneously results in decreasing water absorption and

water penetration in concrete. Changes in these parameters leads to an increase in the durability

of the concrete. (Hatami, Daryan, & Ramezanianpour, 2017 December)

To minimized shrinkage in place, the mortar should stand for ½ hour after mixing and

then should be remix prior to use. The mortar should be placed in layers about 3/8 in. (10 mm)

thick. Each layer should be thoroughly compacted over the surface using a blunt stick or

hammer, and each underlying layer should be scratched to facilitate bonding with the next

layer. (Suganthy & Gajendran, 2017)

Non-reinforced concrete exhibited slow shrinking in the first 30 minutes, but after 1.5

to 4 hours the shrinking increase rapidly. However, when the amount of free moisture is

reduced due to evaporation and the concrete is simultaneously hydrated, it becomes firmer.

(Sprince & Pakrastinsh, 2013)

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 Synthetic fibers were have similar advantages, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers were

used for this study due to their larger tensile strength and modulus of elasticity, as well as good

bonding with concrete. (Sprince & Pakrastinsh, 2013)

By using PVA fibers, the plastic shrinkage in concrete was reduced by 36.20%. It was

also proved that an increase of fiber content from 0.1% to 0.4% has minimum impact on

reducing the shrinkage. Therefore, to reduce plastic shrinkage, it is enough to use 0.1% of PVA

fibers. (Sprince & Pakrastinsh, 2013)

Early age creep and shrinkage are primary factors that influence premature cracking of

concrete affecting the durability and performance of concrete structures. Shrinkage of concrete

causes tensile stress development while tensile creep works as a stress relaxing mechanism and

relieves part of the stress developed due to shrinkage. Shrinkage Reducing Admixtures (SRA)

have been effectively used to reduce the potential for cracking, particularly at early age.

However, the effects of SRA on stress development and tensile creep require more testing.

Concrete mixtures with and without SRA were tested using a uniaxail test configuration that

allowed to measure creep and shrinkage under constant load as well as under increasing load

(restrained condition). Concrete containing a Shrinkage Reducing Admixture (SRA) has been

evaluated using a constant load creep-shrinkage test. SRA was added at a dosage rate of 3.71

l/m3 (0.75 gal/yd3). The results showed that the SRA at the tested dosage significantly reduced

the early age shrinkage of concrete. The results also indicated that the SRA influenced the

shrinkage and creep in a different manner. (Altoubat, 2010)

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 Expansive agents are used to decrease concrete shrinkage. Two types of expansive

materials are presently used: one is based on calcium sulphoaluminate, whereas the other is

dead-burn lime. Some commercial formulations are a combination of these two expansive

materials. As the dosage of these expansive agents is usually quite small, they are diluted in a

certain quantity of Portland cement in order to mitigate the effect of an error of dosage. When

using an expansive agent, it is very important to properly water cure concrete in order to be

sure to provide the necessary water for the expansive agent to obtain the desired expansion.

The expansion obtained depends essentially not only on the dosage of the expansive agent but

also on the temperature and the efficiency of the water curing. The use of expansive agents is

very simple and very efficient, provided that good water curing is applied on concrete and the

temperature is not too cold. (Gagné, 2015 November 20)

The results of a series of tests on prestressed concrete beams show that the addition of

longitudinal passive reinforcement can have some adverse effects on the behaviour under

serviceability conditions. These arise from the restraint that reinforcement provides to creep

and shrinkage deformations in the concrete. High compression stresses can be induced in the

longitudinal passive reinforcement by creep and shrinkage in the concrete, while in prestressed

reinforcement the initial prestress tensile stresses are reduced by these actions. As a result,

when the initial flexural cracks form, longitudinal passive reinforcement may sustain

significant compressive stress. Experimental observations are compared with predictions from

three methods of analysis. A modified form of the effective modulus method, suitable for use

in a design office, was found to give predictions comparable in accuracy to the more

sophisticated methods (Fenwick & Sritharan, 1995).

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 Shrinkage has been proven to be an important property of early age concrete. The

shrinkage strain leads to inherent engineering problems, such as cracking and loss of prestress.

