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DOI 10.1007/s10973-015-5131-x
Hung-Liang Chen1
Received: 20 July 2015 / Accepted: 24 October 2015 / Published online: 18 November 2015
Akademiai Kiado, Budapest, Hungary 2015
Introduction
The heat generation from cement hydration leads to a
temperature rise, especially at the core of a large concrete
member. At concrete surfaces, the temperatures are relatively lower due to surface heat loss from external ambient
cooling. The created temperature differential may lead to
high tensile stresses at the concrete surfaces and produce
surface cracking. The most common thermal control
practice is to limit the temperature differential between the
center and the surface of the concrete structures. However,
temperature differential is not conclusive enough to
determine the cracking risks due to thermal stresses. Nagy
and Thelandersson [1] pointed out that the development of
concrete Youngs modulus is very important in thermal
stress modeling. Gutsch and Rosatasy [2] suggested the
importance of tensile strength development and the tensile
creep behavior in terms of cracking potentials.
Lawrence et al. [3] reported that temperature differential
alone was not sufficient to determine thermal stresses.
Instead, a thermal stress analysis considering the changes
of concrete material properties, such as thermal expansion
coefficient, Youngs modulus and viscoelasticity should be
used.
During early age, the nonuniform temperature profile
distribution causes disproportionate thermal expansions
within the concrete body. The surface of concrete in lower
temperatures can be under high tensile stresses due to
relative thermal expansions from internal concrete. The
heating effect due to hydration and the cooling effect due
to surface heat loss occur simultaneously. Therefore, the
surface of concrete is under tension once concrete is set
until the hydration heat is fully dissipated to the environment. The reversal of stress may occur beneath the surface
of concrete when the concrete passes from the heating
123
228
phase to the cooling phase. Whether the high surface tensile stresses can cause cracking is depending on the stressto-strength ratio at the critical locations. During the
hydration process of the early-age concrete, both the
thermally induced stresses and the concrete strength are
being developed but at different rates. Cracks are most
likely to occur at the critical locations where tensile stress
exceeds the tensile strength. Figure 1 originally presented
by Tia et al. [4] depicts an example of thermal stress and
concrete tensile strength development. The cracking zone
in the figure refers to the time when tensile stress exceeds
tensile strength. In practice, this cracking time zone is most
likely to occur within 12 days after concrete placement,
depending on the member geometry, size, boundary
restraint and the ambient temperature variations.
The development of thermally induced stresses is a
complicated phenomenon which includes the variability of
temperature distribution, concrete thermal and mechanical
properties, and the viscoelastic behavior of early-age concrete. In recent years, finite element models have been used
to predict the thermally induced stresses of early-age
concrete members. Waller et al. [5] presented a model
using CESAR-LCPC which included two modules, TEXO
and MEXO, to perform the thermal analysis and stress
analysis on concrete structures. Wu et al. [6] described the
procedures calculating thermally induced stresses for a
wall element using ANSYS. Tia et al. [7] evaluated bridge
footing elements with wooden formwork using TNO Diana
software. Their research findings are very helpful to this
topic; however, the modeling procedure of the viscoelastic
behaviors due to tensile or compressive stresses was not
detailed enough for replication purposes.
