Aci 318M - 11

A C 1 229R 90 m 0 6 6 2 9 4 9 0021849 3 m
AC1 224R-9Ö
Control of Cracking
in Concrete Structures
Reported by AC1 Committee 224
The principal causes of cracking in concrete and recom- Contents

mended crack control procedures are presented, The cur-
rent state of knowledge in microcracking and fracture me-
chanics is discussed. The control of cracking due to drying
Chapter 1 - Introduction, page 224R-2
shrinkage and crack control for flexural members, layered
systems and massconcretearecovered in detail.Long- Chapter 2
page 224R.2
-Crack mechanisms in concrete,
term effects on cracking are considered, and crack control
proceduresused in constructionare presented.Informa- 2.1. - Introduction
tion is provided to assist the engineer and the constructor 2.2 - Microcracking
in developingpractical and effective crackcontrol pro- 2.3 - Fracture
grams for concrete structures.
Keywords: adiabaticconditions; aggregates; air entrainment; an-
-
Chapter 3 Control of cracking due to drying
shrinkage, page 224R.9
chorage (structural); beams (supports); bridgedecks;cement-ag-
gregate reactions;cement content; cement types; compressive 3.1 - Introduction
strength;computers; concrete construction; concretepavements; 3.2 - Crack formation
concrete
slabs; concretes; conductivity; consolidation; cooling; 3,3 - Drying shrinkage
crack propagation; cracking (fracturing);crack width and spacing; 3.4 - Factors influencing drying shrinkage
creep properties; diffusivity; drying shrinkage; end blocks; expan- 3.5 - Control of shrinkage cracking
sive cement concretes; extensibility; failure; fibers; heat of hydra- 3.6 - Shrinkage-com,pensating concretes
tion;insulation:joints(junctions); machine bases:mass concrete;
microcracking; mix proportioning; modulus of elasticity; moisture
content; Poisson ratio;polymer-portlandcementconcrete; pozzo-
Chapter 4 -
members, page 224%-16
Control of cracking in flexural
lans; prestressed concrete; reinforced concrete; reinforcing steels;
restraints;shrinkage:specifications;specificheat;straingages; 4.1 - Introduction .
strains; stresses; structural design; temperature; temperature rise 4.2 - Crack control equations for reinforced concrete beams
(in concretel;tensile stress; tension; thermal expansion; volume 4.3 - Crack control in two-way slabs and plates
change. 4.4 - Tolerablecrackwidths versus exposureconditions in re-
inforced concrete
4.5 - Flexural cracking in prestressed concrete
4.6 - Anchorage zone cracking in prestressed concrete
4.7 - Tension cracking
AC1 Committee Reports. Guides, Standard Practices, and Com-

mentariesare intended for guidance in designing, planning,
executing, or inspecting construction. and in preparing speci-
Chapter 5
page 224R.21
- Long-term effects on cracking,
ficalions. Reference lo these documents shall notbe made in
the Project Documents. If items found in these documents are 5.1 - Introduction
desired tobepart of the Project Documents, they should be 5.2 - Effects of long-term loading
phrased in mandatory language and incorporated into the Proj- 5.3 - Environmental effects
ect Documents. 5.4 - Aggregate and other effects
5.5 - Use of polymers in improving cracking characteristics
Copyright O 1990, AmericanConcrete Institute. All rights reserved including written or oral, or recording for sound or visual reproduction or for use in any
rights of reproduction and use in any form or by any means, including the malring of knowledge or retrieval system or device, unless permission in writing is obtained
copies by any photo process, or by any electronic or mechanical device, printed or from the copyright proprietors.
224R-1
COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute
Licensed by Information Handling Services
A C 1 224R 90 0662949 00238455
224R-2 MANUAL OF CONCRETE
PRACTICE
Chapter 6 -
Control of cracking in concrete inforced
and prestressedconcretemembershave
layered systems, page 2241.23 been condensed into a single chapter, Chapter 4, on
6.1 - Introduction crack control in flexural members. The resulting pre-
6.2 - Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) overlays
6.3 - Latex modified concrete (LMC) overlays sentation is more concise and, hopefully, more useful
6.4 - Polymer impregnated concrete (PIC) systems tothestructuraldesigner.Chapter 5, on long-term
Chapter 7 -
Control of cracking in mass com effects,
details
someinteresting
findings
change of crack width with time. Chapters
on the
3, 7, and
.Crete, page 224R.26
7.1 - Introduction 8, which considerdryingshrinkage,massconcrete,
7.2 - Crack resistance andconstructionpractices,respectively,havebeen
7.3 - Determination of temperatures and tensile strains expanded and upd.ated to take into account the most
7.4 - Control of cracking
7.5 - Testing methods and typical data recently developed procedures in these areas. In ad-
7.6 - Artificial cooling by embedded pipe systems dition, new sections have been added to Chapters í'
7.7 - Summary - Basic considerations for constructioncontrols
and specifications and 8 which provide specific guidance for the devel-
opment of crack control programs and specifications.
Chapter 8 -
Control of cracking by correct The committee hopes that this report will serve as
construction practices, page 224R-36 a useful reference to the causes of cracking and as a
8.1 - Introduction key tool in the development of practicalcrackcon-
8.2 - Restraint
8.3 - Shrinkage trol procedures in both the design and the construc-
8.4 - Settlement tion of concrete structures.
8.5 - Construction
8.6 - Specifications to minimize drying shrinkage
8.7 - Conclusion References
1.1. AC1 Committee 224, "Control of Cracking in Con-
Chapter 9 - References, page 224R.42 creteStructures," AC1 JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 69, No.
9.1 - Specified and/or recommended references 12, Dec.1972, pp. 717-753.
9.2 - Cited references 1.2. AC1 Committee 224, "Causes, Mechanism, and Con-
trol of Cracking in Concrete," ACI Bibliography No. 9,
Chapter I - Introduction American Concrete Institute, Detroit, 1971, 92 pp.
Cracks in concretestructures can indicatemajor
structural problems and can mar the appearance of Chapter 2 - Crack mechanisms in concrete'
monolithic construction. They can expose reinforcing 2.1 - Introduction
steeltooxygenandmoistureandmake the steel Beginningwith the work a t Cornell University in
moresusceptibletocorrosion.Whilethespecific theearly 1960s,'" agreat dealhasbeenlearned
causes of cracking are manifold, cracks are normally about the crack mechanisms in concrete, both at the
caused by stresses that develop in concretedueto microscopic and the macroscopic level. Of special in-
the restraint of volumetric change or to loads which terest during the early work was the realization that
are applied tothestructure. Withineach of these the behavior of concrete, under compressive as well
categories there are a number of factors at work. A as tensile loads, was closely related to the formation
successful
crackcontrol
program must
recognize of cracks. Under increasing compressive stress, mi-
these factors and deal with each of them, in turn. croscopic cracks (or microcracks) form at the mortar-
This report presents the principal causes of crack- coarseaggregateboundaryandpropagatethrough
ing andadetaileddiscussion of crackcontrolpro- the surrounding mortar, as shown in Fig. 2.1.
cedures.The body of the reportconsists of seven During the first decade of research, a picture de-
chapters designed to help the engineer and the con- veloped that closelylinked formationandpropaga-
tractor in the development of effective crack control tion of these microcracks to the load-deformation be-
measures. havior of concrete. Prior to load, volume changes in
This report is an update of apreviouscommittee cement paste cause interfacial cracks to form at the
report, issued in 1972.' I Theoriginalreportwas mortar-coarse aggregate boundary.' '.' Under short-
supplemented by an AC1 Bibliography on cracking,' term compressive load, no additional cracks form un-
alsoissued by this committee.Intheupdatingpro- til the load reaches approximately 30 percent of the
cess,manyportions of thereporthaveundergone compressive strength of the concrete.' ' Above this
sizeable revision, and the entire document has been value, additional bond cracks initiate throughout the
subjectedtoadetailededitorialreview.Chapter 2, matrix. Bond cracking increases
until
the load
on crack mechanisms, has been completely rewritten reaches approximately 70 percent of the compressive
to take into account the experimental and analytical strength, at which time microcracks begin to propa-
work that has been done since the completion of the gate through the mortar. Mortar cracking continues
firstcommitteereport.Chapter 6, on crackcontrol at anacceleratedrateuntil the materialultimately
in concretelayeredsystems, is new tothereport fails. For concrete in uniaxialtension,experimental
and dealswithaform of concrete construction that workindicatesthatmajormicrocrackingbeginsat
was in its infancy a t the time the first report was about 60 percent of the ultimate tensile strength.24
drafted.Individualchapters on crackcontrol in re- 'Principal author: David Darwin.

I
CONTROL OF CRACKING 224R-3
Studies of thestress-strainbehaviorand volume

change of c o n ~ r e t e ~indicate
.~ that the initiation of
major mortar cracking corresponds with an observed
increase in the Poisson's ratio of concrete. The term
"discontinuity stress" is used for the stress at which
this change in material behavior occurs.
Ingeneral,ithasbeenagreedthat the micro-
cracking that occurs prior to loading has very little
effecton the strength of concrete.However,work
by Brooks. and Neville2.6 indicates that the effect of
earlyvolumechange on microcracking of concrete
may result in areduction of bothtensileand com-
pressive strength as concrete dries out. Their study
shows that upondrying, the strength of test speci-
mens first increases and then decreases. They postu-
late that the initial increase is due to t h e increased
strength of the drier cement paste and that the ulti- Fig. 2.1 - Cracking maps and stress-straincurves
mate decrease in strength is due to the formation of for concrete loaded in uniaxial compression.*
shrinkage induced microcracks.
Work by Meyers,Slate,andWinter'.'andShah *From S. P. Shah, and F. O. Slate,"InternalMicrocracking,
Mortar-Aggregate Bond and theStress-StrainCurve of Con-
and Chandra2-8demonstratesthatmicrocracksin- crete," Proceedings, International Conference on the Structure of
crease under the effect of sustained and cyclic load- Concrete (London, Sept. 1965), Cement and Concrete Association,
ing. Theirworkindicatesthatthetotalamount of London,1968, pp. 82-92.
1
microcracking is a function of the total compressive

strain in the concreteandisindependent of the
method in which thestrain isapplied. Sturman,
Shah,andWix~€er'.~foundthatthetotaldegree of
rete.'-'^-^."^ Thecrackresistancewasexpressed in
terms of the strain energy release rate at the onset
microcracking is decreasedandthetotalstrainca-
of rapid crack growth, G, which is directly related to
pacity in compression is increasedwhenconcrete is
the fracturetoughness of thematerial,Later in-
subjected to a strain gradient.
vestigations evaluated the .crack resistance of paste,
Ataboutthesametimethat the microcracking mortar and concrete in terms of the fracture tough-
studies began, investigators began applying fracture ness, i t ~ e l f . ~Work
" ~ byNausandLott2.'6indicated
mechanics to the studies of concrete under load. The that the fracture toughness of paste and mortar in-
field of fracture mechanics, originated by Griffith"'O creased with decreasing water-cement ratio, but that
in 1920, serves as the primary toolfor the study of the water-cement ratio had little effect on the frac-
brittlefractureandfatigue in metal structures. ture toughness of concrete. They found that KI, in-
Since concrete has for many years been considered a creased with age, and decreased with increasing air
brittle material in tension, fracture mechanics is con- contentforpaste,mortar,andconcrete.The effec-
sidered to beapotentiallyusefulanalysis tool for tive fracture toughness of mortar increased with in-
concrete by many investigator^.^""^'^ creasing sand content, and the fracture toughness of
The field of fracturemechanicswasfirstapplied concrete increased with an increase in the maximum
to concrete by Kaplan'." in 1961. The classical the- size of coarse aggregate.
oryservestopredict, the rapidpropagation of a AdditionalworkbyNaus,'-"presented just prior
macrocrackthroughahomogeneous,isotropic,elas- tothepreviouscommitteereport,'.'indicatedthat
tic material. The theory makes use of the stress in- fracturetoughnesswasnotindependent of speci-
tensity factor, KI, which is a function of crack geom- men geometry for tensile specimens of paste, mortar
etry and stress.Failureoccurswhen KI reachesa and concrete and that fracture toughness was a func-
criticalvalue, Ki,, known asthecriticalstress-in- tion of the crack length. These observations lead to
tensity factor under conditions of plane strain. KI, is the possibly erroneous conclusion that fracture me-
thus a measure of the fracture toughness of the ma- chanicsmaynot beapplicabletoconcrete.Because
terial.Toproperlymeasure K I , foramaterial,the certain size requirements must be met, before frac-
testspecimen must be of sufficientsize-toinsure ture mechanics is applicable, these results may only
"
maximum constraint (plane strain) at the tip of the indicate that the test specimen did not satisfy all of
crack. For linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) the minimum size requirements of linear elastic frac-
to be applicable, the value of KI,.must be a material ture mechanics.
constant, independent of the specimen geometry (as The balance of this chapter describes some of t h e
are other material con6tants such as yield strength). more recent studies of crack mechanisms in concrete
Theearliestexperimentalworkutilizednotched andgivesasomewhatdifferentpicturefromthat
tensionandbeamspecimens of mortarand con- presented in the previous committee report.
- ~~ "

A C 1 224R 90 E Ob62949 0021847 9
224R-4 MANUAL OF CONCRETE PRACTICE
2.2- Microcrackiag
Since the early work established the existence of
bond and mortarcracks, it hasbeenpopular to at-
tribute all of the nonlinearity of concrete to the for-
mation of these microscopic cracks.’ ’.’ ’h
However,acauseandeffectrelationshiphasnever
been e~tablished.~-”Recentstudies’ ’ 8 - ’ . 3 2 indicate
that the degree of microcrackingmightbebetter
taken as an indication of the level of damage rather
I
than as the controlling factor in the behavior of con:
” 1000 2W 3000 4000 5ooo 6000 700( Crete.
STRAIN x lo6 While microcracksappeartohaveadominant ef-
fect on the volumechange of concreteunderload,
Fig.2.2 - Envelope stress-strain curves for cement theimportance of microcracking, at least as it has
paste specimens 7 days old (Reference 2.301. beendiscussed in the past,seemstobesomewhat
downgraded.
Experimentalwork by Spooner, e t al.’ 2 8 - 2 in-
dicatesthatthenonlinearbehavior of concrete is
closely tiedtothenonlinearbehavior of cement
paste. Their work shows that cement paste is not an
U
elastic, brittle material as stated in the past,’ 25 but
E
a nonlinear material (Fig. 2.2) with a relatively high
z 30 straincapacity (0.005-0.007). The nonlinearbehavior
of cement paste can be tied to damage sustained by
i 20
VI the paste, even at very low loads.
10 Usinga cyclic loadingprocedure,Spooner, e t al.
have demonstrated that both paste and concrete un-
EO
v, 1000 2000 3000 4000
dergo measurable damage at
strains
which anincrease in microcrackingcannotbede-
(0.0004) a t
STRAIN x lo6 tected. As shown in Fig. 2.3, the level of damage can
be detected at low loads by using an energy method
11 Acoustic Emission
and by the change in the initial modulus of elasticity
for each cycle of load. Acoustic emission provides an-
otherusefultool,but is not quite as sensitive. The
process of damage is continuous up to failure. Spoo-
ner, et al.’-’9~z feel that there is no evidence to sup-
porttheexistence of a“discontinuitystress,” al-
Ultrasonic-Pulse thoughtheconceptmaybeuseful in engineering
Transit / applications. The physical nature of the damage that
occurs in pasteatthe submicroscopiclevelisnot
completely understood but does appear to be related
toatype of cracking,assupportedbyvolumetric
strain measurements.
Studies of the stress-strainbehavior of concrete
under cyclic compressive load’-8,’ indicate that con-
J
J
creteundergoesrapiddeteriorationonce the peak
stress exceeds about 70 percent of the short-term ul-
timate strength of the concrete. Neville and H i r ~ t , ’ . ~ ~
in their study of cyclic creep, found that even when
specimens are cycledbelow this level, heat is given
off. They attribute the heat to sliding at the inter-
facial boundary.Whencombinedwith the work of
Spooner, however, in which he shows that paste un-
o 1000 ZOO0 3000 4000 dergoesdamageatvery
siblethat the heatmeasured
low loads, it maybe pos-
is due to sub- a
STRAIN x lo6 microscopic sliding within the paste.
Severalstudieshaveattemptedtoestablish the
Fig. 2.3 - Comparison ofmethodsfordetecting importance of interfacial bond strength on the be-
damage in concrete specimens (Reference 2.29). havior of concreteunder load. Two tu dies'.^^'

A C 1 224R 90 0 b b 2 9 4 9 0021848 d 1
za 3000
1000 I
O
O 400 8M) 1200 16M 2000 2400 2800 3200
MICROSTRAIN
Fig. 2.4 - Stress-strain curves as influenced by coating aggregates (Reference
2.36).
seemed to indicate a very large effect, thus empha- WorkbyCarino,2.J8usingpolymerimpregnated

sizing the importance of interfacial strength on the concrete,seemstocorroboratethesetwostudies.
behavior of concrete. These studies utilizedrela- Carinofound that polymer impregnation did not in-
tively thick, soft coatings on the coarse aggregate to crease the interfacial bond strength, but did increase
reduce the bond strength. Since these soft coatings the compressive strength of concrete. He attributed
isolated the aggregate from the surrounding mortar, the increase in strength to the effect of the polymer
the effect was more like inducing a large number of on the strength of mortar, thus downgrading the im-
voids in the concrete matrix. portance of the interfacial bond.
Two
other which
did isolate
not the The importance of mortar, and ultimately cement
coarse aggregate from the mortar indicate that the paste, in controlling thestress-strainbehavior of
interfacialstrengthplaysonlyaminorrole incon- concrete is illustrated by the finite element work of
trolling
the
stress-strain
behavior
andultimate Buyukozturkz~39 and Maher and Darwin.2.31~2,32 Using
strength of concrete.Darwin
used
and
a alinearfiniteelementrepresentation of aphysical
thin coating of polystyrene on natural coarse aggre- model of concrete, Buyukozturk was able to simulate
gate. They found that a large reduction in interfacial theoverallcrackpatternsunder uniaxialloading.
bond strengthcauses no change in the initialstiff-
ness of concrete under short-term compressive loads Slress, psi
and results in approximately a 10 percent reduction i (MPa)
in the compressive strength as compared to similar
concretemadewithaggregatewithnormalinter-
facial strength(seeFig. 2.4). Theyalso found that
the lower interfacial strength had no appreciable ef-
fect on the total amount of microcracking. However,
in every case, the average amount of mortar crack-
ing wasslightlygreaterforthespecimensmade
with coated aggregate. This small yet consistent dif-
ferencemayexplainthedifferences in the stress-
strain curves.
Perryand G i l l ~ t t *used
. ~ ~ glasssphereswith dif-
Mortar1
ferent degrees of surface roughness as coarse aggre-
gate. Their results indicate that reducing the inter- L.
facial strength of the aggregate decreasesthe 111.5 0.0 IL5 -1.0 1.5
Slralrl, 0.001 lrl/lII
initiation stress byabout 20 percent,buthasvery
little effect on the discontinuity stress. They also ob- Fig. 2.5 - Stress-strain curves for concrete model.*
served 8 10 percentreduction in the compressive
+From A. Maher, and D. Darwin, “Microscopic FiniteElement
strength for specimenswith low mortar-aggregate Model of Concrete,”presented at the First International Confer-
bond strength. ence on Mathematical Modeling (St. Louis, Aug.-Sept. 19771.