Atmospheric temperature is an important factor in shrinkage strain. However, current research

does not provide much attention to the effect of atmospheric temperature on shrinkage of early

age concrete. In this paper, a laboratory study was undertaken to present the time-dependent

shrinkage of early age concrete under temperature variation. A newly developed Material

Deformation Tester (MDT), which can simulate consecutive variation of atmospheric

temperature, was used to collect the shrinkage strain of specimens and temperature data. A

numerical model was established to describe the thermoelastic strain of a specimen. The results

show that (1) there are several sharp shrinkages up to 600 μ for early age concrete in the first

3 days; (2) the absolute value of shrinkage strain is larger than thermal strain; and (3) the

difference of shrinkage strain under temperature variation or constant temperature is up to

500 μ (Wang, Wang, Yi, & Qin, 2017)

In Reno and Las Vegas, twelve post-tensioned concrete beams made with local

aggregates were monitored for creep and shrinkage losses along with a number of cylinder

specimens that were monitored for creep and shrinkage strains independently. At each location,

two box girders were left indoors exposed to a more stable environment, and two box girders

and two solid beams were left outdoors exposed to precipitation and a wider varying

environment. Of each pair of beams, one beam was kept moist for two weeks after prestressing

(moist-curing) and one beam was not. Testing and analysis found that moisture can increase

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the stiffness of aged concrete by 20%, possibly reducing creep and shrinkage losses. Aggregate

type was found to influence concrete susceptibility to creep and shrinkage losses and the effects

of moisture. Testing and analysis also found that in some cases the lifetime creep and shrinkage

losses calculated from measured extrapolated surface strains exceeded the losses predicted by

current prestress loss prediction methods from AASHTO, Naaman, and Nawy. Based on these

findings, necessary revisions to the AASHTO equations for creep and shrinkage losses were

proposed (Nevada Department of Transportation - Research Division , 2003)

PLASTIC SHRINKAGE

Early-age shrinkage in concrete may lead to deleterious cracking which in some

occasions can dramatically impair the aesthetics, durability and serviceability of a structure.

(WP & Combrick , 2013) Plastic and autogenous shrinkage are the two main phenomena by

which early-age shrinkage is caused. The former occurs due to excessive loss of water e.g. by

evaporation, whereas the latter is a result of hydration and chemical reactions. (Sivakumar &

Santhanam, 2006)

Plastic shrinkage and its probable cracking, occurs shortly after casting, while the

concrete still is in its plastic phase. The phenomenon is defined as the shrinkage of young

concrete which occurs due to rapid and excessive drying. The cracking occurs when the

concrete surface dries and shrinks so fast, that the induced tensile strains exceed the strain

capacity of the very young concrete. It may clearly affect the aesthetics, durability and

serviceability of the structure by accelerating the ingress of harmful materials that might cause

11
damage in future, e.g. corrosion of the reinforcement. (Sayahi, Plastic Shrinkage Cracking in

Concrete, 2016)

According to ACI 305R (1999): “Plastic shrinkage cracking is frequently associated

with hot weather concreting in arid climates. It occurs in exposed concrete, primarily in flat

work but also in beams and footings and may develop in other climates whenever the

evaporation rate is greater than the rate at which the water rises to the surface of recently placed

concrete by bleeding”. The main driving force behind the phenomenon is thus believed to be

rapid and excessive loss of water, which mainly takes place in form of surface water

evaporation.

The main reason behind plastic shrinkage cracking is considered to be rapid and

excessive surface water evaporation of the concrete element in the plastic stage (freshly cast

concrete) which in turn leads to the so-called plastic or capillary shrinkage. Consequently, many

factors affect the likelihood of plastic shrinkage crack formation such as water-cement ratio,

admixture, member size, fines content, concrete surface temperature and ambient conditions (i.e.

relative humidity, air temperature and wind velocity). All these factors influence the water

evaporation rate of the concrete which is considered, among others, as an indication of the

possible beginning of the plastic shrinkage cracking. As long as the evaporation rate is less

than the bleeding rate, a thin water film covers the surface of the concrete. Soon after the

disappearance of this thin water layer, capillary pressure inside the concrete increases, which

results in the so called plastic shrinkage. It should be mentioned here that the bleeding can be

very small or not existing at all for concretes of low water/cement ratio, e. g. those designed

for fast drying through self-desiccation. (Nunes & Camões, 2013 May 29)