Researchers have emphasized the importance of concretes viscoelasticity, which is crucial in calculating
thermal stresses. Bazants B3 model [8], which was
Cracking zone
Tensile strength
Tensile stress
Time
Liquid
Solid
123
Cement
Water
CA
FA
AE/Lm
Quantity
335
139
969
844
0.067
-3
-3
WR/Lm
1.0
229
3:2
3:3
CaO
SiO2
Al2O3
Fe2O3
MgO
SO3
Na2O
K2O
Percentages
62.3
20.22
4.8
3.1
2.51
3.0
0.034
0.76
123
230
(a)
(b)
35
Compressive strength/MPa
Compressive strength/MPa
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
Tensile strength/MPa
y = 45.53x 1.71
25
R 2 = 0.9969
20
15
10
5
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
3
2.5
2
1.5
Test result
1
Wight & Macgregor
0.5
0
Eqvalent age/day
123
30
Degree of hydration
Equivalent age/day
35
0:492
Ec 540745:53a 1:710:492
3:2:1
a 0:04; Ec 0
3:2:2
(a)
(b)
Rigid
Frame
Loaded
Concrete
Specimen
Vibrating
wire gage
Weights
(c)
30000
Tensile modulus/MPa
231
26000
22000
Test results
18000
Eq. (3.2.2)
14000
10000
Equivalent age/day
J t; t0
where
r 1=r
Qf
Qt; t0 Qf t0 1
Z t; t0
h
i
2
4 1
Qf t0 0:086t0 9 1:21t0 9
h
i
1=2
0:1
Z t; t0 t0
ln 1 t t0
r 1:7t0
0:12
8:0
123
232
q02 q2
t0
t 0 q5
3:4:2
t0
q1 q2 0 e Q te ; te0
hte q5
0:1 i
te
q3 ln 1 te te0
q4 ln 0
te
3:4:3
123
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
10 11 12 13
Time/day
q1
q2
q3
q4
q5
Value
0.3
24.0
65.0
0.5
0.2
233
1
J te ; te0 0 1 /te0d te te0
3:4:4
E te
Eeff
Ccr t; t0
(b)
Eeff
total
ins
(a)
cr(t )
1
E (t )
t
1
E (t )
ins(t )
Time t
(c)
n
n1
Load
n2
3
2
0
n 2 n 1
Time
n 1
r
r
E
eins t
eins t
0
1
J t; t0 r eins t J t; t Et
Ccr t; t
1
eins t
Et
0
EtJ t; t 1
3:5:3
3:5:4
Load duration of
n2
3:5:2
rtotal n
n
X
Dri
i1
123
234
cr
Drt
Drt
0
1 Ccr n; t EnJ n; t0
rtotalcr n
rtotal
Ccr
3:5:6
Dr1
Dr2
Dr3
...
EnJ n; 1 EnJ n; 2 EnJ n; 3
Drn2
Drn1
EnJ n; n 2 EnJ n; n 1
Drn
3:5:7
EnJ n; n
n
X
Dri
3:5:8
E
n
J
t
n; t0 i
i1
Pn
rtotal n
Dri
1 Pn i1 Dri 1
overall n
rtotal cr n
i1 EnJ n;i
cr n
3:5:9
Eeff n
E n
1 Ccr overall n
3:5:10
(a)
Compressive strength/MPa
(b)
35
Compressive strength/MPa
Drt
30
25
20
15
23 C
10
40 C
5
0
50 C
30
25
20
15
23 C
10
30 C
5
0
Equivalent age/day
123
35
40 C
0
Equivalent age/day
(b)
50
Compressive strength/MPa
(a)
45
Temperature/C
235
40
35
30
Cube #1
25
Cube #2
20
15
0
Curing temperature
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
35
30
25
20
15
23 C
10
Match curing
23 C (Fig. 4(a))
80
30
Time/h
identical concrete cured at 23 C was also obtained. Figure 10b shows that the compressive strength of the cylinders with this variable temperature curing can be predicted
by the strengthmaturity relationship. These results indicate that maturity method may not accurately predict the
strength for long-duration high-temperature curing at a
constant 50 C or above, but it is applicable for the strength
prediction of the concrete experiencing short-duration
high-temperature curing, such as those experienced on the
surface of the 1.2 m3.
The computation of thermally induced stresses for earlyage concrete contains two parts: thermal analysis and stress
analysis. Thermal analysis was first conducted using 3-dimensional finite element method (FEM), and the calculated
temperature compared quite well with the experimental
measurements [14]. Figure 11 shows the temperature
comparisons between the FEM predictions and the measurements at the side surface (5 cm inside the surface) and
at the center of the 1.2-m concrete cube. The details of the
(a)
70
Experiment (Center)
Cube 1
(b) 70
Experiment (side)
FEM (Center)
50
FEM (side)
40
Ambient
Temperature/C
Temperature/C
60
30
20
10
90
120
150
180
Equivalent age/h
60
Experiment (Center)
Cube 2
60
Experiment (side)
50
FEM (Center)
FEM (side)
40
Ambient
30
20
10
0
20
40
60
Time/h
80
100
120
20
40
60
80
100
120
Time/h
123
236
Start (time = n)
Load element temperature history and calculate its equivalent
age (te) [Eq. (3.3)].and degree of hydration () [Eq. (3.2)].