A C 1 224R 90 Ob62949 0023847 2
224R-6 MANUAL
PRACTICE
OF CONCRETE
Stress. PSI duplicated.’ 2 5 While thestatisticalvariationsun-

I lMPal
doubtedly play a part, the major nonlinear behavior
can
also
be
matched
by
considering the non-
\
linearities of the mortar c o n s t i t ~ e n t . ~Fig. ~ ~ il-
- ~ 2.6 ~-~~
-.
‘. - lustrates the results obtained for a highly simplified
model of concrete under uniaxial compression using
anonlinearrepresentationformortar.Thestress-
strain curve for the modelwithoutcrackingdiffers
- Normal Interfaclal Slr.
”. lnflnlle Interlaclal Str. . Aggregat1 very little from that of models that have a normal,
Zpro Tensile and Cohesive
””
., .’ Mortar or abovenormal,amount of microcracking.Micro-
lnlerlacial Str.
” Zero lnlerfaclal Str. cracks have a relatively minor effect on the primary
stress-strainbehavior of the models. The dominant
effect of microcrackingistoincrease the lateral
strain. In every case the failure of the model is gov-
erned by“crushing” of the mortar which occurs a t
an average strength below that of the mortar alone.
Fig. 2.6 - Stress-straincurveforfiniteelement
model of concrete with varying values of mortar-ag- Newman’andTasuji,Slate,and N i l ~ o n *have
.~~
gregate bond strength (Reference 2.32). observed that the principal tensile strain in concrete
at the “discontinuity stress’’ appears to be a function
of themeannormalstress, a, = (01+o,+a3)/3.In
However, his finiteelementmodel could notdupli- theirstudy of the biaxial strength of concrete,Ta-
cate
the
nonlinearexperimental behavior of the suji, et al., observethat the final failure of their
physicalmodel using the formation of interfacial specimensconsists of the formation of macroscopic
bond cracks and mortar cracks as the only nonlinear tensilecracks.Theyalsoobservethat the stress at
effect.
Maher
and 3 2 have
shown
that by discontinuityoccursatapproximately75percent of
using a nonlinear representation for the mortar con- the ultimate strength in compression and at about 60
stituent of the physical model, a very close represen- percent of the ultimate strength for those cases in-
tation of the actualbehaviorcanbeobtained.The volving tension, matching the levels at which mortar
resultsforBuyukozturk’smodelareshown in Fig. cracking begin^.'-^,^-^ Their work seems to point very
2.5. stronglytowarda“limitingtensilestrain”asthe
The inability of linearelastic models’ 2 5 . 2 . 2 6 . 2 . 3 9 to governing factor in the strength of concrete.
duplicate the nonlinear behavior of concrete utilizing Overall, thedamagetocementpasteseemsto
microcracking alone has been explained as being due play an importantrole in controllingtheprimary
to the fact that concrete is really a “statistical mate- stress-strainbehavior of concreteundershort-term
rial.”When theproperstatisticalvariation is se- axialload. Innormalweightconcrete,aggregate
lected,thenonlinearbehavior of concrete can be particlesactasstress-raisers,increasing the initial
stiffnessanddecreasing the strength of thepaste.
For cyclic and sustained loading, a great deal of the
P bond crackingresultsfrom loadinduced volume
changeswithin the paste,buthas nosignificantef-
fect on strength. A number of investigators feel that
the onset of mortar cracking marks the “true” ulti-
mate strength of concrete.’ ‘-’ 342 41 Whether
mortarcracking itself controls the strength of con-
1 crete or whether it only signals intimate damage of
the cementpasteremainstobeseen.Additional
75t\ studies in this area are clearly warranted.
2.3 -Fracture
Since the publication of the previousreport,a
PASTE0
number of investigationshaveshedadditionallight
on the applicability of fracture mechanicstocon-
v
* o . -
1/4 1/2 3/4
”
1
crete and its constituent materials.
Shah and McGarry utilized flexure specimens sub-
(6.4) (12. 7)(19. U(25.4) jected to three-point l ~ a d i n g . ~Their
- ~ ’ work indicates
NOTCH DEPTH, INCHES ( m m ) that while pasteisnotchsensitive,neithermortar
nor concrete are affected by a notch (Fig. 2.7). Shah
Fig. 2.7 - Effect of notch depth on flexure strength and McGarry also ran a series of tests using notched
(Reference 2.42). tensilespecimensanddeterminedthatpastespeci-

' A C 1 224R 90 m 0662949 0021850 9 m I
mens, and mortar specimens made with fine aggre-

gate that passed the #30 sieve, a r e notch sensitive,
but that mortar specimens containing larger sizes of
aggregate are not notch sensitive.
Brown utilized
notched
flexure
specimens
and
double cantilever beam specimens of paste and mor-
tar.'.18 His tests show that the fracture toughness of
cement paste is independent of crack length and
thereforeamaterialconstant.Thefracturetough-
ness of mortar,however,increasesasthecrack
propagates,indicatingthattheaddition of fineag-
is I
4a
I
1
gregateimproves the toughness of paste. This be-
havior is similar to the behavior found in structural
steels that exhibit a plane strain-plane stress transi-
tion. Because the plane strain-plane stress transition
occursbeyond the limits of LEFM, the analysis is
morecomplex.Tore-establish the applicability of
LEFM,larger test specimensmustbeusedwith
tougher materials such as mortar.
MindessandNadeauinvestigatedtheeffect of -
I
Y
notch width on K,, for both mortar and concrete.'.'0 U

b
Utilizing notched beam specimens of constant length
and depth,withvaryingwidths,they found that =' o. 25
within the range studied, there was no dependence b
of fracture toughness upon the length of crack front.
Since theirworkutilizedsmallspecimenswitha
depth of only about 50 mm (2 in.), there is some in-
dication thatratherthanmeasuring the fracture
toughness of the material, they were simply measur-
ing themodulus of rupture. .
The applicability of these results, and much of the
otherfracturemechanicswork,hasbeenbrought Fig. 2.8 LRelationship betweentestresults and
into perspective based on the experimental work by theory for notched concrefe beams (Reference2.22).
Walsh.Inseparateinvestigations of notchedbeam
specimens'.''and beams with right angle re-entrant
notches,'.'' Walshhasdemonstratedthatspecimen
sizehasamarkedinfluence on the applicability of
linearelasticfracturemechanicstothefailure of
plain concretespecimens.Asillustrated in Fig. 2.8,
for specimens of similar geometry but belowa cer-
taincriticalsize, the specimencapacity is governed
by themodulus of rupture ofconcrete,calculated
from the linearstressdistribution.Forspecimens
above this size, the strength is governed by the frac-
ture toughness, which he approximated as a function
of the square root of the compressive strength of the
concrete.Walshconcludedthat, for valid toughness
testing of concrete, the depth of notchedbeams
must be at least 230mm (9 in.). This type of behav- Fig. 2.9 - Effect ofnotch depth on flexural strength
ior is also observed in metals, Le., for valid fracture (Reference 2.23).
mechanics testresults,the test specimens must
meet minimum size requirements (ASTM E 399). notch sensitivity of paste, mortar and concrete using
These size requirements are dependent upon the three-point bend specimens similar to those used by
square of the toughness levels being measured. Thus Shah and M~Garry.'.~'A s shown in Fig. 2.9, they de-
a material whose toughness level is twice that of termined that bothmortarandconcretearenotch
another material (all other properties being equal), sensitive, but less sensitive than cement paste. They
must have specimen dimensions four times that of conclude that the disagreement with the earlier re-
the first material for the test results to be equally sults is due in part to their improvement in the load-
valid. ing procedure. They feel that linear elastic fracture
Gjorv,Sorensen and, Arnesen2.'Jinvestigatedthe mechanics is applicable tothesmallspecimens of
~ - "

~______
A C 1 224R 90 0bb2949 0021851 O M

224R-8 MANUAL
PRACTICE
OF CONCRETE
paste, but not to the small size specimens of mortar 2.2.

Hsu, Thomas, T. C., "Mathematical Analysis of
andconcrete.Eventhesmallspecimens of mortar Shrinkage Stresses in a Model of HardenedConcrete,"
andconcrete,however,havesomedegree of notch AC1 JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 60,No. 3, Mar.1963,pp.
sensitivity since the failure is not consistent with the 371-390.
modulus of rupturebasedon the netcrosssection. 2.3. Slate, Floyd O., andMatheus,RamonE.,"Volume
CitingWalsh'searlier
work,' '' theyagree that Changes on Setting and Curing of Cement Paste and Con-
LEFM is applicable to large concrete specimens, but crete fromZero to SevenDays," AC1 JOURNAL, Pro-
ceedings V. 64,No. l, Jan. 1967, pp. 34-39.
that it is not applicable to small specimens.
2.4. Evans, R. H.,and Marathe, M. S., "Microcracking
Hillemeier and Hil~dorf"'~ utilized wedge loaded,
and Stress-Strain CurvesforConcrete in Tension," Mate-
compact tension specimens tomeasure the fracture rials and Structures,Research and Testing (Paris). V. 1,
toughness of paste,aggregateand the paste-aggre- No. 1, Jan. 1968,pp.61-64.
gateinterface.They feel that, while the failure of 2.5.Newman, Kenneth, "Criteria for the Behavior of
concrete in tension and compression is controlled by PlainConcreteUnderComplex States of Stress," Pro-
many interacting cracks rather than by the propaga- ceedings, International Conference on theStructure of
tion of a single crack, fracture mechanics does offer Concrete (London, Sept. 19651, Cement and Concfete Asso-
an important tool for evaluating the constituent ma- ciation,London,1968,pp.255-274.
terials of concrete. They found that paste is a notch 2.6.Brooks, J. J., andNeville,A. M., "A Comparison of
sensitive material and that the addition of entrained Creep, Elasticity and Strength of Concrete in Tension and
air or softparticleshasonly a smallaffecton K,.. in Compression," Magazine of Concrete Research (London),
Theirworkindicatesthatthe K,, valuesforinter- V. 29,No. 100, Sept. 1977,pp.131-141.
facial strength between paste and aggregate is only 2.7. Meyers,BernardL.; Slate, Floyd O.; and Winter,
about one-third of the K,, value for paste alone, and George,"RelationshipBetweenTime-DependentDeforma-
that the characteristicvalue of K,, for aggregate is tionandMicrocracking of Plain Concrete," AC1 JOURNAL,
Proceedings V. 66,No. 1, Jan. 1969,pp.60-68.
approximately ten times that of paste.
Swartz, Hu, andJones' " usedcompliancemea- 2.8. Shah, Surendra P., andChandra, Sushil, "Fracture
of ConcreteSubjected to CyclicandSustainedLoading,"
surementtomonitorcrackgrowth in notchedcon-
AC1 JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 67, No. 10,Oct.1970,pp.
cretebeamssubjectedtosinusodialloading.They 816-824.
conclude that this procedure is useful for monitoring 2.9. Sturman, Gerald M.; Shah, Surendra P.; and Winter,
crackgrowth in concreteduetofatigue. Basedon George,"Effects of Flexural Strain Gradients onMicro-
the appearance of the fracture surface, which shows crackingand Stress-Strain Behavior of Concrete," AC1
acombination of bothaggregatefractureand bond JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 62, No. 7, July 1965, pp. 805-822.
failure, they feel thatfracturetoughness is not a 2.10. Griffith,A.A.,"ThePhenomena of Rupture and
pertinentmaterialproperty.However,they state Flow in Solids," Transactions, RoyalSociety of London,
thatan"effective"fracturetoughnessmightbe a NO.221A,1920, PP. 163-198.
significantmaterialproperty if relatedtospecific 2.11.Kaplan,M. F.,"CrackPropagationand the Frac-
materialandspecimenvariablessuch as aggregate ture of Concrete," AC1 JOURNAL, Proceedings V.58, No. 5,
size and gradation, and proportions of the mix,and NOV. 1961, PP. 591-610.
if the calculation considers the nonlinear material re- 2.12. Glucklich, Joseph, "Static and Fatigue Fractures of
sponse of concrete. PortlandCement Mortars in, Flexure," Proceedings, First
A number of investigatorsdonot feel that the International Conference on Fracture, Sendai, Japan, V. 2,
Griffith theory of linearfracturemechanics is di- 1965, PP. 1343-1382.
rectly applicable to all concrete2.", 224, 2.42 (ASTM E 2.13.Romualdi, James P.,andBatson,Gordon B., "Me-
399). Some like Swartz,et al."-"* feel that the theory chanics of Crack Arrest in Concrete," Proceedings, ASCE,
has application when the limitations and specific V. 89, EM3, June 1963,pp.147-168.
nonhomogenous effects are taken into account. 2.14. Huang, T. S., "Crack Propagation Studies in Micro-
Clearly, specimen size requirements must be given concrete," MSc Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering,
University of Colorado,Boulder,1966.
more attention. Of key interest in future work are
the observations by Walsh"."', 2.22 that show that if 2.15. Lott, James L., and Kesler, Clyde E., "Crack Prop-
the specimens are large enough, the effects of agation in PlainConcrete,"Symposiumon Structure of
PortlandCement Paste andConcrete, SpecialReport No.
heterogeneity are greatly reduced andthat concrete 90,Highway ResearchBoard,Washington,D.C.,1966, PP.
may approximate a homogenous material to which 204-218.
the principles of fracture mechanics can be applied. 2.16. Naus, Dan J., and Lott, James L., "Fracture
Toughness of Portland Cement Concretes," AC1 JOURNAL,
Proceedings V. 66,No.6, June 1969, PP. 481-489.
2.17. Naus, Dan J., "Applicability of Linear-Elastic Frac-
References ture Mechanics to Portland CementConcretes," PhD
2.1.Hsu,Thomas T. C.; Slate, Floyd O.; Sturman, Ger- Thesis, University of Illinois, Urbana, Aug. 1971.
ald M.; and Winter, George,"Microcracking of PlainCon- 2.18.Brown, J. H., "Measuring the Fracture Toughness
crete and the Shape of theStress-Strain Curve," AC1 of Cement Paste andMortar," Magazine of Concrete Re-
J O ~ I I W Proceedings
AI,, V. 60, No. 2, Feb. 1963, pp. 209-224. search (London),V.24,No. 81,Dec.1972,pp.185-196.

A C 1 224R 90 W 0662749 0023852 i! 1
2.19. Evans, A.G.; Clifton, J. R.;and Anderson, E., 2.36. Darwin,David,and Slate, F. O., “Effect of Paste-
“The Fracture Mechanics of Mortars,” Cement and Con- Aggregate Bond Strength onBehavior Concrete,” Jour-
crete Research, V, 6,No.4. July 1976, pp. 535-547. nal of Materials, V. 5, No. 1, Mar. 1970, pp. 86-98.
2.20. Mindess,Sidney,andNadeau, John S., “Effectof 2.37. Perry, C., and Gillott, J. E., “The Influence of Mor-
Notch Width of for Mortar and
Concrete,” Cement tar-Aggregate Bond Strength on the Behavior of Concrete
and Concrete Research, V. 6, No. 4, July 1976, pp. 529-534. in Uniaxial Compression,’’ Cement and Concrete Research,
2.21.Walsh, P. F., “Fracture of Plain Concrete,” Indian V. 7, No. 5, Sept. 1977, pp. 553-564.
ConcreteJournal (Bombay), V. 46,No. 11, Nov.1972,pp. 2.38. Carino, Nicholas J., “Effects of Polymer Impregna-
469-470,476. tionon Mortar-Aggregate Bond Strength,” Cement and
2.22,Walsh, P. F., “Crack Initiation in PlainConcrete,” Concrete Research, V. 7,No. 4, July 1977,pp.439-447.
Magazine of ConcreteResearch (London), V. 28,No.94, 2.39. Buyukozturk,Oral, “Stress-Strain Responseand
Mar.1976,pp.37-41. Fracture of a Model of Concrete in Biaxial Loading,” PhD
Thesis, Cornel1 University, Ithaca, June 1970.
2.23. Gjorv, O. E.; Sorensen, S. I.; and Arnesen, A., 2.40. Tasuju, M. Ebrahim; Slate, Floyd O.; andNilson,
“Notch Sensitivity and Fracture Toughness of Concrete,” Arthur H., “Stress-Strain Responseand Fracture of Con-
Cement and Concrete Research, V. 7, No. 3, May 1977, pp. crete in BiaxialLoading,” AC1 JOURNAL, Proceedings V.
333-344. 75, NO. 7, July 1978, PP. 306-312.
2.24, Swartz, Stuart E.;Hu,Kuo-Kuang;and Jones, 2.41. Shah, Surendra P., and Chandra, Sushil, “Critical
Gary L., “Compliance Monitoring of Crack Growth in Con- Stress, VolumeChange,andMicrocracking of Concrete,”
crete,” Proceedings, ASCE, V. 104,EM4,Aug.1978,pp. AC1 JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 65,No.9, Sept. 1968,pp.
789-800. . 770-781.
2.25. Shah, Surendra P., and Winter, George, “Inelastic 2.42. Shah, Surendra P., and McGarry, Fred J., “Griffith
Behaviorand Fracture of Concrete,” AC1 JOURNAL, Pro- Fracture Criterion andConcrete,” Proceedings, ASCE, V.
ceedings V. 63,No.9, Sept. 1966, pp. 925-930. 97,EM6,Dec.1971,pp.1663-1676.
2.26.- Testa, Rene B.,and Stubbs, Norris, “Bond Failure 2.43. Hillemeier,B.,andHilsdorf,H. K., “Fracture Me-
and Inelastic Response of Concrete,” Proceedings, ASCE, chanics Studies of Concrete Compounds,” Cemen€ and Con-
V. 103,EM2, Apr.1977,pp.296-310. crete Research, V. 7, No. 5, Sept. 1977, pp. 523-535.
2.27. Darwin, David, Discussion of “Bond Failure and In-
elastic Response of Concrete,” by Rene B. Testa and Nor-
ris Stubbs, Proceedings, ASCE, V. 104,EM2, Apr.1978,
PP. 507-509.
2.28. Spooner, D:C., “The Stress-Strain Rela€ionship for
HardenedCement Pastes inCompression,’’ Magazine of -
Chapter 3 Control of cracking due to drying
Concrete Research (London), V. 24, No. 79, June 1972, pp. shrinkage’
85-92. -
3.1 Introduction
2.29. Spooner, D. C., and Dougill, J. W., “A Quantitative Cracking of concrete due to drying shrinkage is a
Assessment of DamageSustained in ConcreteDuring subject which has received more attention by archi-
CompressiveLoading,” Magazine of ConcreteResearch tects,engineers,andcontractorsthananyother
(London), V. 27,No.92, Sept. 1975,pp.151-160. characteristic or property of concrete. It isone of
2.30, Spooner, D. C.; Pomeroy, C. D.; and Dougill, J. W., themostseriousproblemsencountered in concrete
“Damageand Energy Dissipation-in Cement Pastes in construction. Good designandconstructionpractice
Compression,“ Magazine of ConcreteResearch (London), canminimize the amount of crackingandeliminate
V. 28,No.94,Mar.1976,pp.21-29.
the visible large cracks by the use of adequate re-
2.31. Maher, Ataullah, andDarwin,David, “A Finite
Element Model to Study the Microscopic Behavior of Plain inforcement and contraction joints.
Concrete,’’ CRINC Report-SL-76-02, The University of Although drying shrinkage is one of the principal
Kansas Center for Research, Lawrence, Nov. 1976, 83 pp. causes of cracking,temperaturestresses, chemical
2.32, Maher, Ataullah, andDarwin,David,“Microscopic reactions,frost.action, as well asexcessivetensile
Finite Element Model of Concrete,” Proceedings, First In- stresses duetoloads on thestructure,arefre-
ternational Conference on
MathematicalModeling (St. quentlyresponsibleforcracking of hardened con-
Louis, Aug.-Sept. 19771, University of Missouri-Rolla, 1977, crete.Crackingmayalsodevelop in theconcrete
V. III, PP. 1705-1714.’ prior to hardening due to plastic shrinkage.
2.33. Karsan, I. Demir,and Jirsa, James O., “Behavior Informationpresented in this chapterconcerns
of ConcreteunderCompressiveLoadings,“ Proceedings, only the subjects of cracking of hardenedconcrete
ASCE, V. 95, ST12, Dec. 1969, pp, 2543-2563. due to dryingshrinkage:factorsinfluencingshrink-
2.34. .Neville,A. M., and Hirst, G. A.,“Mechanism of age; control of cracking; and the use of expansive ce-
CyclicCreep of Concrete,” DouglasMcHenry Symposium ments to minimize cracking.
on Concrete and Concrete Structures, SP55,American The subject of construction practices and specifica-
Concrete Institute, Detroit, 1978,pp.83-101. tionsto minimize dryingshrinkage is covered in
2.35. Nepper-Christensen, Palle, andNielsen,Tommy Chapter 8 (Sections 8.3 and 8.6) of this report,
P. H., “Modal Determination of the Effect ofBond Between
Coarse Aggregate and Mortar on the Compressive
Strength of Concrete,” AC1 JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 66,
No. 1, Jan. 1969,pp.69-72. ‘Principal author: Milos Polivka.