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 If the concrete member is restrained in any way (e.g. due to reinforcement, change of

sectional depth, difference in shrinkage in different parts of the concrete, friction of the mould,

etc.), the developed shrinkage can cause tensile strain accumulation, starting from the concrete

surface. When the tensile strain exceeds the tensile strain capacity of the concrete, which at early

ages is very low, cracks start to form [19]. In many cases, plastic shrinkage cracks are so thin

(sometimes invisible to an unaided eye) which can be overlooked or covered by the surface

finishing. However, later on phenomena such as external loading, thermal strain, or drying

shrinkage can widen the crack which as mentioned earlier negatively influences the

serviceability of the concrete structure. (Sayahi, Hedlund, & Emborg, Plastic Shrinkage Cracking

in Concrete: State of the Art, 2014)

Plastic shrinkage cracking does not initially affect the structural capacity of a precast

product, but it may lead to accelerated corrosion of imbedded reinforcing steel, compromising

the structural capacity of the product at a later age.

Plastic shrinkage cracking and settlement cracking provide a direct route for deleterious

substances to penetrate the concrete, negatively affecting the concrete’s durability and

performance in corrosive environments. (Mohanlal, 2015)

Plastic shrinkage cracks appear after the concrete has been cast but before it has gained

strength. (Sprince & Pakrastinsh, 2013)

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 Plastic shrinkage cracking in fresh concrete might occur in both the bleeding state and

the drying state. In the bleeding state, cracking is solely the consequence of the fresh concrete

properties, manifesting as vertical shrinkage (settlement) before the solid percolation, which

leads to the development of deviatoric stresses and cracking. This type of cracking is especially

probably in deep concrete elements experiencing large settlement deformations. On the other

hand, in concrete elements with higher surface to volume ratio, cracking caused by the

development of capillary pressure in the drying state is more probable. For this type of

cracking, the environmental factors play a fundamental role. Thus, to address plastic shrinkage

cracking in both states, a thorough knowledge is required, spanning from the determination of

material properties to shrinkage mechanisms, and from the latter to mitigation strategies, taking

into account the climatic factors.

After validating the modeling approaches and shedding light on the driving

mechanisms of plastic shrinkage cracking, the performance of different passive methods for

plastic shrinkage cracking mitigation in the drying state was investigated. It was found that

some accelerators (e.g. C-S-H seeding agents) can accelerate the crack initiation time, however

since they also accelerate the growth of mechanical properties in parallel, eventually they

reduce the final crack size. Furthermore, it was found that utilizing shrinking reducing

admixture (SRA) in the mix design is an efficient mitigation method, since they can reduce the

characteristic air entry pressure, while at the same time having only minor impact on the

development of the mechanical properties. It was also noticed that mitigation methods which

rely on curing techniques (by active or passive elimination of the surface pore water

evaporation) need to be available and stable until the time of final set, when the concrete is

free from plastic shrinkage cracking risk. Otherwise, if curing is stopped to early, cracking can

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occur and propagate rapidly to the surface. In addition to a common risk of too early stopping

of water spraying, another case may be e.g. when the curing film provided by a curing agent

(passive method) breaks during evaporation. It was also recommended to combine different

passive mitigation methods to obtain more robust and efficient crack mitigation. An example

is utilizing the SRA or evaporation reducers in combination with hydration accelerators.

(Ghourchian, 2018)

AUTOGENOUS SHRINKAGE

Since autogenous shrinkage results from the consumption of water by the continuing

hydration reaction, it is only of concern when the binder does not reach its full hydration

potential. In the case of portland cement, complete hydration requires w/cm > 0.42. Above this

value, at which sufficient water is provided for complete hydration, autogenous shrinkage is

theoretically nonexistent. It should be noted that there is some disagreement on the value of

w/cm which results in complete hydration of portland cement, but this is of no consequence to

the present study. (Thomas, Lezama, & Peethamparan, 2017)

Basic characteristics of the cement paste that contribute to or control the autogenous

shrinkage response include the surface tension of the pore solution, the geometry of the pore

network, the visco-elastic response of the developing solid framework, and the kinetics of the

cementitious reactions. While the complexity of this phenomenon may hinder a quantitative

interpretation of a specific cement-based system, it also offers a wide variety of possible

solutions to the problem of early-age cracking due to autogenous shrinkage.