Yes
S(n1) > 0
No
123
Subroutine: USDFLD
237
s/MPa
2.97
2.39
2.35
2.10
1.95
1.80
1.65
1.51
1.37
1.22
1.08
0.93
0.79
0.64
0.50
0.35
0.21
0.06
(b)
3.5
Tensile stress/strength/MPa
(a)
Tensile stress/strength/MPa
Fig. 14 Comparison of
calculated thermal stress and
estimated tensile strength
3
2.5
Tensile strength
Thermal stress
1.5
1
Cube 1
0.5
0
40
20
80
60
100
120
3.5
3
2.5
Tensile strength
Thermal stress
1.5
1
Cube 2
0.5
0
20
40
Time/h
(a)
(b)
250
Micro-Strain
Micro-Strain
150
100
Calculated
50
120
40
50
40
50
150
100
Calculated
50
0
Experiment
10
20
30
40
50
10
(d)
250
30
300
250
Micro-Strain
200
150
100
Calculated
50
0
0
20
Time/h
Time/h
(c)
100
250
Experiment
0
80
200
200
Micro-Strain
Fig. 15 Comparison of
calculated and measured strain
changes at the locations near the
concrete surfaces a cube 1
location A, b cube 2location
A, c cube 2location B and
d cube 2location C
60
Time/h
Experiment
10
20
30
Time/h
40
50
200
150
100
Calculated
50
Experiment
10
20
30
Time/h
123
238
123
Conclusions
This paper describes a method to perform thermal stress
analysis using ABAQUS program with the aid of user
subroutines. The developed subroutine program uses the
degree of hydration to estimate the variable elastic modulus and strength developments. Concrete tensile creep
and compressive creep behavior were included using a
step-by-step incremental calculation algorithm. The
influences from loading age and temperature effects were
considered in each time increment of the creep models. It
was assumed that the current creep model is able to calculate the thermal stress up to 80 % of the concrete
strength. The finite element simulations were verified by
the experimental data from two 1.2-m concrete cubes
testing. Strain deformations at the locations near the
concrete cube surfaces were measured and correlated
reasonably well with the calculated results.
The concrete cubes have high tensile stresses at the
surfaces, especially at the center of the edges. The tensile
strength development of the concrete at surface locations
can be estimated using the maturity method, and the
cracking risk could be assessed using the stress-to-strength
ratio obtained at the critical locations. Four visible cracks
were found perpendicular to the top four edges on cube #1
as predicted, due to a relatively high ambient temperature
drop at the first night after construction. The method
developed can be used to estimate the thermally induced
stress of concrete members so that precautions can be
implemented prior to concrete casting in order to prevent
unexpected cracking.
Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the support provided
by the West Virginia Transportation Division of Highways and
FHWA for the research project WVDOH RP#257. Special thanks are
extended to our project monitors, Mike Mance, Donald Williams, and
Ryan Arnold of WVDOH. The authors also appreciate the assistance
from Alper Yikici, Zhanxiao Ma and Jared Hershberger and the
WVDOH concrete technicians from Material, Control, Soil and
Testing Division for the construction of the 1.2-m concrete cubes.
References
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concrete to predict thermal stresses. Thermal cracking in concrete
at early ages. In: Springenschmid R, editor. E&FN Spon, 26,
ISBN: 0419187103, 1994.
2. Gutch A, Rostasy FS, Young concrete under high tensile stressescreep, relaxation and cracking. In: Springenschmidt R,
editor. Thermal cracking in concrete at early ages. Proceedings of
the international RILEM symposium, E & FN Spon, London,
1995. p. 111118.
3. Lawrence MA, Tia M, Ferraro CC, Bergin M. Effect of early age
strength on cracking in mass concrete containing different supplementary cementitious materials: experiment and finite-element
investigation. J Mater Civ Eng. 2012;24(4):36272.
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