Temperature Field of Mass Concrete in a Pipe Lattice

Abstract

Removing heat from mass concrete at initial construction is important for assuring the quality of the concrete after curing. It serves two main purposes, preventing the excessive stress development within the concrete when the difference between the surface and interior temperature becomes high and keeping the temperature within the concrete below a certain critical temperature or as low as possible. The control of the temperature within a mass concrete structure can be attained by various means depending on the situation. In this paper, cooling in mass concrete using a lattice of water pipes is analyzed based on the Fourier–Biot heat conduction equation. Exact solution of the temperature field within the concrete is found by integrating concrete material properties, heat generation rate due to hydration, and characteristics of the cooling process. The analytic result is applied to understand reported thermocouple readings in a large concrete footing cooled in a pipe lattice. The model is applicable for establishing technical guideline on heat removal from mass concrete. Possible ways on keeping the temperature low within the concrete are suggested for future practices.