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 Mitigation strategies include: the addition of shrinkage-reducing admixtures more

commonly used to control drying shrinkage, control of the cement particle size distribution,

modification of the mineralogical composition of the cement, the addition of saturated

lightweight fine aggregates, the use of controlled permeability formwork, and the new concept

of “water-entrained” concrete. As with any remedy, new problems may be created by the

application of each of these strategies. But, with careful attention to detail in the field, it should

be possible to minimize cracking due to autogenous shrinkage via some combination of the

presented approaches. (Bentz & Jensen, 2004)

Replacing cement by Fly Ash will result in a binder with less susceptibility to react and

shrink, and it is expectable that it will be advantageous for autogenous shrinkage reduction.

(Nunes & Camões, 2013 May 29)

The high-performance grout mixture had identical flowability as the ordinary grout

mixture. However, the high-performance grout posted better performance in relation to

settling, strength, and bleeding. The inclusion of the shrinkage-reducing admixture to the high

performance grout mixture resulted in higher values of tensile and compressive strengths after

28 days. This also resulted in lower maximum internal temperature due to the heat of hydration,

delayed shrinkage cracking, and lower shrinkage strain.

The restraint degree reference to uneven surface of duct as well as filling capacity of the high-

performance grout was affected insignificantly by the addition of shrinkage-reducing

admixture. The authors observed complete filling of ducts for the high-performance grout

16
samples. Ordinary grout mixture showed the smallest shrinkage strain and best performance in

relation to shrinkage crack resistance. Unfortunately, ordinary grout led to inadequately filled

ducts, which led to exposure of strands (Yuan, Yoo, & Koh, 2017).

One of the problems that contractors face is to identify the weather conditions and to

determine if the concrete placements should proceed. From past research, it has been shown

that the three weather conditions (air temperature, humidity and wind velocity) and the

concrete temperatures are the best indicators to determine if plastic shrinkage cracks will

develop. A Nomograph was developed and published in many American Concrete Institute

(ACI) committee reports as well as by the Portland Cement Association (PCA). Unfortunately,

it is difficult to get the required information and the Nomograph is not easy to use. Plastic

shrinkage cracks can be prevented, provided the contractor properly assessed the weather and

the fresh concrete conditions. In the United States of America (USA), two values of

evaporation rates are used to provide guidance to the contractors on when plastic shrinkage

cracks will form. When the evaporation rates exceed 0.2 lb/ft2/hr (1.0 kg/m2/hr) plastic

shrinkage cracks are expected. Precautionary measures are almost manitory. Some of these are

erecting a wind screen, cooling the concrete, using a fogging system, and placing concrete at

night. When the evaporation rate is between 0.1 and 0.2 lb/ft2/hr (0.5 and 1.0 kg/m2/hr) plastic

shrinkage cracking may occur. Since evaporation rates in these ranges can occur and to avoid

plastic shrinkage cracks, the above precautionary measures are recommended. When the

evaporation rates are 0.1 lb/ft2/hr (0.5 kg/m2/hr), plastic shrinkage cracks are not expected.

(Sayahi, Plastic Shrinkage Cracking in Concrete, 2016)

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 In the structures whose long-term behavior should be monitored and controlled, creep

and shrinkage effects have to be included precisely in the analysis and design procedures.

Creep and shrinkage, vary with the constituent and mixtures proportions, and depend on the

curing conditions and work environment as well. Self-compacting concrete (SCC) contains

combinations of various components, such as aggregate, cement, superplasticizer, water-

reducing agent and other ingredients which affect the properties of the SCC including creep

and shrinkage of the SCC. Hence, the realistic prediction creep and shrinkage strains of SCC

are an important requirement of the design process of this type of concrete structures (Aslani

& Nejadi, 2012)

DRYING SHRINKAGE

Drying shrinkage is approximately proportional to water loss. Since aggregates are

highly dimensionally stable, shrinkage is dominant within the binder paste. An increase in

binder content in concrete, which leads to an increase in the paste volume, naturally leads to

an increase in drying shrinkage. With sufficient shrinkage strains, cracking occurs. This can

result in weakening of concrete structures, but the formation of cracks is more significant to

the durability of concrete. (Thomas, Lezama, & Peethamparan, 2017)

Three predominate mechanisms are known to contribute to drying shrinkage: Surface

energy, capillary stress, and disjoining pressure. The effects of surface energy (or surface

tension) are explained by the Bangham equation and Gibb’s free energy, which describe the

shrinkage resulting from a reduction in surface energy due to the spreading of physically

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adsorbed water within the pore volume. Surface energy effects are significant below 45%RH.