A C 1 224R 90 IOb62949 0023853 4
224R-10 MANUAL
PRACTICE
OF CONCRETE
-
3.2 Crack formation The magnitude of tensile stress developed during
Why does concrete crack due to shrinkage? If the drying of the concrete is influenced by a combination
shrinkage of concretecaused by drying could take of factors,suchas(a)theamount of shrinkage, (b)
place without any restraint, the concrete wouldnot the degree of restraint, ( c ) the modulus of elasticity
crack.However, in astructuretheconcrete is al- of the concrete, and (dl the creep or relaxation of the
ways subject to some degree of restraint by either concrete. Thus, the amount of shrinkage is only one
the foundation or another part of the structure or by factor governing the cracking. As far as cracking is
the reinforcing steel embedded in the concrete. This concerned,a low modulus of elasticityand high
combination of shrinkage and restraint develops ten- creepcharacteristics of theconcretearedesirable
sile stresses. When this tensilestressreaches the since they reduce the magnitude of tensile stresses.
tensile strength, the concrete will crack. This is illus- Thus, to minimize cracking, the concrete should have
trated in Fig. 3.1. low drying shrinkage characteristics and a high de-
Another type of restraint is developed by the dif- gree of extensibility (low modulus and high creep) as
ference in shrinkage st the surface and in the inte- well as a high tensile strength. However, a large ex-
rior of a concrete member, especially at early ages. tensibility of a concrete member subjected to bend-
Since thedryingshrinkage is alwayslargeratthe ing will cause larger deflections.
exposed surface, the interior portion of the member
restrains the shrinkage of the surface concrete, thus
developingtensilestresses.Thismaycausesurface -
3.3 Drying shrinkage
cracking, which arecracksthatdo not penetrate Whenconcretedries, it contracts or shrinks,and
deepinto the concrete.Thesesurfacecracksmay whenit is wettedagain, it expands.Thesevolume
withtime penetrate deeper into the concretemem- changes,withchanges in moisturecontent,arean
ber .as the interior portion of the concrete is subject inherentcharacteristic of hydraulic cement con-
to additional drying. cretes. It is the change in moisture content of the ce-
ment paste that causes the shrinkage or swelling of
concrete,whiletheaggregateprovidesaninternal
restraint which significantlyreducesthemagnitude
of these volume changes.
When cement is mixedwith water, several chem-
ical reactions take place. These reactions, commonly
ORIGINAL LENGTH called “hydration,” produce a hydration product con-
sisting essentially of some crystalline materials (prin-
cipallycalcium hydroxide)andalargeamount of
hardened calcium silicate gel called “tobermorite
gel.” This rigid gel consists of colloidal size particles
and has an extremely high surface area. In ahard-
-1 ened cement paste, some of the water is in the capil-
I
lary pores of the paste, but a significant amount is in
UNRESTRAINED the tobermorite gel. Shrinkage is due to the loss of
SHRINKAGE adsorbed water from the gel. On drying the first wa-
terlost is that whichoccupies therelativelylarge
size capillaries in the cement paste. This loss of wa-
ter causes very little, if any, shrinkage. It is the loss
of the adsorbedandinter-layerwaterfrom the hy-
drated gel thatcauses the shrinkage of thepaste.
Whenaconcreteisexposedtodryingconditions,
RESTRAINED SHRINKAGE moistureslowlydiffusesfrom the interiormass of
DEVELOPS TENSILESTRESS the concrete to the surface where it is lost by evapo-
ration. On wetting this process is reversed, causing
an expansion of the concrete.
In addition to drying shrinkage, the cement paste
is also subject to carbonation shrinkage. The action
of carbon dioxide, CO2, present in the atmosphere on
the hydration product.s d the cement, principally cal-
IF TENSILE STRESSIS cium hydroxide, Ca(OH),, results in the formation of
GREATER THAN TENSILE calcium carbonate, CaCO,, which is accompanied by
STRENGTH, CONCRETE CRACKS a decrease in volume. Since carbon dioxide does not
penetrate deep into the mass of concrete, shrinkage
Fig. 3.1 - Cracking of concrete duetodrying duetocarbonation is of minorimportance in the
shrinkage. overall shrinkage of a concrete structure. However,

A C 1 224R 70 = 0662947 0023854 6 m
CONTROL OF CRACKING ' 224R-1 i
carbonationdoesplayan
important role in t h e -
TABLE 3.1 Effect of type of aggregate on
shrinkage of small laboratory test specimens, partic- shrinkage of c ~ n c r e t e ~ . ~
ularly wh.en subjectedtolong-termexposureto
1-year
drying. Thus, the amount of shrinkage observed on a shrinkage,
Absorption,
Specific
smalllaboratoryspecimen will percent than the
be greaterpercent gravity Aggregate
~ "" _ _
____"~
"" __
shrinkage of the concrete in the structure. The sub- Sandstone 2.47 5.0 0.116
ject of shrinkage due to carbonation is discussed in 1.3 Slate 2.75 0.068
detail by V e r b e ~ k . ~ - l Granite 2.67 0.8 0.047
Limestone 2.74 0.2 0.041
Quartz 2.66 0.3 0.032
-
3.4 Factors influencing drying shrinkage
Themajorfactors.influencingshrinkageinclude
the composition of cement, type of aggregate, water
content,and mix proportións.Therate of moisture
loss or the shrinkage of a given concrete is greatly 3.4.2 Influence of type of aggregate - Coarse and
influenced by the size andshape of the concrete fine aggregates, whichoccupybetween65and 75
member, the environment,andthetime of drying percent of the total concrete volume,haveamajor
exposure. These and other factors influencing magni- influence on shrinkage. Concrete may be considered
tude and rate of shrinkage are herein discussed. toconsist of aframework of cementpastewhose
large potential Shrinkage is being restrained by the
3.4.1 Effect of cement - Results of anextensive aggregate. The drying shrinkage of a concrete will
study made~byBlaine, A r n i , g n d E v a n ~ ,of
" ~the Na- be only a fraction (about 1 / 4 to 1/61 of that of the ce-
tional Bureau of Standards ona largenumber of mentpaste.Thefactorswhichinfluencetheability
portlandcementsindicatethat it is notpossible to of the aggregate particles to restrain shrinkage in-
saythat acement,because it conforms to the re- clude (a) the compressibility of aggregate and the ex-
quirements of one of the standard types o€ cements, tensibility of paste, (b) the bond between paste and
will havegreater or less shrinkagethan a cement aggregate, (c) thedegree of cracking of cement
meetingrequirementsforsomeothertype of ce- paste, and (dl the contraction of the aggregate par-
ment. Their results on neat cement pastes showed a ticles duetodrying. Of theseseveralfactors, com-
widedistribution of shrinkagevaluesespeciallyfor pressibility of theaggregatehas the greatest in-
the Type I cements. The 6 month drying shrinkage fluenceon themagnitude of dryingshrinkage of
strain of the neat pastes ranged from about 0.0015 concrete.
to more than 0.0060 with an average for the 182 ce- The higher the stiffness or modulus of elasticity of
ments tested of about 0.0030. They found that lower an aggregate, the more effective it is in reducing the
shrinkage of pasteswasassociatedwith: 1. lower shrinkage of concrete.Theabsorption of anaggre-
C3A/S0,ratios, 2. lower Na,O and K,O contents, gate, which is a measure of porosity,influences its
and 3. higher C4AF contents of the cement. Tests by modulus or compressibility. A low modulus is usually
Brunauer, Skalny, and Yudenfreund."' show that for associated with high absorption.
shortcuringperiodsType II cementpastesexhib- The large influence of type of aggregate on drying
ited considerably less shrinkage than Type I pastes. shrinkage of concrete was shown by C a r l ~ o n .As ~ . ~an
However, the shrinkage of pastes cured for 28 days examplesome of his shrinkagedataforconcretes
was about the same for the two types of cements. withidenticalcemehtsandidenticalwater-cement
Testsmadeby the CaliforniaDivision of High- ratios are given in Table 3.1.
Quartz, limestone, dolomite, granite, feldspar, and
w a y ~ on~ .mortar
~ or paste as a measure of behavior
somebasaltscanbegenerallyclassifiedas low-
in concrete indicate that Type II cements generally
shrinkage producing types of aggregates. High-
producelower shrinkage than Type I cements, and
shrinkageconcretesoftencontainsandstone,slate,
much lower than Type III cements. Tests by L e r ~ h ~ . ~
hornblende and some types of basalts. Since the ri-
showthat the proportion of gypsum in the cement
gidity of certainaggregates,suchasgranite, lime-
hasamajoreffect on shrinkage. Cement producers
stone or dolomite, can vary over a wide range, their
moderate the differences in shrinkage due to cement
effectiveness in restrainingdryingshrinkage will
composition by optimizing its gypsum content.
vary accordingly.
The fineness of a cement can have some influence Althoughthecompressibility is the mostimpor-
on drying shrinkage. Tests by C a r I ~ o nshpwed
~ - ~ that tant single property of aggregate governing concrete
finer cementsgenerallyresult in greaterconcrete shrinkage, the aggregate itself may contract an ap-
shrinkage,but the increase in shrinkagewith in- preciable amount upon drying. This is true for sand-
creasing fineness is not large, His results show that stone and other aggregates of high absorption capac-
the composition of the cement is afactorandthus ity.Thus, in general, aggregate of high modulus of
for some cements an increase in fineness may show elasticityand low absorption will producea low-
little changeand in somecasesevenalower con- shrinkage concrete. However, some structural grade
crete shrinkage. lightweightaggregates,suchasexpandedshales,

A C 1 224R 90 Obb2949 0 0 2 3 8 5 5 8 M
224R-12 MANUAL
PRACTICE
OF CONCRETE
Crete canbeminimized by keeping the water con-

I- I19 142 I66 I 9 0 kg/m3
E 0.060 tent of the paste as low as possible and the total ag-
V gregate content of the concrete as high as possible.
œ
0.050 This will result in alowerwatercontentperunit
volume of concrete and thus lower shrinkage.
W
(3 0.040 The total volume of coarse aggregate is a signifi-
2z cantfactor in dryingshrinkage.Concretepropor-
0.030 tionedforpumpplacementwithexcessively high
I sand
contents will exhibitsignificantly
greater
” 0.020
v)
shrinkage than will similarmixeswithnormalsand
z contents.
2 0.010 - Testsreported by TremperandSpellman3show
n 200 240 280 320 I b / y d 3
that the cement factor has little effect on shrinkage
WATER CONTENT OF CONCRETE of concrete. Their data show that as the cement fac-
Fig. 3.2 - Typical effect of watercontent of con- tor was increased from 470 to 752 lb/yd3 (279 to 446
crete on drying shrinkage (Reference 3.8). kg/m3) the water content remained nearly constant,
while percentage of fine aggregate was reduced.
clays, andslates which have high absorptions,pro- The amount of mixing water required for concrete
duced concretes exhibiting low shrinkage character- of agivenslump is greatly dependent on the max-
i s t i c ~’. ~ imum size of aggregate. The surface area of aggre-
Maximum size of aggregate has a significant effect gate, which mustbecoated by cementpaste,de-
on dryingshrinkage.Notonlydoesalargeaggre- creases with increase in size of aggregate. The large
gate sizepermitalowerwatercontent of the con- effect that the maximumsize of aggregatehas on
crete, but it is more effective in resisting the shrink- the water requirement of concrete is shown in Fig.
age of thecementpaste.Aggregategradationalso 3.3. The data plotted in thisfigure, taken from AC1
has someeffect on shrinkage. The use of a poorly 211.1 shows, for example,that for a 3 to 4 in. (75 to
graded fine or coarseaggregatemayresult in an 100 mm) slump concrete, increasing the aggregate
oversandedmix, in ordertoobtaindesiredwork- size fromV 4 in. (19 mm) to 1%(38 in.mm) decreases
ability,and t h u s prevent the use of themaximum the water requirement from 340 to 300 lb/yd3 (202 to
amount of coarseaggregateresulting in increased 178 kg/m3). This 40 lb (24 kg) reduction in water
shrinkage. content would reduce the 1year drying shrinkageby
3.4.3 Effect of water content and mix proportions - about 15 percent.
The water content of a concrete mix is another very Also shown in Fig. 3.3 is theeffect of slump on
importantfactorinfluencingdryingshrinkage.The water requirement. For example, the water require-
largeincrease in shrinkagewithincrease in water ment of a concrete made with 3/4 in. (19 mm) size ag-
content was demonstrated in tests made by the U.S. gregate is 340 lb/yd3 (202 kg/m”) fora 3 to 4 in.
Bureau of Reclamation.’ A typicalrelationshipbe- slump,butonly 310 lb/yd3 (184 kg/m3) for a 1 to 2
tween water content and drying shrinkage is shown in. slump (25 to 50 mm). This substantialreduction
in Fig.3.2. An increase in watercontentalso rein watercontent would result in alowerdrying
duces the volume of restraining aggregate and thus shrinkage.
results in higher shrinkage. The shrinkage of a con- Another important factor which influences the wa-
terrequirement of aconcrete,andthusitsshrink-
age, is the temperature of the freshconcrete. This
rr)
c 12.5 19.0 37.5 75 150mm effect of temperature on water requirement as given
400 t 1 I I 1 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation”’ is shown in
Y
Y
(237) Fig.3.4. Forexample, if thetemperature of fresh
n
350 concrete were reduced from 100 to 50 F (38 to 10 C),
(208) it would permit a reduction of the water content by
2 33 lb/yd3(20kg/m’)and still maintainthesame
3 O0
$ (178) slump.Thissubstantialreduction in watercontent
W would significantly reduce the drying shrinkage.
I- 250
2 (148) From the abovediscussion it mustbeconcluded
O
o 200 that, to minimize the drying shrinkage of concrete,
(119) 3/8 3/4 I 1/2 3 6 in. the water content of a mix should be kept to a min-
W
F imum.Anypractice thatincreases the waterre-
a MAXIMUM
SIZE OF AGGREGATE quirement, such as the use of high slumps, high tem-
3
peratures of the fresh concrete or the use of smaller
Fig. 3.3 -Effect of aggregate size on water require- sizecoarseaggregate, will substantially increase
ment of non-air-entrained concrete (ACI 211 S / . shrinkage and thus cracking of the concrete.

A C 1 224R 7 0 0662947 002L85b T H 1
CÖNTR-OL OF%RACKING 224R-13
It
’
80 90 I00 .F O 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 in
TEMPERATURE OF FRESHCONCRETE W DEPTH BELOW CONCRETE SURFACE
Fig. 3.4 - Effect of temperature of fresh concrete Fig. 3.5 - Rates of drying of concrete exposed to 50
on its water requirement (Reference 3.8). percent relative humidity (Reference 3.9).
3.4.4 Effect of chemical admixtures - Chemical ad- mand as well asthedryingshrinkage of the con-
mixtureS.are used to impart certain desirable prop- crete. Also, it was observed that the use of some of
erties to the concrete.Thosemostcommonlyused these pozzolans increased drying shrinkage although
include
air-entraining
admixtures, water-reducing they had littleeffect on thewatercontent of the
admixtures,set-retardingadmixtures, andaccelera- concrete. Some fly ashes have little effect on drying
tors. shrinkage, while others may increase the shrinkage
It would beexpectedthatwhenusinganair-en- of the concrete. All of these observations are based
training admixture, the increase in the amount of air on results of tests made on laboratorysizespeci-
voids would increase drying shrinkage. However, be- mens.However,asnoted in Section3.4.7andFig.
cause entrainment of air permits a reduction in wa- 3.6, the larger the concrete member, the lower the
tercontentwith no reduction in slump, the shrink- shrinkage. This may explain the negligible difference
age is not appreciably affected by air contents up to in shrinkagecracking of field structures,withand
about 5 p e r ~ e n t . ~Some
. ~ air-entrainingagentsare without pozzolan, despiteclearlygreatershrinkage
strong retarders and contain accelerators which may of the concreteswith pozzolans in laboratorytests
increase drying shrinkage by 5 t o 10 percent. on small size specimens.
Althoughtheuse of water-reducingandset-re- 3.4.6 Effect of duration of moist curing -
tardingadmixtures will permit areduction in the reportedthattheduration of moistcuring of con-
water content of aconcretemix, it will usuallynot cretedoesnothavemucheffect on dryingshrink-
result in a decrease in dryingshrinkage.Actually age. This is substantiated by the test results of the
seme of theseadmixturesmayevenincreasethe California Department of T r a n ~ p o r t a t i o n ~which
.~
shrinkage at early ages of drying, although the later showsubstantiallythesameshrinkage in concrete
age shrinkage of theseconcretes will be about the that was moist cured for 7, 14,and28 days before
same as that of corresponding mixes with no admix- drying was started. As far as the cracking tendency
fures. of the concrete is concerned, prolonged moist curing
The use of caicium chloride, a common accelerator, maynot
necessarily
be beneficial. Although the
will result in a substantial increase in drying shrink- strength increases with age, the modulus of elastic-
age,especially a t the earlyages of drying. Tests ity also increases by almostaslargeapercentage,
made by the California Department of Transporta- and thenetresult isonlyaslightincrease in the
~ - ~ that the 7 day shrinkage of a concrete
t i ~ nshowed tensile strain which the concrete can withstand,
containing 1.0 percent of calcium chloride was about Steamcuringatatmosphericpressure, which is
double that obtained for the control mix without ad- commonly used in the manufacture of precast struc-
mixture.However,after 28 days of drying, the tural elements, will reduce drying shrinkage (AC1
shrinkage of the concrete containing calcium chloride 517). Also, because stream curing will produce a
was only about 40 percent greater than that of the high early-age strength of the concrete, it will re-
control mix. duce its tendency to crack, since the precast mem-
3.4.6 Effect of pozzolans - Fly ash and a number of bers are unrestrained.
natural materials such as opaline cherts and shales, 3.4.7 Ifluence of size of member - The size of a
diatomaceousearth,tuffsandpumicites a r e pozzo- concretemember will influence therateat which
lansused in portlandcementconcrete.Theuse of moisture moves from the concrete and thus in-
somenatural pozzolans canincrease the waterde- fluence the rate of shrinkage, Carlson“.” has shown

A C 1 224R 90 O b 6 2 9 4 9 0021857 1 E
MANUAL 224R-14 PRACTICE
OF CONCRETE
t h a t for a concrete exposed toa relative humidity of Crete from contractingfreely, the possibility of
50 percent, drying will penetrate only about 3 in. cracking must be expected unless the ambient rela-
(75 mm) in 1 month and about 2 ft (0.6 m) in 10 tive humidity is kept at 100 percent or the concrete
years. Fig. 3.5 shows his theoretical curves for the surfaces are sealed to prevent loss of moisture. The
drying of slabs. Hansen and Mattock3.'' made an control of cracking consists of reducing the cracking
extensive investigation of the influence of size and tendencytoaminimum,usingadequateandprop-
shape of member onthe shrinkage and creepof con- erlypositioned
reinforcement,andusing
control
crete. They found that both the rate and the final joints. The CEB-FIP Code give quantitative recom-
values of shrinkage and creep decrease as the mem- mendations onthe control of cracking due to shrink-
ber becomes larger. age, listing various coefficients to determine the
This significant effect of size of member on drying shrinkage levels that can be expected. Control of
shrinkage of concrete must be considered when eval- cracking by correct construction practices is covered
uatingthepotentialshrinkage of concrete in struc- in Chapter 8 of this report, which includes specifica-
tures based on the shrinkage of concrete specimens tions to minimize drying shrinkage (Section 8.6).
in the laboratory. The rate and magnitude of shrink- Cracking can also be minimized by the use of ex-
age of asmalllaboratoryspecimen will be much pansive cements to produce shrinkage-compensating
greater than that of the concrete in the structures. concretes. Shrinkage-compensating concretes are dis-
Testresults of severalstudiescarriedout to com- cussed in Section 3.6.
pare the shrinkage of concrete in walls and slabs in 3.5.1 Reduction of crackingtendency - Asmen-
the field with the shrinkage of smalllaboratory tionedpreviously, the crackingtendency is duenot
specimens have shown, as expected, that the shrink- only to the amount of shrinkage, but also to the de-
age of the concrete in a field structure is only a frac- gree of restraint, the modulus of elasticity, and the
tion of thatobtained on thelaboratoryspecimens. creep or relaxation of theconcrete.Somefactors
Even in laboratoryteststhesize of thespecimen which reduce the shrinkageatthesametimede-
used has a significant influence on shrinkage. As an crease the creep or relaxation and increase the mod-
example of the effect of specimen size on shrinkage ulus of elasticity,thusofferinglittle or no help to
is the data presented in Fig. 3.6, giving the results thecrackingtendency.Emphasisshouldbeplaced,
of shrinkagetestsobtained onfourdifferentsize therefore, on modifying those factors which produce
concrete prisms. It will be noted that the shrinkage a net reduction in the cracking tendency.
of the prisms having a cross section of 3 x 3 in. (7.5
Any measurethat can betakentoreducethe
x 7.5 cm)wasmorethan 50 percentgreaterthan
shrinkage of the concrete will also reduce the crack-
that of the concrete prism having a cross section of 5
ingtendency.Dryingshrinkagecanbereduced by
x 6 in. (12.5 x 15 cm).
using less water in the mix and largeraggregate
size. A lower water content can be achieved by us-
3.5 - Control of shrinkage cracking
ing a well-graded aggregate, stiffer consistency, and
Concrete tends to shrink due to drying whenever
lowerinitial temperature of theconcrete.Asdis-
its surfaces are exposed to air of low relative humid-
cussed in Section 3.4.4, however,thereduction of
ity. Since various kinds of restraint prevent the con- watercontentbytheuse of water-reducingadmix-
tures will not usually reduce shrinkage.
Another way to reduce the cracking tendency is to
usea largeraggregate size.Alargeraggregate
sizeallowsanincrease in aggregate volumeanda
reduction in thetotalwaterrequiredtoobtaina
given slump. The larger aggregate also tends to re-
strain the concrete more, and although this may re-
sult in internal microcracking, such internal cracking
is not necessarily harmful.
A third way to reduce the cracking tendency is to
applyasurfacecoatingtotheconcrete, which will
prevent the rapid loss of moisture from within. This
means of controllingcrackinghasnotbeenusedto
its full potential and should be given better consider-
ation.However,manysurfacecoatingssuchas all-
I purposepaints are ineffective,because theypermit
3x3 4x4 4x5 5 in.
the moisture to escape almost as fast as it reaches
AVERAGE ENDAREADIMENSION OF CONCRETE PRISM
(LOG SCALE 1 thesurface.Chlorinatedrubberandwaxy or resin-
ous materialsareeffectivecoatings,butthereare
Fig. 3.6 - Effect of specimen size on drying shrink- probablymany othermaterials which will slow the
age of concrete (Principal author's datal. evaporation enough to be beneficial. Any slowing of

