Transitional Thermal Creep of Early Age Concrete

Abstract

Couplings between creep of hardened concrete and temperature/water effects are well-known. Both the level and the gradients in time of temperature or water content influence the creep properties. In early age concrete the internal drying and the heat development due to hydration increase the effect of these couplings. The purpose of this work is to set up a mathematical model for creep of concrete that includes the transitional thermal effect. The model governs both early age concrete and hardened concrete. The development of the material properties in the model is assumed to depend on the hydration process and the thermal activation of water in the microstructure. The thermal activation is assumed to be governed by the Arrhenius principle, and the activation energy of the viscosity of water is found applicable in the analysis of the experimental data. Changes in temperature create an imbalance in the microstructure termed the microprestresses, which reduce the stiffness of the concrete and increase the creep rate. The aging material is modeled in an incremental way reflecting the hydration process in which new layers of cement gel solidify in a stress free state and add stiffness to the material. Analysis of experimental results for creep of early age and hardened concrete either at different constant temperature levels or for varying temperature histories illustrate the model.