Disjoining pressure arises from a cohesive interaction—mainly due to van der Waals forces—

between the pore water and the surface within the pore volume. Disjoining pressure is

significant only above 45%RH. (Thomas, Lezama, & Peethamparan, 2017)

Numerical simulations on a reinforced concrete tie tested in tension are carried out with

or without taking into account drying. Particular attention is devoted to the modeling of the

steel-concrete bond in order to guarantee an accurate degradation of the interface. A visco-

elastic model with damage for concrete provides the state of stress and damage before loading

due to drying shrinkage. The mechanical behavior of the specimen in tension, with or without

drying, is then compared in terms of overall behavior and cracking pattern. (Michou, et al.,

2018, February 12)

Drying shrinkage is generally classified as an important hardened concrete property. It

expresses the strain occurring in hardened concrete due to the loss of water. During the drying

process, free and absorbed water is lost from the concrete. When the drying shrinkage is

restrained, cracks can occur, depending on the internal stresses in the concrete. The ingress of

deleterious materials through these cracks can cause decrease in the compressive strength and

the durability of concrete. In this study, being as a fine aggregate in mortars, crushed tile (CT)

effect on drying shrinkage and drying shrinkage cracking is investigated. Thus, compressive

and flexural strength, modulus of elasticity, and free and restrained drying shrinkage tests are

conducted on mortar specimens produced with and without crushed tile fine aggregate. The

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ring test has been used in order to investigate the cracks induced by restrained drying shrinkage.

In this way, free drying shrinkage strain, along with the number and development of drying

shrinkage cracks, of the crushed tile fine aggregate mortar composites are quantified and

observed. (Topçu & Bilir, 2010, October)

To reduce the drying shrinkage of concrete, some actions are recommended: Review

of the mix design to see the fine contents as well as absorption rates of materials. Reduce the

use of water as much as possible to get the required workability. Admixtures to reduce water

in the mix are highly recommended. Avoid adding water to the concrete at the job site or worst

when placing. Review moisture on the surroundings of the concrete previously to be placed in

ground, formwork and the like. If the surroundings are dry, soak water from the concrete,

increasing the rate of drying and then the shrinkage. Cure on time and properly. Avoid the

rapid evaporation of water from the concrete. In hot weather climates, this is a crucial moment

for the concrete. Curing, curing and curing. In some cases, lack of reinforcement or not

adequate one, can produce shrinkage and cracking. In slabs, pavements or slabs on grade,

control joints should be located at the right distance, with the right deep and width, and if

sawed, they should be done on time and properly. Improper finishing techniques of the surface

also should be avoided. Avoid adding cement or powder on the surface of concrete for finishing

purposes except if surface hardeners or other materials specifically designed for that purpose

are used. (Lozano, 2012 November 11)

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CARBONATION SHRINKAGE

Carbonation tests showed that the widely accepted proportional relationships between

carbonation depths and square roots of exposure durations also applied to carbonation in

fatigue-damaged concrete. Also, carbonation rates evolved linearly with residual strains in

concrete with low damage gradients, and a 75% increase could be observed at a residual strain

of 0.002. In addition, fatigue damage with low gradients did not significantly sway the ways

that relative humidity, temperature, and carbon dioxide concentration affected carbonation of

concrete.