' A C 1 224R 90 W ~06627490023858 3 W ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~~
1
the rate of shrinkage will be beneficial, because con-

crete has a remarkable quality of relaxing under sus- S T E E L 1 ""-
tainedstress.Thus,concretemaybeabletowith- -""
standtwo or threetimesas muchslowlyapplied
shrinkage as it can rapid shrinkage. ORIGINALLENGTH
3.6.2 Reinforcement - Properly placedre-
inforcement, used in adequate amounts, will not only
reduce the amount of cracking but prevent unsightly
cracking. By distributing the shrinkage strains along
the reinforcement through bond stresses, the cracks
" - -T" Y 4C P" " T
" "
3,
are distributed in such a way that a larger number
i
of very fine cracks will occur instead of a few wide EXPANSION PUTSSTEEL IN
cracks.Although the use of suchreinforcementto TENSION AND CONCRETEIN
control cracking in a relatively thin concrete section COMPRESSION
is practical, it isnotneeded in massivestructures
such asdamsduetothe
these
mass
concrete
structures.
The
low dryingshrinkage of
minimum
I
amount and spacingof reinforcement to be used in T
"& P"
"
floors, roof slabs, and walls is given in AC1 318.
3.6.3 Joints - The use of joints is the most effective STRESS LOSS DUETO
method of preventing formation of unsightlycrack- SHRINKAGE AND CREEP
ing. If a sizable length or expanse of concrete, such
as walls,slabs or pavements, is notprovidedwith RESIDUAL EXPANSION OR,
SMALL CONTRACTION
4
adequatejointstoaccommodateshrinkage,it will
make its own "joints" by cracking.
Fig. 3.7 - Basic concept of shrinkage-compensating
Contraction joints in walls are made, for example, concretes.
by fasteningto the forms- wood or rubberstrips
which leave narrow vertical grooves in the concrete I ,--
CURING
on the inside and outside of the wall, Cracking of the
wall due to shrinkage shouldoccur a t t h e grooves, 1 4 I I
G- DRYING
I
relieving the stress in the wall and t h u s preventing
formation of unsightly cracks. These grooves should SHRINKAGE-COMPENSATING
CONCRETE, P :0.16%
be sealed on the outside of the wall to prevent pene-
tration of moisture. Sawed joints are commonly used
in pavements, slabs and floors.
Joint location dépends on the particulars of place-
ment.Each job must be studied individually to de-
termine where joints should be placed.*
5 5
-
3.6 Shriukage.compensating concretes O 50 100 150 20c
Shrinkage-compensatingconcretesmadewithex- A G E OF CONCRETE, DAYS
pansivecementscanbeusedtominimize or elimí-
nate shrinkage cracking. The properties and use of Fig. 3.8 - Length change characteristics of shrink-
expansivecementconkretes is published in numer- age-compensatingandportlandcementconcretes
ous papers andreport^.^.^^' 3.12 Of the several types (Relative humidity = 50 percent).
of e x p a n s i v ec e m e n t sp r o d u c e d , the T y p e K concreteminimizes themagnitude of anytensile
shrinkage-compensating expansive cement is most stress that may ultimately develop due to shrinkage,
commonly used in the United States. and thus reduce or eliminate the tendency to crack-
In a reinforced concrete, the expansion of the ce- ing. This basicconcept of the use of expansivece-
ment paste during the first few days of curing will ment to produce a shrinkage-compensating concrete
developa low level of prestress inducing com- is illustrated in Fig. 3.7.
pressive stresses in the concrete and tensile stresses A typicallengthchangehistory of ashrinkage-
in the steel. The level of compressive stresses devel- compensating concrete is compared to that of a port-
oped in the shrinkage-compensating concretes land cement concrete in Fig. 3.8. The amount of re-
rangesfrom 25 to 100 psi (0.2 to 0.7 MPa).When inforcing steel normallyused in reinforcedconcrete
subjected to drying shrinkage, the contraction of the
concrete will result in areduction or elimination of is avail-
"Guidance on joint sealants and control joint location in slabs
its precompression. The initial precompression of the able in AC1 504 a n d i n AC1 302, respectively.

A C 1 224R 90 Obb2747 0023857 5
PRACTICE
made with portland cements is usually more than ad- -

Chapter 4 Control of cracking in flexural
equatetoprovidetheelasticrestraintneeded for members *
shrinkage-compensating concrete. To take full advan- 4.1 - Introduction
tage of theexpansivepotential of shrinkage-com- With the regular use of high strength reinforcing
pensatingconcrete in minimizing or preventing steelandthestrength design
approach for
re-
shrinkage cracking of unformed concrete surfaces, it inforcedconcrete,andhigherallowablestresses in
is importantthatpositiveanduninterruptedwater prestressed concrete design, the control of cracking
curing (wet covering or ponding) be started immedi- may be as important as the control of deflection in
atelyafter final finishing. For slabs on well satu- flexural members. Internal cracking in concrete can
ratedsubgrades,curing by sprayed-onmembranes start at stress levels as low as 3000 psi (20.7 MPa) in
or moisture-proof covers have been successfully uti- the reinforcement. Crack control is important to pro-
lized. Inadequatecuring of shrinkage-compensating mote the aesthetic appearance of structures, and for
concrete may result in an insufficientexpansion to manystructures,crackcontrolplays an important
elongate the steel and thus subsequent cracking dur- role in the control of corrosion by limiting the possi-
ing drying shrinkage. Specific recommendations and bilities for entry of moisture and saltswhich,to-
information on the use of shrinkage-compensating gether with oxygen, can set the stage for corrosion.
concrete are contained in AC1 223. Thischapter is concernedprlmarilywithcracks
caused by flexural and tensile stresses, but temper-
References ature, shrinkage, shear and torsion may also lead to
3.1. Verbeck, George J., “Carbonation of Hydrated Port- c r a ~ k i n g . ~ .Cracking
’ in certain specialized
struc-
landCement,” Cement and Concrete, STP-205, American tures, such asreinforcedconcretetanks,binsand
Societyfor Testing and Materials, Philadelphia,1958,pp. silos,isnotcovered in thisreport. For information
17-36. on cracking concrete in these structures, see Refer-
3.2.Blaine,R.L.; Arni, H.T.;and Evans, D. N., “Inter- ence 4.2 and AC1 313.
relations Between Cement and Concrete Properties: Part 4 Extensive research studies on the cracking be-
- Shrinkage of HardenedPortlandCement Pastes and havior of beams have been conducted over the last
Concrete,” Building Science Series No. 15, NationalBu- 50 years.Most of themarereportedinAC1
reau of Standards, Washington,D.C.,Mar.1969,77pp. Bibliography No. 9 on crack control.“’ Others are
3.3. Brunauer, S.: Skalny, J.: and Yudenfreund,H., referenced in this chapter. Reference 4.1 contains an
“HardenedCement Pastes ofLow Porosity:Dimensional extensive review of cracking in reinforced concrete
Changes,” Research Report No. 69-8, EngineeringRe-
search and Development Bureau, NewYork State Depart- structures. Several of the most important crack pre-
ment of Transportation, Albany, Nov. 1969, 12 pp. diction equations are reviewed in the previous com-
3.4. Tremper, Bailey,andSpellman,DonaldL.,“Shrink- mittee report.’.’ Additional work presented in the
age of Concrete - Comparison of LaboratoryandField CEB-FIP Model Code for Concrete Structure gives
Performance,” Highway Research Record. HighwayRe- the European approach to crack width evaluation
searchBoard,No.3,1963,pp.30-61. and permissible crack widths.
3.5. Lerch,William,“TheInfluence of Gypsumon the Recently,fiberglassrodshavebeenused as a
Hydrationand Properties of PortlandCement Pastes.” reinforcing To date,
experience is lim-
Proceedings, ASTM, V. 46,1946,pp.1252-1297. ited, and crack control in structures reinforced with
3.6.Carlson,RoyW.,“DryingShrinkage of Concrete as fiber glass rods is not addressed in this report. It is
AffectedbyMany Factors,” Proceedings, ASTM, V. 38, expected,however,thatfuturecommitteedocu-
Part II, 1938,pp.419-437. ments will address crack control in structures using
3.7.Reichard. T. W., “CreepandDryingShrinkage of
LightweightandNormalWeightConcrete,” Monograph
this and other new systems as they come into use.
74, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C., 1964,
30 PP. 4.2 - Crackcontrolequationsforreinforcedcon.
3.8. Concrete Manual, 8th Edition, U.S. Bureau of Re- Crete beams
clamation, Denver, 1975,627pp. A number of equations have been proposed for the
3.9. Carlson, Roy W., “Drying Shrinkage of Large Con- prediction of crack widths in flexural members; most
crete Members,” AC1 JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 33, No. 3, of them are reviewed in the previous committee re-
Jan.-Feb. 1937, pp. 327-336. ,.port1.’ a n d in key publications listed in the refer-
3.10. Hansen, Torben C., and Mattock, Alan H., “In-
fluence of Size and Shape of Member on the Shrinkage and ences. Most equations predict the -probable max-
Creep of Concrete,” AC1 JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 63, No. imum crack width, whichusuallymeansthatabout
2, Feb. 1966, pp. 267-290. 90 percent of thecrackwidths in thememberare
3.11. AC1 Committee223,“ExpansiveCement below thecalculatedvalue.However,researchhas
Concretes-Present State of Knowledge,” AC1 JOURNAL,shown thatisolatedcracks in beams in excess of
Proceedings V. 67, No. 8, Aug. 1970, pp. 583-610. twicethewidth of thecomputedmaximum can
3.12. Klein Symposiumon Expansive CementConcretes,
SP-38, AmericanConcreteInstitute,Detroit,1973,
491 pp. *Principal authors: Edward G . Nawy and Peter Gergely.

A C 1 224R 90 m 0662949 O023860 3 m i
~
CONTROL-ÖF CRÄGKiNG ~ ~
224R-i7
sometimes O C C U ~ , though
~‘~ generallythe coefficient where
of variation of crack width is about 40 W = mostprobablemaximumcrackwidth, in.
Evidence also exists indicating that this range in d, = thickness of cover from tension
fiber
to
crack width randomness may increase with the size center of bar closest thereto, in.
of t h e member.’,’ Besides limiting the computed
maximum crackwidth to a given value,the designer When the strain, E,, in the steel reinforcement is
should estimate the percentage of cracks above this used instead of stress, f,, Eq. (4.2) becomes
value which can be tolerated. W = 2.2 p E , m Ã (4.3)
Crack control
equationsrecommended by AC1
Committee 224 and the Comite Euro-International t, = strain in the reinforcement
du Beton (CEB) are presented below. Eq. (4.3) is valid in any system of measurement.
4.2.1 ACI Committee B 4 recommendations - Re- Thecrackingbehavior in thickone-wayslabs is
quirements for crack control in beams and thick one- similar to that in shallow beams. For one-way slabs
way slabs in the AC1 Building Code (AC1 318) are having a clear concrete cover in excess of I in, (25.4
based on t h e s t a t i s t i c a l a n a l y s i ~ ~ .of
~ maximurn mm), Eq. (4.2) can be adequately applied if ß = 1.25
crack width data from a number of sources, Based on to 1.35 is used.
the analysis, the following general conclusions were AC1 318 Section 10.6 usesEq. (4.2) with ß = 1.2 in
reached: the following form
1. The steel stress is the most important variable.
z = f * r n (4.2a)
2. The thickness of the concrete cover is an impor-
tant variable, but not the only geometric considera- Using the specifiéd cover i n AC1 318, maximium
tion. allowable z = 175 kips per in. for interior exposure
3, Thearea of concretesurtoundingeachre- corresponds to a limiting crack width of 0.016 in.
inforcingbar is alsoanimportantgeometricvari- (0.41 mm).
able. The Code allows avalue of z = 145 kips per in.
4. The bar diameter is not a major variable. for exterior exposure based on a crack width value
5. The size- of the bottom crack width is influenced of 0.013 in., (0.33 mm), which may be excessive based
by theamount of straingradientfromthelevel of on Table 4.1. Whileapplication of Eq.(4.2a)[Eq.
the steel to the tension face of the beam. (10.4) of AC1318-771 to beams gives adequate crack
Theequationsthatwereconsideredtobest pr.e- control values, its application to one-way slabs with
dict themostprobablemaximumbottomandside standard Y4 in. (19 m m ) coverandreinforcedwith
crack widths are: steel of 60 ksi (414 MPa) or lower yield strength
( 4 , ~ ~ ) results in large reinforcementspacings.However,
the provisions of Code Section 7.6.5 indirectly limit
the spacing of such reinforcement in one-way slabs.
(4.lb) ACL 340.1Rcontainsdesignaidsfor the applica-
tion of Eq. (4,2a).
where 4.22 CEB recommendations - Crack control recom-

Wb = mostprobablemaximumcrackwidth a t bot- mendationsproposed in theEuropean Model Code
tom of beam, in. for Concrete Structures apply to prestressed as well
W, = mostprobablemaximumcrackwidthatlevel as reinforced concrete and can be summarized as
of reinforcement, in.. follows:
fs = reinforcing steelstress, ksi The- mean crack width, W , , in beams is expressed
A = area of concretesymmetricwithreinforcing in terms of the mean crack spacing, sr,, such that
steel divided by number of bars, in.’
W, = ~,,Sr, (4.4)
t b = bottomcovertocenter of bar, in.
t, = sidecovertocenter of bar,in, where
ß = ratio of distancebetweenneutralaxisand
tension face to distance between neutral axis
and centroid of reinforcing steel = 1.20 in (4.51
beams
h, = distancefromneutralaxistothereinforcing
steel, in. and represents the average strain in the steel.
f, = steel stress at the crack
Simplification of Eq. (4.la)yieldedthe following fs, = steel stress at the crack due to forces causing
equation cracking at the tensile strength of concrete
x = bondcoefficient, 1.0 forribbedbars,reflecting
W = 0.076ßfsW X (4.2) influence of load repetitions and load duration

A C 1 224R 90 W 0bb2949 0 0 2 3 8 6 3 3
224R-18 MANUAL
PRACTICE
OF CONCRETE
The mean crack spacing is action squareslabsandplates. For concen-

trated loads or reactions, or when the ratio
of shortto longspan isless than 0.75 but
(4.6) largerthan 0.5, avalue of k = 2.1 x is
applicable. For spanaspectratios 0.5, k =
1.6 x
where /3 = (as defined in Section 4.2.1) 1.25 (chosen to
c = clearconcretecover simplifycalculationsthoughvariesbetween
s = barspacing,limitedto 15dh 1.20 and 1.35)
K~ = 0.4 forribbedbars fs = actualaverageservice load stresslevel, or
K~ = depends on the shape of the stress diagram, 40 percent of thedesign yield strength c,
0.125 for bending ksi
eR = ASIA, d,, = diameter of thereinforcement in direction
A , = effectivearea in tension,depending on ar- “1” closest to the concrete outer fibers, in.
rangement of bars and
type of external s , = spacing of the reinforcement in direction“l”,
forces; it is limited by a line c + 7d, from the in.
tensionfaceforbeams; in thecase of slabs, s2 = spacing of the reinforcement i n per-
not more than halfway to the neutral axis pendicular direction “2”, in.
“1” = direction of reinforcement closest
to the
A simplified formula can be derived for the mean outer concrete fibers: this is the direction for
crack width in beams with ribbed bars. which crack control check is to be made
e,, = active steel ratio
- Area of steel A, -per ft width- _ _ _
W, = 0.7 f’ (3c + 0.05 (4.7) - ””_ ~ ~ _
E, eR 12 (d,, -k 2c1)
where C, is clearconcretecovermeasured
A characteristic
value of the crack
width,
from the tensile
face of concrete
to the near-
presumablyequivalent
the
to
probable
maximum est
edge of the reinforcingbar in direction
asvalue, is given 1 . 7 ~ ~ . “1”
W = crackwidth a t face of concrete, in., caused
-
4.3 Crack control in two-way slabs and plates by flexural load
Crackcontrolequationsforbeamsunderestimate Subscripts 1 and 2 pertain to the directions of re-
thecrackwidthsdeveloped in two-wayslabsand inforcement.
plate^^.^ and do not tell the designer how to space For simply supported slabs, the value of k should
the reinforcement. The cracking mechanism in two- be multiplied by 1.5. Interpolated k values apply for
way slabsandplates is controlledprimarily by the partial restraint at the boundaries. For zones of flat
steel
stress level
and the
spacing of the
re- plates where transverse steel is not used or when its
inforcement in thetwoperpendiculardirections.In spacing s2 exceeds 12in.,use s2 = 12 in. in the
addition,theclearconcretecover in two-wayslabs equation.
and plates is nearly constant [3/4 in. (19 mm) for inte- If strain is used instead of stress,
Eq. [4.8]
rior exposure], whereas it is a major variable in the becomes
crack control equations for beams.
Analysis of data in the only major work on crack-
ing in two-way slabs and plate^^.^ has provided the (4.9)
’ e,,
followingequationforpredicting the maximum
crack width:
wherevalues of the k , = 29 X 10’ timesthe k
values previously listed.
(4.8) References 4.8 and 340.1R contain design aids for
the application of these recommendations.
wheretheradical r, = d b l s , / e , ,is termedthegrid
index,
and
transformed
can
be into 4.4 - Tolerablecrackwidths
versus
exposure
condi.
tions in reinforced concrete
Table 4.1 is ageneralguide for tolerablecrack
r
‘-1
-
d,, II widthsatthetensileface of reinforcedconcrete
structures for typical conditions and is presented as
anaid tobeusedduringthedesignprocess.The
k = fracture coefficient,havingavalue k = 2.8 x table is based primarily on Reference 4.9. It is h - -
10.’ for uniformly loaded restrained two-way portant to notethat these values of crack width are

I A C 1 224R 90 m Obb2949 002LBb2 5
~~ ~
m
CONTROL ÖF-CRACKING 224R-19
-
TABLE 4.1 Tolerable crack widths, prestressed member to account for the differences in
reinforced concrete bond properties.
The difficulty with this approach is the complexity
Tolerable
Exposure condition crack width, in. (mm)
of calculations. The determination of the decompres-
"___ - ~~
sion moment and, especially, the stress in th'ë steel

Dry air or protective membrane 0.016 (0.41)
is complicated and unreliable unless elaborate meth-
Humidity, moist airi soil 0.012 (0.30)
Deicing chemicals 0.007 (0.181
ods are For this reason,
approximate meth-
Seawater and seawater spray: ods for crack width prediction are attractive. These
wetting and drying 0.006 (0.151 arenotmuchlessaccuratethanthemore com-
Water retaining structures* 0.004 (0.101 plicated methods, and the lack of sufficient data, cov-
eringlargevariations in the variables,precludes
'Excluding nonpressure Pipes further refinements a t this date.
The CEB Model Code has the same equation for
the prediction of the crack width in prestressed
members as in nonprestressed members (see Section
not always a reliable indication of the corrosion and 4.2.2). The increase in steel strain is calculated from
deterioration to be expected. In particular, a larger the decompression stage. Several other equations
cover,even if itleadstoalargersurfacecrack have been pr~posed.~."-~.~'
width,maysometimesbepreferableforcorrosion
Limited evidence seems to indicate that unbonded
control in certainenvironments.Thus,thedesigner membersdeveloplargercracksthanbondedmem-
must exercise engineering judgment on the extent of
bers. Nonprestressed deformed bars may be used to
crackcontrol to beused.Whenused in conjunc€ion
reduce the width of the cracks to acceptable levels,
with the recommendations presented in Sections
Thecracks in bondedpost-tensionedmembersare
4.2.1 and 4.2.3 to limit crack width, it should be ex- not
much differentfromcracks in pretensioned
pected that a portion of the cracks in the structure
beams.
will exceed these values by a significant amount.
4.6.2 Allowable crack widths - Some authors state
thatcorrosion is a greater problem in prestressed
-
4.5 Flexural cracking in prestressed concrete
concretemembersbecause of the smallerarea of
Partiallyprestressedmembers, in whichcracks
steel used. However, recent research resul€s4." indi-
may appearunderworkingloads,areusedexten-
c a t e that there is no general relationship between
sively. Cracks form in these members when the ten- crackingandcorrosion in mostcircumstances.Fur-
sile stress exceedsthemodulus of rupture of the
thermore, cracks close upon removal of the load, and
concrete ( S c to 9 a under short-term conditions).
the use of crackwidthlimitsshoulddepend on the
The control of these cracks is necessarymainlyfor fluctuation and magnitude of the live load.
esthetic reasons. The residual crack width, after re-
moval of the major portion of the live load, is small
[about 0.001 in. to 0.003 in. (0.03to 0.08 mm)]and
therefore,crackcontrol is usuallynotnecessary if -
4.6 Anchorage zone cracking in prestressed con.
the live load is transitory. Crete
The prediction of crack widths in- prestressed con- Longitudinal cracks frequently occur in the ancho-
cretemembershasreceivedfar less attention than rage zones of prestressed concrete members due to
in reinforced concretemembers. The availableex- transversetensilestresses set upby the concen-
perimentaldataarelimitedand,at the sametime, trated force^.*^^^* 423 Such cracks maylead to (or in
the number of variables is greater in prestressed certain cases are equivalent to) the failure of t h e
members. member. Transverse reinforcement (stirrups) must
be designed to restrict these cracks.
4.6.1 Crack prediction equations - One approach €o Two types of cracks may develop: spalling cracks
crack
prediction,
which
relates it tothe non- which begin attheend face(loadedsurface)and
prestressedcase,hastwosteps.First the decom- propagateparalleltotheprestressing force,and
pression moment is calculated, a t which the stress a t bursting cracks which develop along the line of the
the tension face is zero. Then the member is treated force or forces, but away from the end face.
as a reinforced concrete member and the increase in For manyyearsstirrupsweredesignedtotake
stress in the steel is calculatedfortheadditional the entire calculated tensile force based on the anal-
loading. Theexpressionsgivenforcrackprediction ysis of the uncracked section. Classical and finite-ele-
in nonprestressedbeamsmaybeusedtoestimate mentanalysesshowsimilar stress distributions for
thecracksfor the load increaseabovethedecom- which thestirrupsaretobeprovided.However,
pressionmoment. A multiplicationfactor of about since
experimental
evidenceshows that
higher
1.5 is neededwhenstrands,ratherthandeformed . ' ~ indicated by these an-
stresses c a n r e s ~ l t . ~than
bars,are used nearesttothebeamsurface in the alyses, and the consequences of under-reinforcement

A C 1 224R 90 Obb2947 002LBb3 7
224R-20 MANUAL
PRACTICE
OF CONCRETE
can be serious, it is advisable to provide moresteel Causes, Mechanism, andControl of Cracking in Concrete,
than required by this type of analysis. SP-20,American Concrete Institute, Detroit,1968, pp.
Morerecently,designshavebeenbased on 87-117.
crackedsectionanalyses. A designprocedurefor 4.7.Nawy,Edward G., and Blair, Kenneth W.,
“Further Studieson Flexural Crack Control in Structural
post-tensioned members usinga cracked section an- Slab Systems,” Cracking, Deflection, and Ultimate Load of
a l y s i ~ ~ . ’ ~ hfound
a s acceptance with many design- Concrete Slab Systems, SP-30, American Concrete
ers. For pretensioned members, an empirical equa- Institute, Detroit, 1971, pp. 1-41.
tion has proven to be quite 4.8. N a w y , EdwardG.,“CrackControlThrough
Spalling cracks formbetween
anchoragesand Reinforcement Distribution in Two-way Acting Slabs and
propagateparallel to theprestressingforcesand Plates,” AC1 JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 69, No. 4, Apr.
may cause gradual failure, especially when the force 1972, PP. 217-219.
acts near and parallel to a free edge. Since analyses 4.9. Nawy, EdwardG., “Crack Control in Reinforced
show thatthespallingstresses in anuncracked Concrete Structures,” AC1 JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 65,
member are confined to near the end face, it is im- NO. 10, Oct. 1968, PP. 825-836.
4.10. Nilson, Arthur H., Design ofprestressed Concrete,
portantto place the first stirrup near the end sur-
John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1978, 526 pp.
face, andtodistributethestirrupsoveradistance 4.11. Abeles, Paul W., ‘‘Cracks in Prestressed Concrete
equal to at least the depth of the member to fully ac- Beams,” Proceedings, Fifth IABSE Congress(Lisbon,
count for bothspallingandburstingstresses.Pre- 1956), InternationalAssociation forBridge and Structural
cast blocks with helical reinforcement maybeused Engineering, Zurich, 1956, pp. 707-720.
when the prestressing forces are large. 4.12. Bennett, E. W., and Dave, N. J., “Test Perfor-
mances and Design of Concrete Beams with Limited
Prestress,” The Structural Engineer (London),V. 47, No.
12, Dec. 1969, pp. 487-496.
-
4.7 Tension cracking 4.13.Holmberg,Ake,andLindgren,Sten,“Crack
The cracking behavior of reinforced concrete mem- Spacing and Crack Widths Due to Normal Force and
bers in tension is similartothat of flexuralmem- Bending Moment,” Document D2:1970, National Swedish
bers, except that the maximum crack width is larger Council for Building Research, Stockholm, 1970, 57 pp.
thanthatpredicted by theexpressionsforflexural 4.14. Rao,A.S.P.; Gandotra, K.; and Ramaswamy, G.
members.“26* 427 The lack of strain gradient, and S., “Flexural Tests on Beams Prestressed to Different
resultant restraint imposedby the compression zone Degrees of Prestress,” Journal, Institution of Engineers
of flexural members, is probably the reason for the (Calcutta),V. 56, May 1976.
4.15. Bate, StephenC. C.,“Relative Meritsof Plain and
larger tensile crack width. Deformed Wires in Prestressed Concrete BeamsUnder
Data are limited but it appears that the maximum Static andRepeated Loading,” Proceedings, Institution of
tensile crack width may be expressed approximately Civil Engineers (London), V. 10,Aug. 1958, pp. 473-502.
in aformsimilar to that usedforflexuralcrack 4.16. Bennett, E. W., and Chandrasekhar, C. S., “Cal-
width. culation of the Width of Cracks in Class 3 Prestressed
Beams,” Proceedings, Institution of Civil Engineers
(London), V. 49, July 1971, pp. 333-346.
W = O.lOf.~d,A
X 10” (4.10) 4.17. Hutton, S.G., and Loov, R. E., “Flexural Behavior
of Prestressed, Partially Prestressed, and Reinforced
Concrete Beams,” AC1 JOURNAL, Proceedings, V. 63,
References No. 12, Dec. 1966, pp. 1401-1410.
4.1. Leonhardt, Fritz, “Crack Control in Concrete Struc- 4.18. Krishna,Raju N.: Basavarajuiah,B. S.; and
tures,” IABSE Surveys No. S4/77, International Associa- Ahamed Kurty, U. C., “Flexural Behavior of Pretensioned
tion for Bridgeand Structural Engineering,Zurich,1977, Concrete Beams with Limited Prestress,” Building
26 PP. Science, V. 8, No. 2, June 1973, pp. 179-185.
4.2. Yerlici. V. A., “Minimum Wall Thickness of Circular 4.19. Stevens, R. F., “Tests on Prestressed Reinforced
Concrete Tanks.” Publication No. 35-11, International Asso- Concrete Beams,” Concrete (London), V. 3, No. 11, Nov.
ciation for Bridge & Structural Engineering,Zurich,1975, 1969, PP. 457-462.
p. 237. 4.20.Nawy,E. G., and Huang, P. T.,“Crackand
4.3. AC1 Committee224,“Causes,Mechanism, and DeflectionControl of Pretensioned Prestressed Beams,”
Control of Cracking in Concrete,” ACIBibliography No. 9, Journal, Prestressed Concrete Institute, V. 22, No. 3,
American Concrete Institute, Detroit, 1971, 92 pp. May-June 1977, pp. 30-47.
4.4. Nawy, Edward G., and Neuwerth,G. E., “Behavior 4.21. Beeby, A. W., “Corrosion of Reinforcing Steel in
of Concrete Slabs, Plates and Beams with Fiber Glass as Concrete and Its Relation to Cracking,” The Structural
Main Reinforcement,” Proceedings, ASCE, V. 103, ST2, Ehgineer (London), V. 56A, No. 3, Mar. 1978, pp. 77-81.
Feb. 1977, pp. 421-440. 4.22.Gergely,Peter,“AnchorageSystemsinPre-
4.5. Clark, Arthur P., “Cracking in Reinforced stressed Concrete Pressure Vessels; Anchorage Zone
Concrete Flexural Members,” AC1 JOURNAL, Proceedings Problems,” ORNL-TM-2378, Oak Ridge National
V. 52, No. 8 , Apr. 1956, pp. 851-862. Laboratory, U S . Atomic Energy Commission, Oak Ridge,
4.6. Gergely, Peter,and Lutz, Leroy A., “Maximum Tenn., 1969, pp. 1-49.
Crack Width in Reinforced Concrete Flexural Members,” 4 . 2 3 . Z i e l i n s k i , J . L.,andRowe,R.E.,“An

Investigation of the StressDistribution in theAnchorage tion tothisoccursat low loads ’or inbeamswith
Zones of Post-Tensioned Concrete Members,” Technical high percentages of reinforcement, in which case the
Report No. 9, Cement andConcrete Association, London, totalnumberandwidth -of ..cracks- iner-ease sub-
Sept. 1960, 32 pp. stantiallyafter the loadinghas b e g ~ n . ~ - ’ - ~The .~.~.~
4.24. Gergely, P., and Sozen, M. A., “Design of Anchor- largestpercentageincrease in crackwidth is then
age Zone Reinforcement in Prestressed Concrete Beams,”
Journal, Prestressed Concrete Institu€e, V. 12, No. 2,
expected in flexuralmemberssubjectto low levels
Mar.-Apr. 1967, pp. 63-76. of load, since the cracks take more time to develop.
4.25. Marshall, W. T., and Mattock, A. H., “Control of For both prestressed and reinforced concrete flex-
Horizontal Crackingin the Ends of Pretensioned Concrete ural members, long-term loading and repetitive load-
Girders,” Jozunal, Prestressed Concrete Instituee, V. 7, ing seem to give about the same crack widths and
NO, 5, Aug.-Oct. 1962, PP. 56-74. s p a ~ i n g . The
~ . ~ rate of crack development, however,
4.26. Broms, Bengt B., “Crack Width and Crack is considerably faster under repetitive l~ading.~.~.~.~
Spacing in Reinforced Concrete Members,’’ AC1 JOURNAL, 5.10
Proceedings, V. 62, No. 10, Oct. 1965, pp. 1237-1256. As discussed in Chapter 4, crack width isafunc-
4.27. Broms, Ben& B., and Lutz, Leroy A., “Effects of tion of cover. For short-term static and fatigue load-
Arrangement of Reinforcement on Crack Width and ing, surfacecrackwidth is approximatelypropor-
Spacing of Reinforced Concrete Members,” AC1 JOURNAL,
Proceedings V. 62, No. 11, Nov. 1965, pp. 1395-1419. tional to the steel train.^.^.^.^^^"^ Cracksgrow in
width under sustained loading at a decreasing rate.
However, the rate of growth is faster than the aver-
age observed surface strain at the level of the steel.
-
Chapter 5 Lon&term effects on cracking’ For long term loading, crack width is proportional to
5.1- Introduction the steel strain (including the effects of creep), plus
Cracking in concrete isaffectedby the long-term thestraininduced in theconcreteduetoshrink-
conditions to which theconcreteelementissub- age.5.7
jected. In most cases, long-term exposure and long-
term loading extend the magnitude of cracks in both Underinitialloads,cracksadjacenttore-
reinforced and plain concrete. The discussion in this inforcement are restricted by the bond between the
chapter summarizes themajor long-term factors steel and the c ~ n c r e t e , ~ -and ~ ~thus
~ - the
~ ‘width of
whichaffect thecrackcontrolperformance of con- surface cracks do not provide a good indication of
crete. theexposure of t h e reinforcingsteeltocorrosive
conditions.Overaperiod of time, however, the ad-
-
5.2 Effects of long-term loading hesion
dergoes
bond between
breakdown,
the
After
steel
about
and the concrete
2 years, the
un-
crack
Asdiscussed in C.hapter 2, bothsustainedand
cyclic loading increase the amount of microcracking width a t the reinforcement is approximately equal to
in concrete.Thetotalamount of microcrackingap- the crackwidthatthe s ~ r f a c e . ~ . ~ Athis
t stage,
pearstobeafunction of thetotalstrain and is cracks in flexural members a r e triangular in shape
largelyindependent of themethodby which the increasing in width from the neutral axis to the sof-
strainisinduced.Microcrackingduetolong-term fit, and are approximately uniform across the width
loadingmaywellbeaneffect, rather than amajor of the beam. Therefore, after a few years, the width
cause, of creep,andmicrocracksformedatservice of a surfacecrackprovidesa good estimate of the
load levels do not seem to have a great affect on the crack width at the level of the reinforcing steel,
strength or serviceability of concrete. Many questions remain as to the importance of
Theeffect of sustained or repetitive loadingon crack width on t h e serviceability of reinforced and
macroscopic cracking, however, may be an important prestressed concrete members.5-12~5-13~5-‘4 Added
consideration in the serviceability of reinforced con- cover is generally acknowledged as a method of im-
cretemembers,especially in terms of corrosion of proving the
corrosion protection for reinforcing
reinforcing steel and appearance. steel. Sinceadditionalcoveralsoresults in added
Theincrease in crackwidthduetolong-term or surface crack width, and since this surface crack
repetitive loading can vary between 10 percent and widthappearstoprovidea good estimate of the
1,000 percentoverthespan of several year^.^"-^.^ crack width a t the level of the steel, the entire ques-
While there isa large scatter in the data, information of the importance of crack width on corrosion
tion obtained from sustained loading tests of up to 2 protection remains open. It does seemclearthat
years5-7.5.8andfatigue tests withuptoone million crack widths predicted on the basis of shortterm
~y~l~~5.4.5.5.5.8.5.9indicatethat adoubling of crack static tests do not provide a precise guide to crack
width with time can be expected. Under most condi- widths in structures actually in service.
tions, the spacing of cracksdoesnotchangewith
timeconstant
at levels of excep-
n A -
5.3 Environmental effects
Thelong-termeffects of an adverse environment
in bothproducingandinenlargingconcrete
‘PrincipaI authors: David Darwin and Ernest K. Schrader. CraCkS5.15.5.16 can be damaging to both concrete and

A C 1 224R 90 0662749 0 0 2 L B 6 5 O
ANUAL 224R-22 PRACTICE
OF CONCRETE
reinforcement. If concrete is not resistant to freezing 5 the possible hazard

2 ~ 1 5 . 16 of using calcium chlo-
and thawingwhencriticallysaturated, it will de- ride in a water-soluble salt environment warrants a
velop crackswhenfrozen.The lack of suchresis- recommendationagainst its useundersuchcircum-
tance may be due to either the use of non-frost-resis- stances.Also, the use of calciumchloride in re-
tantcoarseaggregate or thefailuretoproducea inforced structures exposed to unusually moist envi-
satisfactory air-void system or failure to protect the ronments is to be avoided regardless of the presence
concrete from freezing prior to the reduction of the or absence of water-soluble salts in adjacent waters
freezablewatercontent by maturitytoatolerable and soils.
range. The achievement of critical saturation in non-
Detrimentalconditionsmayalsoresultfromthe
frost-resistantconcretemaybefacilitated by the
application of deicing saltstothesurface of hard-
presence of preexisting cracks which allow entry of
enedconcrete.Whensuchapplications are neces-
watermorereadilythan would bethecaseother-
sary, calcium chloride or sodiumchlorideshouldbe
wise. The initiation of D-crackingnearjoints or
used and only within recommended application rates.
othercracks in pavements is a good example.In
Concrete subjected to water soluble salts should be
more extreme cases, it is not uncommonfor cracks
in theroadwaydeck of damsandnavigation locks air entrained [6.5 to 7.5 percent for normal 3/4 in. (19
mm) MSA concrete and 4.5 to 5.5 percent for 1 % in.
(caused either by thermal stress or shrinkage of the
(38 mm) MSA concrete], should have adequate cover
richertoppingmix)to spa11 duetowater which
(about 2 in.), and should be made with a high-quality
freezes in the cracks themselves (independent of the
mix yielding low permeability.
frost resistance of the concrete). On the otherhand,
preexistingcracksmayalsofunctionto allow con- 5.5 - Use of polymers in improving cracking char.
crete to dry below critical saturation before freezing, acteristics
whenthismightnotoccur in the absence of such
Extensive work is available the on use of polymers
cracks.Hence, the role of cracks as they effect the
in modifyingthe characteristics of ~oncrete.~.’’.520,
deficiencies in frost resistance will vary with the en-
vironmentalconditions(e.g.,typicaltime of drying
’2’Polymer-portland cement concretes havea large
deformation capacity, high tensile and compressive
after wetting before freezing), crack width, ability of
strengths and negligible permeability. The tensile
cracks to drain, etc.
splittingstrengthcanbe as h i g h as 1550 psi
If theaggregate used in theconcrete is durable (10.7 MPa).5.22 Polymer impregnation is another
under freeze-thaw conditions and the strength of the method of introducing beneficial polymer systems
concrete is high, theconcretedurability will bet- into concrete. This procedure creates a ‘layer’ of high
ter. (AC1 201.2R). Field exposure testsof reinforced quality material to the depth that has been im-
concrete beams5.“ (subjected to freezing and thaw- pregnated. These materials are discussed ingreater
ing and an ocean side environment) indicate that detail in Chapter 6.
the use of air-entrained concrete made the beams Because of these desirable characteristics, it is ex-
more resistant to weathering than the use of non- pected that structural elements made with polymer
air-entrained concrete. Beams with modern de- modified concrete will exhibit superior serviceability
formed bars were found to be more durable than in cracking,deflection,creep,shrinkage,andper-
those using old-style deformations. Maximum crack meability.
widths did not increase with time when the steel
stress was less than 30 ksi, (210 MPa) but did in-
crease substantially(50 to 100 percent) overa 9 year References
5.1. Bate, Stephen C.C., “A ComparisonBetween Pre-
period when the steel was 30 ksi (210 MPa) or more.
stressed ConcreteandReinforcedConcreteBeams Under
Repeated Loading,” Proceedings, Institution of CivilEngi-
-
5.4 Aggregate and other effects neers(London), V. 24, Mar. 1963,pp. 331-358.
Concrete may crack as the result of expansive re- 5.2.Brendel,G.,andRuhle, H., “Tests onReinforced
actions between aggregate and alkalis derived from Concrete Beams Under Long-Term Loads (Dauerstandver-
cementhydration,admixtures or externalsources suche
mit
Stahlbetonbalken),” Proceedings, Seventh
(e.g., curing water, ground water, alkaline solutions IABSECongress(Rio de Janeiro, 19641, International As-
stored or used in the finished structure). sociation of Bridgeand Structural Engineering,Zurich,
Possible solutions to these problems include limita- 1964, PP. 916-922.
tions on reactive constituents in the aggregate, limi- 5.3. Lutz, LeRoy A.; Sharma, Nand K.; and Gergely, Pe-
tations on the alkali content of cement, or addition of ter, “Increase in Crack
Width
in
Reinforced
Concrete
BeamsUnderSustainedLoading,” AC1 JOURNAL, Pro-
asatisfactory pozzolanic material.Thepotential for ceedings, V. 64,No.9, Sept. 1968,pp.538-546.
someexpansivereactions,e.g.,alkali-carbonate, is 5.4.Abeles, Paul W.:Brown, Earl L. II; andMorrow,
not reduced by pozzolanic admixtures. AC1 201.2R Joe W., “Development and Distribution of Cracks in Rect-
and Reference 5.18 give details on identification and angular Prestressed Beams During Static and Fatigue
evaluation of aggregate reactivity. Loading,” Journal, Prestressed Concrete Institute, V. 13,
Based on reports of AC1 Committees201and NO. 5,Oct.1968, PP. 36-51.