A case study was conducted, which determined that cumulating fatigue damage could

have a big influence on carbonation depth evolution. Meanwhile, differences in the cumulating

fatigue damage could lead to noticeable differences in carbonation depth evolution among

different points in the same concrete bridge. Moreover, drastic increases of CO2 concentration

and temperature could induce relationships of carbonation depths with square roots of service

times to remarkably deviate from the proportional laws widely accepted under a time-invariant

environment. (Jiang & Zhang, 2017)

It is considered that rate of carbonation is closely related to the microstructure of

concrete. Research was carried out on portland cement concrete, OPC concrete and concrete

with different contents of fly ash with equal strength at 28 days. Specimens were put under

artificial carbonation at the age of 90 days. The microstructure of mortar specimens were

determined before and after carbonation. Experimental results showed higher rate of

21
carbonation of fly ash concrete could be connected with the fact that pozzolanic reaction

products were more easily carbonated and more capillary pores in fly ash mortar were produced

after carbonation. (Lin & Fu, 2017)

The measurement of the depth of carbonation in reinforced and prestressed concrete

structures is typically determined via freshly cut cores or broken concrete surfaces (often

adjacent to superficial evidence of corrosion) and sprayed with a pH indicator phenolphthalein

solution. These measurements are representative of only a small percentage of the entire

concrete surface and rarely give insight into the overall carbonation profile. This may therefore

lead to an over-or underestimation of the depth of carbonation, and presents difficulties in

assessing the likely corrosion risk due to carbonation of a reinforced or prestressed concrete

structure. The current paper presents unique information on the progression of the overall

carbonation front in cross-sections taken from three 45-year-old precast, prestressed concrete

T-beams located in an aggressive marine environment. Deeper carbonation was found with

increasing height of the beam cross-section, particularly at junctions, and towards the more

sheltered areas of the diaphragms. Maximum carbonation depths of 50mm were recorded in

some locations, exceeding reinforcement depths and approaching the depth of the prestressing.

Carbonation fronts were irregular, but were not always influenced by aggregate. Zones of

carbonation were observed around cracks but this was not always the case. (Papè, 2017)

The 5% magnesia (MgO) addition reduces the shrinkage magnitude of hardened

cement paste (HCP) by about half, which can be attributed to the mechanisms of both early-

22
age expansion and stiffness enhancement. The MgO addition reduces the carbonation depth of

HCP, which is attributed to the presence of Mg2+ in pore solution and formation of magnesium-

containing calcium carbonates. The MgO-based additive reduces the carbonation shrinkage

after the HCP being dried to equilibrium. However, this effect is not conspicuously observed

under the circumstance of simultaneously drying and carbonation. (Ye, 2018)

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 Chapter 3

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Shrinkage of concrete is the time-dependent strain calculated in an unburdened and

uncontrolled specimen at steady and stable temperature. Shrinkage is classified in plastic,

autogenous, drying and carbonation shrinkage to further understand this aspect more closely.

The Shrinkage Reduction Admixture is effective in reducing the early shrinkage of concrete.

The reduction in shrinkage is substantial (30-40%), which decreases the potential of early age

cracking of concrete and improves the performance. The weight loss measurements indicated

that the SRA reduced the rate of weight loss from drying, which in part explains the associated

reduction in shrinkage. Retention of water in the hydrating microstructure should contribute to

improved development of mechanical properties. To the extent that it slows the drying process,

SRA may be viewed as a curing agent in addition to being a shrinkage reducing agent. Both

aspects enhance early age performance and reduce the risk of cracking.

Plastic shrinkage exhibits soon after the concrete is placed in the forms while the

concrete is still in the plastic state. The reasons of plastic shrinkage are believed to be the loss

of water by evaporation from the surface of concrete or by the absorption by aggregate or

subgrade. The loss of water results in the reduction of volume. The aggregate particles or the

reinforcement comes in the way of subsidence due to which cracks may appear at the surface

or internally around the aggregate or reinforcement. Plastic concrete is sometimes subjected to

unintentional vibration or yielding of formwork support which again produces plastic

shrinkage cracks as the concrete at this stage has not established enough strength. Also, from

the research done, it can be deduced that high water/cement ratio, badly proportioned concrete,

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rapid drying, greater bleeding, and unintended vibration are some of the reasons for plastic

shrinkage. It can also be further added that richer concrete undergoes greater plastic shrinkage.

Plastic shrinkage can be reduced mainly by preventing the rapid loss of water from surface.