I
~~ -~
CONTROL OF-CRÄCKING 224R-23
5.5. Bennett,E. W.,and Dave, N. J., “TestPerfor-

mancesand Design of ConcreteBeamswithLimited Pre-
-
Chapter 6 Control of cracking in concrete
layered systems*
stress,” The StructuralEngineer (London),V. 47 No. 12,
Dec.1969,pp.487-496.
-
6.1 Introduction
5.6. Holmberg, A., and Lindgren, S., “Crack Spacing and A “layered” concrete system can be created by a
CrackWidth Due to NormalForce or Bending Moment,” mortar or concreteoverlay(topping) placedonan
Document D2,NationalSwedish Council forBuilding Re- existing concrete surface. The use of “layered” con-
search, Stockholm, 1970, 57 pp. cretesystemshasbeenincreasingduringthelast
5.7. Illston, J. M., and Stevens, R. F., “Long-term Crack- 10 years in the renovation of deterioratingbridge
ing in Reinforced Concrete Beams,” Proceedings, In- decks, strengthening and/or renovation of concrete
stitution of Civil Engineers (London),Part 2, V. 53, Dec. pavements, warehouse floors, walkways, etc., and in
1972, PP. 445-459. new two-courseconstruction of decksandpave-
5.8. Holmberg,Ake,“CrackWidth Prediction and Min- ments.Theoverlaycanbeportlandcement low
imum ReinforcementforCrack Control,” Dansk Sefskab slumpdenseconcrete (LSDC), polymer-portland ce-
for Byaningsstatik (Copenhagen), V. 44, No. 2, June 1973,
PP. 41-50. mentconcrete (PPCCI, morecommonlyreferredto
5.9. R e h , Gallus, and Eligehausen, Rolf, “Lapped aslatex modified concrete (LMC), fiberreinforced
Splices of Deformed BarsUnder Repeated Loadings concrete (FRC), or internally sealed concrete. A “lay-
(UbergreifungsstoBe von Rippenstahlen unter nicht ruhen- ered”systemcan also be created byimpregnating
der Belastung),” Beton LMd Stahlbetonbau (Berlin),No. 7, the upper portion 1% to 3 in. (10to 80 mm) I of exist-
1977, PP. 170-174. ing concrete with a monomer system that requires
5.10. Stevens, R. F., “Tests on Prestressed Reinforced polymerization after soaking.
ConcreteBeams,” Concrete (London), V. 3,No. 11, Nov. The major sources and types of cracking in these
1969, PP. 457-462. layered concrete systems are:
5.11. Broms, Bengt B., “Technique for Investigation of 1. Differential shrinkage cracking
Internal Cracks in ReinforcedConcreteMembers,” ACL 2. Reflective cracking (stress cracking)
JOURNAL, Proceedings, V. 62,No. 1, Jan. 1965, pp. 35-44.
5.12. Atimtay, Ergin, andFerguson, Phil M., “Early 3. Differential temperature cracking
ChlorideCorrosion of ReinforcedConcrete - A Test Re- 4. Edge curling and delamination
port,” AC1 JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 70, No. 9, Sept. 1973, 5. Incorrect construction practices
PP. 606-611. Longterm ~ b s e r v a t i o n s ~ -of’ - ~many
~ ~ “layered”
5.13. Beeby, A. W., “Concrete in the Oceans - Cracking concrete
systems
have
shownthat
differential
and Corrosion,” Technical Report No. 1, Cement and shrinkagecracksarebyfarthemost commonand
Concrete Association (London),1978. most likely to increase and widen with time:
5.14.Beeby,A. W., “Corrosion of Reinforcing Steel in
Concrete and Its Relation to Cracking,” The Structural
Engineer (London),V. 56A, No. 3, Mar. 1978, pp. 77-81.
5.15. Mather,Bryant,“CrackingInduced by Environ-
-
6.2 Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) overlays
When properly proportioned, mixed, and placed, a
mental Effects,” Causes, Mechanism, and control of Crack-
crack resistant topping layer of FRC can be the solu-
ing in Concrete, SP-20, AmericanConcrete Institute, De-
troit, 1968,pp.67-72. tion to certain field problems. Fibrous concrete over-
5.16. Mather, Bryant,“FactorsAffecting Durability of lays of highways,airfields,warehousefloors,walk-
Concrete in Coastal Structures,” TechnicalMemorandum ways, etc., have been used since the early 1970s.
No. 96, Beach ErosionBoard,Washington, D.C., June Fibers are usually steel with lengths between 10
1957. and 60 mm ( 95to 2Y2 in.). The effects of fibrous
5.17. Roshore, Edwin C., “Field Exposure Tests of Rein- concrete on cracking in a “layered” system depend
forced Concrete Beams,”AC1 JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 64, largely o n the fieldconditions of each situation.
No. 5, May 1967, pp. 253-257. Some typical observationsfor similar field or labo-
5.18. Woods, Hubert, Durability of Concrete Construc- ratory conditionsare discussed belo^.^*^-^-^
tion, Monograph No. 4, American Concrete InstitutelIowa
State University, Detroit, 1968, 187 pp. 6.2.1 Bond to underlying concrete - During early fi-
5.19, Brookhaven National Laboratory, “Concrete Pol- brous concrete overlay work, it was thought that a
ymer Materials,” BNL Report 50134 (T-509), 1968. “partiallybonded”layerwastheidealsystem.The
5.20. Polymers in Concrete, SP-40, American Concrete term “partially bonded” means that no deliberate at-
Institute, Detroit, 1973, 362 pp. temptismadeto bond or to debondthetopping
5.21. Polymers i n Concrete, SP-58, American Concrete layer to the underlying material through agents, fas-
Institute, Detroit, 1978, 420 pp. teners,polyethylenesheet,etc.Thesurfacetobe
5.22.Nawy,Edward G.; Ukadike, Maurice M.; and overlaid is cleaned of all loose material,usually by
Sauer, John A., “High Strength Field Polymer Modified hosing,andgenerallyleft in dampcondition.After
Concretes,”Proceedings, ASCE, V. 103, ST12, Dec. 1977, the evaluation of partially bonded projects, this pro-
PP. 2307-2322.
cedurehasbecome the least desirable technique to
*Principal authors: Alfred G. Bishara and Ernest K. Schrader.

A C 1 224R 90 Obb2949 002LBb7 4 I
I
UAL 224R-24 OF CONCRETE
PRACTICE
use. Overaperiod of severalyearsmanypartially The basic crack theory is applicable to both glass
bondedFRCoverlayshaveshownnoticeable andmetallicfibers,butthetwotypesdoexhibit
amounts of reflective cracking and edge curling. The somedifference in physicalcrackbehavior. Tests6.*
curled edgesaretypical in thinoverlays[lessthan have shown that glass FRC has less ability to store
about 3 in. (76 mm)] and can result in cracks if sub- energyafteritsfailure in flexurethan steel FRC.
jected to long-term dynamic loading. Also, microcracking in the general vicinity of a ma-
If the base slab is relativelycrackfree, or if the jor-crack is typically more prominent with steel than
overlay is of sufficient thickness and strength to re- glass. The failure (crack) zone for glass is more local-
sisttheextension of cracks in the originalslab, a ized.
bonded layerwithmatchedjoints is generally the 6.2.4 Fibers in open cracks - There has been con-
best approach. If the FRC layer is of sufficient thick- siderablediscussionabouttheconditionand effec-
ness,atotallyunbondedoverlayisgenerallybest tiveness of steel fibers that bridge over or through a
where severe cracking is present or may develop in crack, At the time of cracking, the fibers lose their
thebaseslab.Essentiallyunbondedsystemshave bond to the concrete but continue to provide a “me-
been constructed satisfactorily where FRC is placed chanical resistancetopullout.”Thispost-cracking
over an asphalt layer. The asphalt itself will act as a strength is one of the most important characteristics
debondinglayer if it has a reasonablysmoothsur- of FRC. The “obvious” problem is that after cracking,
face without potholes.
This type of construction steelfibers will oxidizeandprovidenolong-term
lends itself particularly well to deteriorated airfield benefit. However,the
majority of invest.igations
slabs which have been resurfaced with asphaltic con- 6.3.6.5.6.6
haveshown,that if the cracksaretight
crete but require additional rigid pavement to take fO.001 - 0.003 in. (0.03-0.08 mm’)], the fibers will not
..I- increasedloadsimposedbyheavyaircraft. Another oxidize, even after several years of exposure. Long-
technique, which has been used when the base mate- term evaluations are currently ~ n d e r w a y . ~ - ~
rial to be overlaid is reasonably smooth, consists of 6.2.5 Mix Proportion Conditions - AC1 544.3R
placing the FRC over a layer of polyethylene sheet. provides detailed information on suitable mixture
On irregular, spalled, or potholed surfaces a thin lev- proportions for steel fiber reinforced concrete. The
eling and debonding layer of sand or asphalt is desir- water requirement for fibrous concretes is higher
able. than that of normal concretedue to the high surface
6.2.2 Fiber size and volume - The crack arresting
area of the fibers. The high water content provides
mechanismonwhich the basictheory of FRC is the basic ingredient for shrinkage cracks. Through
founded deper,ds on fiberspacing.6-sAlthoughfiber the use of water reducingadmixtures, the mix water
size and volume have little effect on the formation of can be held to reasonable level^.^.^^ ‘.lo If possible,
thefirstcracktheyaremajorfactorsinfluencing these admixtures should be used t o adjust the mix
subsequent crack development. As fiber diameter in- proportioning for a bonded overlay so that the wa-
creases for any given volume percentage, the num- tedcement ratio and cement factor approach the
ber of fibers decreases and the spacing between fi- same values as used in the underlying material. If
bers
increases.
Also,
as the volume percentage possible, the overlayshouldhave aggregates of
decreases, the spacing increases. If the fiber spacing
similar physical properties unless the original ag-
becomes relatively large [more than about 5 mm (0.2 gregates are unsuitable.
in.)], thecrackarrestingmechanism is limited.Re- 6.2.6 overlays Different
methods of joint
gardless of the reason,asthefiberspacing in- overlayinghavebeentried;mosthavebeenunsuc-
creases,thenumber of smallcracksdecreases,but ce~~fu1.6.’ As with conventional concrete overlays, if
the number and width of larger cracks increase. For joints in a base slab are overlayed with FRC without
concretewith 20 mm ( V 4 in.) aggregate,about 0.9 takingspecialdesignprecautionstopreventreflec-
percentfibers by totalvolume will providesub- tivecracking,theoverlay will crack a t joint loca-
stantialcrackresistance.Forconcretewith 10 mm tions.
(3/8 in.) aggregate about 1.2 percent is normal, and
for mortar, 1.4 to 1.8 percent is adequate. If fiber -
6.3 Latex modified concrete (LMC) overlays
contents much greater than these are used, or if ag- Latex modified mortar and concrete bonded over-
gregate gradations are not suitable, high cement and lays [% to 1 % in. (20 to 40 mm)] have been used in
water requirements result and the FRC layer is sus- therenovation of deterioratedbridgedecksand in
ceptible to shrinkage cracks. new two-course construction to effectively resist the
penetrationofchlorideionsfromdeicingsaltsand
6.2.3 Fiber type and shape - Because of their in- prevent the subsequent corrosion of the reinforcing
creasedresistancetopullout,deformedsteelfibers steeland the spalling of theconcretedeck.6.11.6.1z
have an advantage over smooth ones with regard to Someofthesedeckshavebeen in useforover 10
both pre-andpost-crackingbehavior.However,the years.
advantage is notalwaysworth the additionalex- Inspections of a largenumber of bridgedecks
pense. overlaidwithLMC6-’haveindicatedthatthere is a

A C 1 224R 90 m 0662949 0 0 2 L B b B b
-~ ~
i
CÕNTROL OF CRACKING 224R-25
high incidence of fine, random, shrinkage cracks in a -

6.4 Polymer impregnated concrete (PIC) sptems
largeportion of therenovationjobs.Thistype of Surfaceimpregnationandpolymerization of con-
cracking is not as extensive in new two-course concrete in place is a relatively new process but has
struction, Transverse cracks, spaced 3 to 4 ft (0.9 to beenusedsuccessfully in a number of field proj-
1.2 m) apart, also appear on many of the bridges in- e c t ~ . ~ I -s ’There
~ . ~ hasbecnconsiderable discussion
spected. However, there may be a relationship be- about this procedureduetoobservations of cracks
tween the degree of transverse cracking andthe in- during or immediately after the drying step of these
tensity of heavy truck traffic during reconstruction. projects.In the casesthathavebeeneval-
To keep the bridges in service, traffic is normally Uated,6.14.6.1S thecracksweredeterminedtoeither
diverted to one lane, while renovation and applica- have been in the concrete prior to the impregnation
tion of the overlay proceed on an adjacent traffic lane. or they were caused by improperly controlled drying
The quality of the overlay m y be affected by the during initial stages of the impregnation procedure.
movement of the deck, although extensive data do Temperatures during drying are usually in the range
not exist linking the effect of traffk-induced vibra- of 120 C (240 F) to 150 C (310 F) for about 4 to 12 hr.
tions during reconstruction to deterioration or crack- To some extent, thermal expansion will offset drying
ing i n bridge decks. If traffic must be maintained, shrinkageuntil the concrete cools. Ideally,during
consideration should be given to placing overlays the soak period and after cooling, the monomer will
when traffic is low and/or when vehiclespeed is fill any cracks that have been created in the top sur-
restricted. face of the concrete due to drying. The cracks will
Toreduce the incidence of crackingandsub- bemendedwhenthemonomer is polymerized. If a
sequent loss of latex modified concrete overlays it is crack is open and can drain (as is the case with ver-
recommended6” that: tical surfaces and cracks through the full depth of a
1. Thesurface of the underlyingconcrete should slab), the monomer can run out of the crack before it
becleanedbysandblastingtoassureadequate is polymerized,and no mending will occur. If amore .
bonding withtheoverlay. To reduceair pollution, viscous monomerisused, so that it does not drain
particularly in urban areas, high pressure water jet from thecrack, the depth of penetrationintothe
cleaning [5000 to 6000 psi (35-40 MPa) at the nozzlé] concrete will be adversely affected. If there is a wa-
may be used just prior to placement of the overlay, ter source behind the material to be polymerized it
in lieu of sand blasting; is possible for moisture to re-enter the crack, after
drying has been completed, but before the monomer
2. The slump of latex modified concrete mixtures soak starts.Inthiscase,thepresence of moisture
shouldbe between 3 to 4 in. (75 to 100 mm) to re- preventsthemonomerfromenteringtheconcrete
duce differential shrinkage and the high incidence of adjacent to the crack, and the crack will not mend.
random cracking; Theengineershouldthoroughlyevaluate all ef-
3. The finishingequipmentshouldhavebeen fects of the drying cycle in a PIC project and plan
proven to be effective for adequately placing the con- thedryingtemperaturesanddura€ion,the cooling
crete to the required density: cycle,and €hemonomersystemtopreventthe oc-
4. A thin coating of the overlay mixture should be currence of unmendedcracks.Thestraincapacity,
thoroughlyscrubbedintothesurface of the under- thermal expansion, and specific heat of the material
lying clean concrete. immediately before placing the shouldbe considered.Restraints,preventing move-
overlay mix toincreasethebondingbetween the mentattheperimeter of theconcreteto be poly-
layers; coarser particles of the mixture which cannot merized, should be avoided.
be scrubbed into immediate contact with the surface Thelong-terminfluence of polymerimpregnation
of the underlying concrete, should be removed; on the behavior of cracking in concrete is not known
at this time but will be established by the evaluation
5. In newtwo-courseconstruction,theoverlay
of currently completed field projects.
should be placed after removing the forms from the
base concrete, so that stresses caused by the weight
of the overlay are born by the underlying concrete. References
If placed before the forms are removed, the overlay 6.1. Bishara,A.G., “Latex Modified ConcreteBridge
will have to carry a portion of its own weight and Deck Overlays - Field Performance Analysis,” Report
may crack in negative moment regions; No. FHWA/OH/79/004, Federal Highway Administration,
Washington, D.C., Oct.1979,97pp.
6. Overlays should be placed only when the am- 6.2. Gray, B.H., “Fiber ReinforcedConcrete - A Gen-
bient weather conditionsare favorable, as defined in eral Discussion of Field Problems and Applications,” Tech-
AC1 308 on curing, or when appropriate actions are nical Manuscript “12, U.S. Army Construction Engineer-
taken for cold-weather concreting (AGI 306R) or hot-
ing Research Laboratory, Champaign, Apr. 1972.
weather concreting (AC1 305R). 6.3. Schrader, Ernest K., and Munch, Anthony V. “Deck

A C 1 224R 90 E Obb2444 0023867 B
224R-26 MANUAL
PRACTICE
OF CONCRETE
Slab Repaired by Fibrous Concrete Overlay,” Proceedings, recently, thermal insulation has been used to protect
ASCE, V. 102, COI,Mar.1976,pp.179-196. exposed surfaces. The degree of temperature control
6.4. Gray, B. H.; Williamson,G.R.; and Batson, G. B., necessarytopreventcrackingvariesgreatlywith
“Fibrous Concrete - Construction Material for the Seven- such factors as the location, the height and thickness
ties,” ConferenceProceedings “28, U.S. ArmyConstruc- of the structure, the character of the aggregate, the
tion EngineeringResearchLaboratory,Champaign, May properties of the concrete and the externalre-
1972,238 pp.
6.5. Hefner, S., “Fibrous Concrete
McCarran Inter- straints.Althoughalargeamount of the data for
national Airport,” Las Vegas, Nevada, Dec. 1974. this ch~apter has been obtained by experience gained
6.6.Rice, J o h n L., “FibrousConcretePavementDesign from the use of massconcrete in dams, it applies
Summary,’’ TechnicalReport No.“134,U.S.Army Con- equallywell in massconcreteused in otherstruc-
struction EngineeringResearchLaboratory,Champaign, turessuchassteampowerplants,powerhouses,
June 1975,13 pp. bridgeandbuildingfoundations,navigation locks,
6.7. Gray, B. H., and Rice, John L., “FibrousConcrete etc. Tremie concrete, a specialized type of mass con-
for Pavement Applications,” Report No.“13, US. Army crete, has been amply covered in Chapter 8 of AC1
Construction Engineering
Research
Laboratory, 304 and will not be discussed in this report.
Champaign, Apr. 1972, 9 pp. The location of the structure affects the degree of
6.8. Shah, S. P., and Naaman, A. E., “MechanicalProp-
erties of Glass and Steel FiberReinforced Mortar,” De- temperaturecontrol which will berequired.Gener-
partment of Materials Engineering,University of Illinois, ally at high altitudes the daily variations in temper-
Chicago,Aug.1975. aturearegreaterthanat low altitudes.Oftenat
6.9.“Utilization of ‘Wirand’Concrete in BridgeDecks,” high altitudes, the ambienttemperaturevariation
Report by General Analytics, Monroeville, Pa., for Battelle alone may be sufficienttocausecrackstoformat
Memorial Institute, May 1971. exposedsurfaces.Thesesurfacecrackscontinuein-
6.10. Walker, A. J., and Lankard, D. R., “Bridge Deck ward with only approximately half the stress which
Rehabilitationwith Steel Fibrous Concrete,” Presented at is necessarytocauseinternalcracking.Asimilar
the Third International Exposition on ConcreteConstruc- condition is likely to be found when a structure is lo-
tion(New Orleans, Jan. 19771, Battelle ColumbusLabora- cated at a high latitude; only in this case the temper-
tories, 1977. ature variations are seasonal, rather than daily.
6.11. Bishara, A. G., and Tantayanondkul, P., “Use of
Latex in ConcreteBridgesDecks,” Report No. EES 435 In the case of a dam, the height affects the need
(ODOT-12-74) Ohio Department of Transportation, The for crack control. If the dam is very high, the design
Ohio State University, 1974. stresses will be high and more cement must be used
6.12. Clear, K. C., “TimetoCorrosion of Reinforcing to
providethe stipulated
factor of safety.
This
Steel in Concrete Slabs,” Transportation Research Record, makesformoreheatgenerationandaconsequent
No.500, Transportation Research Board,1974,pp.16-24. tendency toward higher internal temperatures. Also,
6.13. Schrader,Ernest K.; Fowler, DavidW.;Kaden, thehigherdam will have greater horizontaldimen-
Richard A., and Stebbins, Rodney J., “Polymer Impregna- sions which cause greater restraint and the need for
tion Used in Concrete Repairs on Cavitation/Erosion Dam- still closer temperature control.
age,” Polymers in Concrete, SP-58, American Concrete In- The properties of the concrete affect the problem
stitute, Detroit, 1978, pp. 225-248. of crack control.Concretes
differ
widely in the
6.14. Depuy, G. W., “Recent Developments in Concrete-
amount of tensilestrainthey can withstandbefore
Polymer Materials,” Second International Symposium on
Concrete Technology (Monterrey, Mexico, Mar. 19751, US. cracking. Forstrain which is appliedrapidly,the
Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, 1975. two factors which govern the strain capacity are the
6.15.Smoak, W. G., “PolymerImpregnation of New modulus of elasticityand the tensilestrength. For
Concrete Bridge Deck Surfaces,” InterimReport No. strain which is appliedslowly, thecreep (or re-
FHWA-RD-75-72, U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation,
Denver, laxation) of the concrete is important. The factors af-
Prepared for FederalHighwayAdministration,Washing- fecting strain capacity and creep rate are discussed
ton, D.C., June 1975. more fully in Section 7.2.
Anotherimportantproperty of concrete is the
coefficient of thermalexpansion.Theamount of
Chapter 7 - Control of cracking in mass strain which atemperaturechange will produce is
concrete * directly proportional to the coefficient of thermal ex-
-
7.1 Introduction pansion of theconcrete.Theaveragecoefficient of
Temperature inducedcracking in alargemass of thermalexpansion of massconcrete is about 9 mil-
concrete canbe prevented if propermeasuresare lionths per deg C (5 millionths/F), but with some ag-
taken to reduce the amount and rate of temperature gregates,the coefficientmaybe as high as 15 mil-
change. Measures commonly used include precooling, lionths or as low as 7 millionths (4to 8 millionths/F).
post-cooling or acombination of thetwo,andmore Thus, in the extreme case, where a concrete has a
low tensile strength, a high modulus of elasticity,a
high coefficient of thermal expansion, and is fully re-
*Principal authors: Donald L. Houghtonand Roy W. Carlson. strained, it may crack when there is a quick drop in