This can be done by covering the surface with polyethylene sheeting immediately on finishing

operation. Concrete or prestressed concrete may also be concealed by monomolecular coatings

by fog spray that keeps the surface moist. By working at night in concrete, mitigation in plastic

shrinkage will take place. An effective method of removing plastic shrinkage cracks is to

revibrate the concrete in a controlled manner. The use of small quantity of aluminum power is

also suggested to offset the effect of plastic shrinkage. Similarly, expansive cement or

shrinkage compensating cement also can be expended for controlling the shrinkage during the

setting of concrete. The principal property of such cement is that the expansion induced in the

plastic concrete will almost offset the normal shrinkage due to loss of moisture. Under correct

practice, the distance between the joints can sometimes be tripled without intensifying the level

of shrinkage cracking. Further, the use of unnecessary high slump concrete, over sanded mix,

higher air entraining should be dejected in order to diminish the higher plastic shrinkage. Also,

it was studied that the addition of shrinkage reducing admixture (SRA) helps in the mitigation

of plastic shrinkage.

Autogeneous shrinkage happens in a conservative system where no moisture

movement to or from the paste is permitted and temperature is constant. Autogeneous

shrinkage is of minimal importance and is not applicable in practice to many situations except

that of mass of concrete in the interior of a concrete dam and is therefore negligible and not

usually considered. The degree of autogeneous shrinkage is in the order of about 100 microns.

Substituting cement with fly ash is said to develop a binder with a reduced amount of sensitivity

25
to react and shrink, and therefore, is expedient for autogenous shrinkage reduction. Also, the

addition of shrinkage-reducing admixtures more usually exhausted to control drying shrinkage,

control of the cement particle size distribution, modification of the mineralogical composition

of the cement, the addition of saturated lightweight fine aggregates, the use of controlled

permeability formwork, and the new concept of “water-entrained” concrete may minimize

cracking due to autogenous shrinkage.

Based on the research done, the drying shrinkage is an perpetual process when concrete

is exposed to drying settings. The drying shrinkage of concrete is comparable to the mechanism

of drying of timber specimen. The shortfall of free water inhibited in hardened concrete, does

not arise in any considerable dimension alteration. It is the loss of water detained in gel pores

that triggers the change in the volume. Under drying conditions, the gel water is mislaid

gradually over a long time, as long as the concrete is retained in drying situations. It was known

that there are three predominate mechanisms that contribute to drying shrinkage namely,

surface energy, capillary stress, and disjoining pressure. Since an increase in binder content in

concrete leads to an increase in the paste volume and consequently precedes to an increase in

drying shrinkage, decrease in binder substance in concrete may be employed to mitigate drying

shrinkage. Also, the concrete properties impact on drying shrinkage varies on the ratio of water

to cementitious materials content, aggregate content, and total water content. The association

between the amount of water content of fresh concrete and the drying shrinkage is linear. It is

said that decrease of the water content by one percent will roughly decrease the drying

shrinkage by three percent. Constant water to cementitous materials ratio concurs with

alterations in the quantity of aggregate consumed. Increase in water to binder ratio causes

increase in drying shrinkage. The proper use of fly ash in SCC can reduce drying shrinkage

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remarkably. Increase in volume of coarse aggregate can reduce drying shrinkage significantly,

in addition change of sand volume ratio has little effect on the drying shrinkage of medium

strength SCC. Likewise, lower temperatures largely generate a lessening in drying shrinkage

because of higher humidity and slower evaporation. Similarly, curing on time and properly

will help avoid the rapid evaporation of water from the concrete.

According to study, carbonation shrinkage is a phenomenon very recently documented.

Carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere responds in the existence of water with hydrated

cement. Calcium hydroxide becomes calcium carbonate and also some other cement

compounds are spoiled. Such a complete decomposition of calcium compound in hydrated

cement is chemically possible even at the low pressure of carbon dioxide in normal

atmosphere. Carbonation infiltrates beyond the bare surface of concrete only very slowly. The

rate of penetration of carbon dioxide is influenced by the moisture content of the concrete and

the relative humidity of the ambient medium. Carbonation is tied in with an increase in weight

of the concrete and by shrinkage. Carbonation shrinkage is said to be caused by the dissolution

of crystals of calcium hydroxide and deposition of calcium carbonate in its place. As the new

product is less in volume than the product supplanted, shrinkage takes place. It was studied

that the addition of magnesia in cement paste leads to the decline of drying and carbonation

shrinkage and may therefore be implemented in the preparation of prestressed concrete. It was

observed that magnesia results in the decrease of carbonation depth in concrete and

consequently to the mitigation of carbonation shrinkage.

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