i A C 1 224R 90 O b 6 2 9 4 9 0023870 4.- I
CONTROL OF-CRACKING . 224R-27
temperature of only 3 C (6 FI. On the other hand, As statedabove,thetwofactorsgoverningthe

some concretes can withstand a quick drop in tem- tensile strain which a concrete can withstand are the
perature of as much as 10 C (20 F), even when fully tensile strength and the modulus of elasticity. Many
restrained.Moredata on thethermalexpansion of tests on veryleanconcretes,suchasareused for
concrete may be found in the reports of AGI Com- the interior of large dams, have shown that tensile
mittee 207 (AC1 207.1R and AC1 207.2R). failureoccurswithout much “plastic”strainwhen
From these considerations, it is apparent that the loading is appIiedrapidly. For suchconcrete,the
degree of crack control fiecessary for the safe elimi- tensilestrain which theconcrete can withstand is
nation of joints may vary from nothing at all,for a approximately equal to the tensile strength divided
dam near the equator with favorable aggregates, to by the modulus of elasticity of theconcrete.For
verycostly-measures, in alocationwheretemper- many purposes, then, it is sufficiently accurate to as-
ature variations are great and where the onlyeco- sumethatthetensilestraincapacity is inversely
nomical aggregateshave high elasticmoduliand proportional to the modulus. of elasticity of the con-
high thermalexpansion. In the latter case, present crete. It follows that the modulus of elasticity of the
practicecallsforbothprecoolingandpost-cooling, aggregate is important because of its large effect on
andfor the application of thermal insulation to ex- the deformability of the concrete. Tensile strength is
posed surfaces during cold weather. The insulation is also important,andfor this reason,crushedaggre-
left in place long enough to permit the concrete tem- gates are apt to besuperiortonaturalaggregates
perature at the surfaces to slowly approach the am- for crack prevention.
bient, or untiladditionalconcrete is placed on or Strain capacity can be measured directly on
againstthesurfacebeingprotected.Additionalre- cylindrical specimens loadedin tension, orit can be
searchintothemosteffectiveuse of thermal in- determined on concrete beams located at the third
sulation is needed particularly for regions having se- points.7-’
vere or sub-artic climates. A high creeprate of concrete is helpful in pre-
Therearetwomeasures whichcanbe takento ventingcrackingwhenthetensilestrain is applied
provide safety against cracking. The first is to mod- gradually.Sincethetensilestrength of concrete is
ify thematerialsand mix proportionstoproduce nearly independent of priorloading, creep tends to
concrete having the best cracking resistance, or the increase the strain capacity. In the case of Dworshak
greatesttensilestraincapacity.Thismayrequire Dam, for example, the strain to failure was almost
carefulaggregateselection,using the minimumce- three timesas great for strain applied over 2 months
mentcontent for interiorconcrete,restrictingthe as for quickly applied
maximum aggregate size, or using other specialized The creep of concrete under sustained stress is af-
procedures. The second measure to prevent cracking fected by thestiffness of theaggregate,Whenthe
is to control the factors which produce tensile strain. modulus is high, the creep is low and vice versa. The
Thismaymeanprecooling,post-cooling,insulating importance of aggregaterigidity on creep of con-
(andpossiblyheating)theexposedsurfaces of the crete may be illustrated by two examples. First, as-
concrete during cold weather and designing to min- sume that the aggregate and the cement paste have
imize strains around galleries and other openings. thesamemodulus of elasticity.Whencompressive
stress is applied,thestress and thecorresponding
strain will be the same in the aggregate as in the ce-
-
7.2 Crack resistance mentpaste.Theaggregatedoesnotcreepunder
Thetensilestrain which concrete can withstand moderatestressbutthepastedoes,andthepaste
varies greatly with the composition of the concrete which is betweenaggregateparticlesrelaxes and
and the strain rate. When.strain is appliedslowly, loses stress. The lost stress must be shifted to the
the strain capacity is far greater than when the ac- aggregate to maintain equilibrium. This imposes an
tion is rapid. Thus, concrete in the interior of a large elastic strain on the aggregate which accounts for a
masswhich must cool slowly,canundergoa large large part of the creep of the concrete. The amount
strain before failure. If concrete contains rough tex- of this elastic strain is directly related to the modu-
turedaggregate of smallmaximumsize,thestrain lus of elasticity of the aggregate; the more rigid the
capacity will be high. However, there is an optimum aggregate,thelowerthecreep.Next,assumethat
with respecttotheaggregatesize.Smalleraggre- the aggregate has a much higher modulus than the
gaterequiresmorecementforagivenstrength cementpaste.Whencompressivestress is applied,
which results in more heat, a higher maximum tem- the average stress in theaggregate will behigher
perature, and greater subsequent strain due to cool- thanthat in thecementpasteandthepas€e will
ing. Thus, the gain through greater strain capacity creep less than it did when the moduli were equal,
of thericherconcretewithsmalleraggregatemay The elastic strain in the aggregate due to the creep
be more than offset- by the greater strain that must of the paste will then be less than it was when the
be withstood, if the size is reduced too much. moduli were equal. Thus, an increase in the rigidity

A C 1 224R 90 m 0 6 6 2 7 4 9 0023873 b m
224R-28 MANUAL
PRACTICE
OF CONCRETE
of theaggregateacts in twowaystoreducethe 1. Concrete with large tensile strain capacity.

creep of the concrete. 2. Smalldailyandseasonal temperaturevaria-
tions.
3. Low cement content (permitted by low design
7.3 - Determination of temperaturesandtensile stresses).
strains 4. Cement of low heat generation.
Tensilestrain in massconcreteresultsmainly 5. Short blocks.
fromtherestraint of thermalcontraction,andtoa 6. Slow rate of constructionwhen no cooling is
lesserdegreefromautogenousshrinkage.Drying used.
shrinkage is important only because itmaycause 7. Low degree of restraint, as with yielding foun-
shallow crackstooccuratsurfaces.Thus,temper- dation, or in portions of structure well removed from
ature change is the main contributor to tensile strain restraining foundation.
in massconcrete.Theprediction of probablestrain 8. High yearly average temperature.
requires the prediction of the temperature to be ex- 9. Absence of stress raisers, such as galleries.
pected. This prediction can be made quite relizbly if 10. Low casting temperature.
the adiabatic temperature curve for the concrete is
known, as well as the thermal diffusivity, boundary This list suggests many of~the measureswhich can
temperatures anddimensions.Thefiniteelement be takentopreventcracking.First,anattempt
methodcanbeusedfor the prediction of temper- shouldbemadetoproduceaconcretewithlarge
. ~ .The
a t u r e d i ~ t r i b u t i o n 7.4 ~ * main problem is that of tensilestraincapacity.Thismaymeanlimitingthe
choosing the correct boundary temperatures, which maximum aggregate size to a value somewhat below
often depend upon the ambient temperatures. It is that which might be the most economical otherwise.
often satisfactory to use air temperatures found in Where several sources of aggregate are available ec-
weather reports as the surface temperatures to be onomically, preference should be given to that which
used in the computations. For information on other yieldsbestcrackresistance;usuallythis will be a
methods of predicting temperatures in mass con- crushed material of low thermal expansion and low
crete, see the report AC1 207.1R. modulus of elasticity.
After the predicted temperature history is known, The heat producing characteristics of cement play
thedetermination of probabletensilestrain is the an important role in the amount of temperature rise.
next step. This can be accomplished using finite ele- ASTM Type II (moderateheat)cement shouldbe
ment computer pro gram^.^.^. 7.6 Even with the finite used for mass concrete construction (Note: Type IV,
element method, a thorough analysis is laborious low heatcement is,also,recommended,but is not
because of the time-dependent variables. The analy- readilyavailable).Pozzolans canbeused toreplace
sis must include many steps of time to properly a portion of the cement to reduce the peak temper-
account for the creep (or relaxation) and the differ- ature due to the heat of hydration (207.2R). In some
ent and changing properties of every liftof concrete. cases, up to35 percent or moreof the cement canbe
On the other hand, strains near a boundary due to replaced by an equal volume of a suitable pozzolan
brief thermal shocks canbe computed quite readily and still produce the same strength at 90 days or
because in such cases the concrete becan assumed to 1 year. Some of the more common pozzolans used in
be fully restrained. In this case, the strain is simply mass concrete include calcined clays, diatomaceous
the temperature drop multiplied by the coefficient of earth, volcanic tuffs and pumicites and fly ash. The
expansion. This is important, because in many actual typeof pozzolan to be used and its appropriate
cases, the control of boundary strain is sufficientt o replacement percentage are normally determined by
prevent cracking. Internal strains usually develop test, cost, and availability.
slowiy enough to be tolerable, even if large. De-
scriptions of test methods suitable for measuring the The lowest practical cement content permitted by
physical properties necessary for the prediction of the strength and durability requirements should be
temperatures and strains are given in Section 7.5. used toreducetheheat of hydration and the con-
sequent thermal stresses and strains. More than the
necessaryamount of cement is adetrimentrather
-
7.4 Cmtrol of cracking than an advantage.
Given the probable temperatures and strains, the In general,areduction in thewatercontent of
designermustdeterminewhatmeasuresaremost concretepermitsacorrespondingreduction in the
practicable to provide ample safety against cracking. cementcontent.Theconcretewithlesswaterand
Thepreventativemeasures will varyfromnothing cement is superior in two important ways: it under-
where weather and materials are favorable, to very goes
less
temperature
changeand
less
drying
expensivemeasures,whereconditionsareunfavor- shrinkage. Minimum water content canbeachieved
able.Some of the conditionswhichfacilitatecrack by suchmeasuresasspecifyingpowerfulvibrators
prevention are: which permit low slump, by using a water-reducing

A C 1 224R 90 0662749 0023872 j
~ . ~~
CONTROL ÖFCRACKING 224R-29
agent, and by placing the concrete at a low temper- face of the forms. Temporary anchors embedded in
ature. the newly placed lift of concrete retain the insulation
Precooling the concrete during its production and on the concrete surface when the forms are lifted.
post-cooling it with embedded pipe systems after it Theinsulationiseasilyremovedfrom the surface
is placed are especiallyeffectivemeasures,Details when desired. Roll-on insulation is particularly appli-
on pipe cooling are given in Section 7.6. cable for use on horizontal lift joints. It is easy to in-
stallandremoveand can bereusedmanytimes.
One measure which offers promise is that of plac- Spray-on insulation can be used on either horizontal
ing crack resistant concrete at boundaries (sides and or vertical surfaces. This type of insulation is partic-
top of lifts). Even though the more crack resistant ularlyusefulfor increasing the thickness and effec-
concretemaybetoocostly tobeusedthroughout tiveness of insulationalready in placeandfor in-
the structure, it canbeused to this limited extent sulating forms. Experience has shown that insulation
without serious effect on economy. But thin layers of which permits transmission of light rays should not
concrete next to the forms cannot be placedeasily be used because a temperature rise occurs between
with present-day construction methods, which make the insulation and the concrete when the insulation
use of verylargebuckets.Therefore,itappears is subjected to direct sunlight. Spray-on insulation of
morepromising touseprecastconcrete panelsfor timedlongevityforfrostprotection of agricultural
forms and to leave these panels as a permanent part plants and trees, also, appears to have potential for
of €hestructure,Thesepanels shouldbe of good the insulation of concrete lift joints during the active
quality for' durability, and preferably lightweight so constructionseason.Thisinsulationcanbeformu-
astoprovide good thermaIinsulation.Sincemost lated todisintegrateat a giventimeafter appli-
cracks originate at boundaries, this partial measure cation. Thus, it can be timed to remain effective on
may make the whole structure crack free. More in- the lift joints for approximately the period of time
formation onthe use of precast panelsfor protection betweensuccessiveplacementsandbeeasilyre-
of mass concrete can be found in AGI 347.1R. moved by afinal washing prior to placement of the
Thermalinsulation on exposedsurfacesduring new lift. Precastpanelsmade of low conductance
cold weather canprotectconcretefromcracking, if lightweight concrete or regular weight concrete cast
enough insulation is used and it is left in place long with
laminated or sandwich layers of low con-
enough. If the insulationissufficientto allow slow ductancecellularconcretealso areacceptableas a
cooling, thetensilestrain needneverexceed the means of insulating the interior concrete. The panels
dangerpoint.Theconcretecanrelaxasrapidlyas would then serve as both forms and face concrete.
thetensilestresstendstodevelop, untilfinally,
stabletemperaturesarereached.However, if the
concretehas a very slowrelaxation rate (or creep
rate) the amount of insulation and the long protection
7.5 - Testing methods and typical data
time required may make this measure impractical,
7.6.1 Adiabatic temperature rise - The temperature
rise which would occur if there were no heat loss is
In extreme environments, where large amounts of defined as adiabatic temperature rise. The reader is
insulation will be required during severely cold referred €o AC1 207.1R for methodsof test. That re-
months,itmaybenecessary to removethe in- port gives data on adiabatic temperature ofrise con-
sulation in stages as the warmer months approach. cretes having a single cement content but having
Temperatures within the concrete just below the in- different types of portland cement. Fig. 7.1 gives
sulationshouldbeallowed to slowlyapproachthe typical adiabatic curvesfor Type II cement and var-
environmentaltemperature,This is topreventthe ious quantities of cement and pozzolan. Curves A
occurrence of thermal shock which could induce and B inFig. 7.1 represent data from mixes contain-
cracking atthesurfacewith possible, subsequent, ing equal volumes of cementitious materials (ce-
deeper propagation into the mass. Precautions must ment plus pozzolan) thereby showing the effect of
be taken against using too much insulation or leav- pozzolan replacement of cement on temperature
ing it in place toolong, which could result in stop- reduction.
ping the desired cooling of the interior mass, and, in 7.6.2 Thermal properties of concrete - Thermal dif-
some cases, cause the interior temperature to begin fusivity and thermal expansion are important in the
to increase again. control of cracking due to temperature change, and
Insulation, as currently used for concre€e, can be their determination is detailed in References AC1
obtained in a variety of forms and materials having 207.1R and 7.8 through 7.10. The approximate
practical installed conductances ranging from 3.6 to range of thermal properties is shown in Table 7.1.
0.5 kg cal/m2/hr/C (0.75 to 0.10 BTU/hr/sq ft/F). It 7.6.3 Creep of concrete - Creep may be defined as
can be obtained in semirigid board type panels, roll- thecontinueddeformation of concreteundersus-
on flexible rubber type material, and foamed spray- tained stress. A standard test for creep of concrete
on material whichbecomessemirigid in place. The in compression is detailed in ASTMC 512-76.7-15
semirigidpanels are usuallyinstalled on the inside Creep of concrete in tension is difficult to measure:

A C 1 224R 90 m Obb2949 0021873 T m
50 -
A
B
40 "
C
LL
ln
30" D
8
a3
.-ln
CK
W
L
3
20 "
c
z
W
LEGEND
E Curve A - Portland Cement 306Ib/cu yd(181 kg/d);Fbzzolan-None
Curve B - PortlandCement . 214Ib/cuyd (127 kg/m3);Pozzokn-74Ib/cuyd(~kg/m)
10 "
CurveC - Portland Cement . I81Ib/cu yd (107kg/d);Fbzzolan-63Ib/cuyd (37 kg/m)

Curve D- Port land Cement . 1 4 8 Ib/cu yd (88 kg/d); Pozzokm-50 IWcu yd(30 kg/m)
Type II Cement
0 1 1 I I
1
I ,~ , , , , , 1 ' , , , , I I , , , I I ' ,' ,' ,) I" ,' I, I, II II I I
O 4 8 12 16 20 24 28
Age , Days
Fig. 7.1 - Typical adiabatic temperature curves for mass concrete (Reference 7.7)
TABLE 7.1 -
Illustrative range of thermal and elastic
properties of mass concrete
~ ~~
Coefficient of linear
exoansion. millionths
. ~.
. ~~~ ".
Diffusivity
~~
1 -
Specific heat
~ _ _ ~
1
I
4 7.2
to
8 1?5
Static modulus of elasticity (E) for age of test indicated
I
. "" ~- -~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ___
.
28 days
~-
~.~
90 days
psi kglcm' psi kglcrn' Poisson's
X X X X Ratio
-~ -
10 10 '~-
10-6 10 '
0.15
2.56 I 180 4.00 352 5.00

28 1 to
0.25

A C 1 224R 90 O662949 0023874 3 !
-
224R-31
~
thus, creep as measured in compression is assumed. 28

to apply to tension as well. Such an assumption can Tatal Strain
be considered as reasonable when the stress is low. 6 '1.481t0.0547 U& (1.11 -I Bay
E .Q521+0.0700LI& (I*I) - 3 h p
E =0384*0.0579LOGe (Ir1 1 -7Doy,
When the stress exceeds about 60 percent of the ul- E .0231+O.G500 L% ( I t 1 I ---28Cbyt
2.0 E :O.íO3+0.0294 U)Ge (111 1 -9ooOp
timateandmicrocrackingoccurs,not only does the
instantaneous deformation increase, but the rate of
creepincreases,also.However,sincethemeasured
strain in a beam which is gradually loaded from the 12y
age of 1 month, to failuregat about 3 months, is only
about 10 percentmorethanthatcomputedusing
creep data as obtained from similar concrete in com-
pression, it appears pekmissible to
apply
com-
pression creep. data to concrete stressed in tension
in cases where approximate results will suffice.
Creep of concrete is measured on carefully sealed
specimensstoredataconstanttemperatureand
loaded to a constant stress. The measurement is usu-
ally made by means of embedded strain meters, al-
though any reliable method of measuring strain can
be employed. Butyl rubber is satisfactory for sealing
thespecimens,butneopreneshouldbeavoidedbe-
cause it allows some moisture to escape. Specimens
shouldbeloadedatthesameagesasspecified for
themodulus of elasticitytests, but loading at the Tima,(l+l) Days
early age of 1 day is not always practical. Again, the Spacific CmapOnly
specimens should be large enough to permit concrete

Fig. 7.2 - Typicalconcretecreepcurves for mass
verynearlylikethatto be used in thestructure. concrete.
Cylinders of 9 x 18 in. (28 x 56 cm) size and with 3
in. (76 mm) maximumsizedaggregate or 6 x 16 in
(15 x 40 cm) cylinders with 1 % in. (38 mm) maximum c h a n g e is u s u a l l y m e a s u r e d b y s t r a i n m e t e r s
aggregatearefrequentlyused.Thesymposium on embedded i n concrete cylinders which are carefully
creep of ~oncrete,~." gives useful coefficients for con- sealed (to insure that there is no loss in moisture) and
verting creep of smaller aggregate concrete to creep kept at constant temperature. Measurements are
for mass concrete. Fig. 7.2 shows typical creep data begun as soon as the specimens are hardened and
obtained from laboratory investigation^.^-" Table sealed, and continued periodically for months.
7.2 illustrates important computations that can be 7.6.6 Tensile strain capacity - The tensile strain ca-
made usingthe data in the Fig,7.2. Shown in Table pacity tests are generally performed on unreinforced
7.2 are valuesfor sustained modulus of elasticity E, concretebeamsunderthird-pointflexuralloading.
which in turn are used to develop tensile stress Relatively large beams ranging from 12 x 12 in. (30
coefficients per degree temperature drop for the con- x 30 cm) to 24 x 24 in. (60 x 60 cm) in cross section
dition of full restraint. For example, concrete 2 days and 64 to 130 in. (160 to 325 cm) long are generally
of age loaded at age 1 day would have a sustained u ~ e d . Strain
~ . ~ capacity is determined from these
modulus of elasticity (E,) of 1 / 1 5 = 0.66 psi X IO6 tests under rapid and slow loading to simulate both
(46.4 kg/cm2 X lo3) (see Fig. 7.2 and Table 7.2A), rapid and slow temperature changes in the concrete.
and if fully restrained would be stressed 0.66 X 5.5 The loading rates are generally 40 psi (0.28 MPa) fi-
psi per F = 3.6 psi/F (0.46 kg/cm2/C) for each degree berstressperminuteand 25psi(0.17MPalfiber
drop in temperature (see Table 7.2B). stress per week for rapid and slow loading tests, re-
7.5.4 Modulus of elasticity - This subject is treated spectively. The strain for rapid loading can be mea-
in detail in AC1 304. Table 7.1 shows valuesof the sured using either surface or embedded strain gages
modulus of elasticity of a particular concrete after or 7*7 For
long-term tests,
embedded me-
various ages of curing. ters are best. The strain can also be determined
fromdeflectionmeasurements.Theconcretetest
7.5.5 Autogenous volume change- Autogenous beam usedfor
determining thestraincapacity
volume ~ h a n g e ~7.13
. ~ 9is the expansion or contraction should be protected during the test to prevent loss
of the concrete due to causes other than changes in of moisture by wrapping it with an impermeable ma-
temperature, moisture or stress. Thus, it is a self- terial.Testingshouldbeconductedataconstant
induced expansion or contraction, Expansion can be temperature for maximum accuracy in measurement.
helpful in preventing cracks, but a contraction in- Detailed test procedures can be found in References
creases in tendency to crack. Autogenous volume 7.1 and 7.14 Fig. 7.3 shows the unit strain values

A C 1 224R 90 I0662949 0023875 3 I
224R-32 MANUAL
PRACTICE
OF CONCRETE
and usingsmall ice particlesasareplacement of

part of the mixing water. Post-cooling of concrete is
accomplished by circulating cool liquids(usuallywa-
ter) through pipes embedded in the concrete.
Studies made during the design stage will estab-
lish suchitemsas lift height, pipespacing,water
temperature and rate of flow, acceptablerate of
temperaturedrop (for bothrapidand slow drops),
and approximate duration of cooling.
In general, the duration of cooling and the heat re-
moved by the pipe cooling should be sufficient to in-
surethatasecondaryinternaltemperaturerise in
themassdoesnotexceed the primaryrise.It is,
however,importantthatsteep cooling gradients,
Fig. 7.3 - Unit tensile strain versus beam stress which can result in crackingthemass, beavoided.
(References 7.1 and 7.7). This is particularly true in smaller masses where cir-
culation of cooling water should be stopped when the
versus beam stress at outer fibers for
a typical labora- maximum temperaturehas beenreachedandjust
tory in~estigation.~.'. 7.11
begins to drop. A vulnerable location in pipe cooling
In the preliminary studies of temperature and con- systems is centered at the cooling coils where sharp
structioncontrolplansformassconcreteprojects, gradients and cracking can be induced if termination
approximatemethodsforestimatingtensilestrain of cooling water circulation is not timely.
capacity under rapid and slow loadings given in Ref- Resistancethermometersshould beused in suf-
erences 7.5 and 7.20 may be used. ficient numberstopermitadequatemonitoringand
control of the internal concrete temperatures.
7.6 - Artificial cooling by embedded pipe systems Construction drawings should show basic pipe lay-
Theoverallprogramfor cooling concrete, includ- out and spacing including minimum spacing, and the
ing important field control criteria, should be deter- layout at dam faces, transverseconstructionjoints,
mined during the design stage. Precooling concrete interior openings and in sloping, partial, and isolated
prior to placement is accomplished by a variety of concrete lifts. A pipelayout for atypicalconcrete
methods, including cooling all ingredients of the mix lift is shown in Fig. 7.4.
TABLE 7.2 - Illustration of computation of sustained modulus

of elasticity (Er)and stress coefficients
A. Sustained modulus
E, at age of concrete at time of Lading. days
28 days
Time after kglcm'
loading days x 10 ' x 10 ' x 10"
O
1
3
7
III Sustainedmodulus of elasticity tE.1 values are based on data given in
Fig. 7.2
E. = _ _ _1 _ - _ _- ~
~ _
~
". ~ ~ ~~~~ -~
unit elastic strainlpsi + 'h specific creep for time of loading
"
. . ~~~~ ~. . - ~~~
B. Tensile
~~~~~ .
stress coefficients for condition of full restraint
~ _ _ _and
___decreasing
_ _ ~ _ _ _ _temperature
Age of concrete at time of loading
_ _ _ ~ _ _ _ ~ -
-1-
" ""
3 days 7 days 28 days
~~~~~
Ib/in.'/F kg/cm'/C
14 3.00
1.70 14 2.60
12 1.50 18 2.31
1 ...
0.94 11 1.38
" I 16 j 2.08
12) Coefficient of lineal thermal expansion of concrete assumed to be 5.5 mil.
IionthslF (9.9 millionths/C)

224R-33
Fig. 7.4 - Typical cooling coil layout (Reference 7.11).
I 2 3 4 5 2 "-
-
/6
7 8 IO
&
II / 12 13
7
6 6
Fig. 7.5 - Schematic of embedded pipe cooling embedmentsystem in mass

concrete.
In most areas of the dam, a uniformspacingcan galleriescanextendfrom the downstreamface of

be maintained for the cooling pipe, but isolated areas the dam or if a vertical riser must be used. ..
alwaysexist inall dams which tend to result in a For ease of installation,thepipeusedforpost-
concentration of pipes. These concentrations tend to cooling should be thin wall tubing. Aluminum tubing
occur at the downstream face of the dam where in- is lightweight and easy to handle. However, break-
lets and outlets to cooling pipes are located, adjacent down fromcorrosioninducingelements of the con-
to openings in the dam, and at isolated and sloping crete is apotentialproblemforaluminumpipe if
lifts of concrete. Proper planning will alleviate many cooling activities must be carried on over a period of
of theundesirableconditionsthatcanresultfrom severalmonths.In this case,steeltubing is pre-
these concentrations. For example, it must be deter- ferred.
mined to what extent the cost saving procedure of
concentrating coolingpipe inletsandoutletsnear' Compression type couplings are used because thin
contraction joints can be permitted at the face of the wall tubing cannot be threaded satisfactorily.
dam. Also, it must be decided if cooling pipes to iso- Surface connections to the coolingpipeshould be
lated areas in the foundation and a t openings such as removable to a depth of 4 to G in. (102 to 152 mm) so

A C 1 224R 90 W 0bb2949 0023877 7 W
ANUAL 224R-34 PRACTICE
OF CONCRETE
that holes can be reamed and dry packed when con.’ essary
control
prior
to
preparation of construction
nections are removed. controls
and
specificationscannot
be
over-
Forms should be designed and constructed so that emphasized.
shutdown of cooling activities is not necessary when 7.7.1 Safety
forms are raised. 7.7.1.1 Safety against crushing<oncrete strength. A
strength shouldbespecifiedwhich will providean
Wiretiedownsembeddedatthetop of the con- adequate factor of safety against crushing of the con-
crete lift at about 10 ft (3 ml spacingsatisfactorily crete.The“nominal”factor of safety is merelythe
secure the pipe during concrete placing. compressive strengthdivided by themaximum
Coils mustbepressuretestedforleaksat the stress to be expected in the structure. However, nei-
maximum pressure they will receivefromthe cool- ther the strength nor the maximum stress can be ac-
ing system prior to placing concrete. Pressure must curately determined. The strength is usually derived
also be maintained during concrete placement to pre- from tests oncylindricalspecimens which arenot
vent crushing and permit early detection of damage, completely representative of the structure. The max-
should it occur. imum stress is usually takenasthedesignstress
After cooling is completedandthe pipe is no which is based upon assumedconcreteproperties.
longer needed, it should be thoroughly flushed with Forsuchreasons,it is considered good practiceto
water at a high enough pressure to remove foreign use a safety factor as high as three or four, meaning
matter andgrouted full withagroutmixture com- that the strength should be three or four times the
pensatedforplasticshrinkage or settlement.The expected maximum stress. The 90-day strength is of-
grout should remain under pressure until final set is ten used and is derived from tests of job cylinders.
attained. Since the cylinders are made from wet screened con-
crete, the measured strength is corrected to a mass-
Fig. 7.5 showstheschematiclayout of atypical concrete equivalent by applying a reduction factor of
pipe cooling system. about 0.80 for typical conditions. For specific data on
Sight flow indicators should be installed at the end appropriate reduction factors, the reader should re-
of eachembeddedpipe coil topermitreadyobser- fer tothe U S . Bureau of Reclamation, Concrete Man-
vance of cooling water flow. Inaddition toregular ual, 8th E d i t i ~ n . ~ . ’ ~
observance of flows, watertemperatures andpres- The “factor of safety,” as defined above, is subject
sures and concrete temperatures should be observed toanumber of additionalfactorswhich,more or
and recordedatleastoncedailywhile the lift is less, balanceoneanother.Sincetheaverage
being cooled. strength of thejobcylinders is used, half of the
Therefrigerationplantfor cooling water maybe tests will be weaker. The strength at 90 days is not
centrallylocated, or severalsmallercompletepor- the ultimate strength. There can be a large gain af-
tableplantsmaybeusedtopermitmovingthere- ter 90 daysdependinguponthecomposition of the
frigerationsystemasthedamprogressesupward. cement. However, even a “factor of safety” of three
Sufficient standbycomponents,equal in capacityto is farmorethanenoughtocoverany likelydiffer-
thelargest individualrefrigeration units shouldbe ences between plus and minus corrections.
provided. Forinteriorconcrete,thelowestpractical
strength shouldbespecified so as to reduce the ce-
ment content. This, in turn, will reduce the heat of
- -
7.7 Summary Basic considerations for eonstrue- hydration and the consequent thermal stresses, thus
tion controls and specifications increasing the crack resistance of the concrete. More
Theconstructioncontrols andspecificationsfor than the necessary amount of cement is detrimental
mass concrete must be such that the structures will rather than advantageous.
be safe, economical, durable, and pleasing in appear-
ance. Each of these requirements in turn affects the 7.7.1.2 Safety against sliding. Sound, uncracked con-
crackresistance.Safety will beassured if the concrete provides a very large factor of safety against
crete has sufficient strength and continuity (absence sliding. However, hardened horizontal lift joints may
of cracks). Economy will depend uponsuch features impair the safety.
Therefore,the
specifications
asthebest choice of aggregates,adequatebut not should require care in the preparation of lift surfaces
excessivetemperaturecontrol, low cementcontent, and in the placementandcompaction of concrete
etc.Durability will depend upon thequality of the thereon.Also, the lift surfacesshouldslopeslightly
concrete,
exposureconditions,and
freedomfrom upward toward the downstream edge (in the case of
chemical reactions of adeterioratingnature.Pleas- adam)suchthatthedownstreamedge is higher
ing appearance will comefrom good workmanship, than the upstream edge. It is not necessary to use a
freedom from cracks and stains, absence of leakage mortar layer on lift surfaces prior to the placement
andleaching,etc.Theimportance of com-
a of the next lift.
prehensivematerialstestprogramtoestablish nec- 7.7.2Economy - Many factors whichaffect the

1 A C 1 ‘224R 90 W O662949 00211878 9 W i . ”
economyalsoaffect crackresistance. For example, mates,forexample, there maybe no deteriorating

the least expensive aggregate may have bad thermal influences acting on the concrete except that which
properties and thus require expensive temperature is subject to high-velocity water flow. For the main
control topreventcracking.Theaggregatè which structure in such a case, any concrete which has the
makesconcrete of highesttensile-straincapacity requiredstrength
can
be
expected to
last in-
may increase the water requirement and, therefore, definitely,and the cementcontent should bekept
also thecementrequirement,.thusoffsettingthe low to minimize hea€ generation and resultant poten-
benefits of high strain capacity. Some of the factors tial cracking.
which affect economy a r e discussed beIow. . Wheretheclimate is severe,suchthat there is
7.7.2.1 Selection of aggregate. Aggregate should be much freezing and thawing in winter, the water-ce-
chosen thatmakes good concretewiththelowest ment ratio of surface concrete should be kept lower
overallcost. If natural aggregate near the site has than that necessary for strength alone. Air entrain-
unfavorableproperties for crackprevention,crush- ment should be mandatory. For any concrete which
ing to increase crack resistance may be an economi- might be subject to both alternations of freezing and
cal expedientbecause of theconsequentsaving in waterpressure, the water-cementratioshould be
temperature control. When crushing is either advan- lessthan 0.40 byweight.Theeffect of the rich
tageous or necessary, rock which has the most favor- boundaryconcrete on thermallyinducedcracking
ablepropertiesshouldbechosen.Therockshould will be minimizedby keepingthethickness of the
havea low coefficient of thermalexpansion,a low boundary layer to a minimum, probably 2 ft (0.6 m)
modulus of elasticity, and it should produce particles or less.
of good shape and surface texture. All of these fac- 7.7.4 Control of crackhg - A detailed discussion of
tors are important in increasing the resistance of the thecontrol of cracking in massivestructureshas
concrete to cracking, beenpresented in thischapter.Withproperplan-
7.7.2.2 Aggregate size. The largest maximum size of ningandexecution,theprocedurespresented will
aggregate, up to approximately 6 in. (150 mm) in di- serveas usefultools in developingacrackcontrol
ameter,shouldbespecifiedascanbe placed prop- program for mass concrete structures.
erly in the structure, except for concrete which must
resisthigh-velocitywater flow. Largeraggregate . References
permits the use of less water and cement per cubic 7.1. Houk, Ivan E., Jr.; Paxton, James A.; and Hough-
yard, resulting in savings in both the amount of ce- ton, Donald L., “Prediction of Thermal Stress and Strain
ment and the amount of temperature control neces- Capacity of Concrete by Tests on Small Beams,” AC1
JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 67, No. 3, Mar. 1970, pp.
sary for required crack resistance. 253-261.
7.7.2.3 Water content. A reduction in the water con- 7.2. Houghton, Donald L., “Determining Tensile Strain
tent of concretepermitsacorrespondingreduction Capacity of Mass Concrete,” AC1JOURNAL, Proceedings V.
in the cement content. The concrete with less water 73, No. 12, Dec. 1976, pp. 691-700.
and cement is superior in manyways: it undergoes 7.3. Wilson, E. L., “The Determination ofTemperatures
less temperature change, less drying shrinkage, and within Mass Concrete Structures,” Report No. 68-17,
as a result is more durable and crack resistant. As Structural Engineering Laboratory, University of
California, Berkeley, Dec. 1968.
indicated in Section 7.4, minimum water content can 7.4. Polivka, R. M., and Wilson, E. L., “Finite Element
be achieved by specifying adequately powerful vibra- Analysis of Nonlinear Heat Transfer Problems,” Report
tors which permit the use of low slump concrete, by No. UC SESM 76-2, Department of Civil Engineering,
using a water-reducing agent when appropriate, and University of California, Berkeley, June 1976.
by producingandplacing the concrete at low tem- 7.5. Sandhu, R. S.; Wilson, E. L.; and Raphael, J. M.,
perature. “Two-Dimensional Stress Analysis with Incremental
7.7.2.4 Use of pozzolan. In most locations, goodpoz- Construction and Creep,” Report No. 67-34, Structural
Engineering Laboratory, University of California,
zolans such as fly ash are available, and they can be
Berkeley, Dec. 1967,
used to replace a portion of the cement. This can re- 7.6 Liu, Tony C.; Campbell, R. L.; and Bombich, A. A.,
sult in aconsiderablesaving in cost,andpossibly “Verification of Temperature and Thermal Stress
moreimportant, it canreducetheheatgeneration Analysis Computer Programs for Mass Concrete
andimprove theresistanceagainstcracking.An- Structures,” Miscellaneous Paper No. SL-79-7, U.S. Army
other advantage of using pozzolan is that when used Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg,
in adequateamounts,itreducestheexpansiondue Apr. 1979.
toreactiveaggregateswhensuchareencountered. 7.7. Houghton, Donald L., ‘%onCreteVolume Change
Theappropriateamount of pozzolan forareactive for Dworshak Dam,” Proceedings, ASCE, V. 95, P02, Oct.
aggregate should be based upon test data obtained 1969, PP. 153-166.
with the pozzolan and cement being used. 7.8. “Method of Test for Thermal Diffusivity of Mass
Concrete,” ERD-G 37-73), Handbook for Concrete and
7.7.3 Durabí& - Durability of concrete is closely Cement, US. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, Dec.
relatedtotheexposure conditions.Intropical cli- 1973, 3 pp.

A C 1 224R 70 Ob62749 0023877 O I
7.9. “Method of Test for Coefficient of Linear Thermal early age but whichmightbesustainedatgreater
Expansion of Concrete,” (CRD-C 39-55), Handbook for maturity.Preferably,concreteshouldhavea high
Concrete and Cement, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, tensilestrain-to-failurecapacity. This is influenced
Vicksburg, 1939, 2 pp. greatlybytheaggregate,anda low modulus of
7.10. “Method of Test for Coefficient of Linear Thermal elasticity in tension is desirable.
Expansion of Coarse Aggregate, Strain Gage Method,”
(CRD-C 125-631,Handbook forConcrete and Cement,U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, June 1963, 5 pp.
-
8.2 Restraint
7.11. Symposium on Creep of Concrete, SP-9, American Restraint exists in many circumstances under
Concrete Institute, Detroit, 1964, 160 pp. which the structure and its concrete elements must
7.12.McCoy, E. E., Jr.; Thorton, H. T.; and Allgood, perform.Typicalexamples will illustrate how re-
J . K., “Concrete Laboratory Studies, Dworshak (Bruce’s straint will causecracking, if the concrete is not
Eddy) Dam, North Fork Clearwater River Near Orofino, strong enough to withstand the tensile stresses de-
Idaho: Creek Tests,” Miscellaneous Paper No. 6-613, veloped.
Report 2, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment 8.2.1 - A wall or parapet anchored along its base to
Station, Vicksburg,Dec.1964. the foundation or to lower- structural elements less
7.13. Houk, Ivan E., Jr.; Borge, Orville E.; and subject or responsive to volume change, will be re-
Houghton, Donald, “Studies of Autogenous Volume strainedfromshrinkingwhenitsupperportions
Change in Concrete for Dworshak Dam,” AC1 JOURNAL,
Proceedings V. 66, No. 7, July 1969, pp. 560-568. shorten due to drying or cooling. Cracking is usually
7.14.McDonald, J. E.; Bombich,A.A.; and Sullivan, inevitableunless
contractionjoints (or atleast
B. R., “Ultimate Strain Capacity and Temperature Rise grooves of adepth notless than 10% of the wall
Studies, Trumbull Pond Dam,” MiscellaneousPaper thickness on both sides, in which the cracks will oc-
C-72-20, U S . Army Engineer Waterways Experiment cur and be hidden) are provided at intervals ranging
Station, Vicksburg, Aug. 1972. fromone(forhigh walls) tothree (for low walls)
7.15. Liu, Tony C., and McDonald, James E., times the height of the wall.
“Prediction of Tensile Strain Capacity of Mass Concrete,”
AC1 JOURNAL, Proceedings V. 75, No. 5, May 1978, pp. 8.2.2 - Exteriorandinteriorconcrete,particularly
192-197. in heavier sections, will change temperature or mois-
7.16. Concrete Manual, 8th Edition, U.S. Bureau of ture content at different rates and todifferentde-
Reclamation, Denver, 1975, 627 pp. grees.Whenthishappens, the interiorconcrete re-
strains the exteriorconcretefromshrinking,and
tensile strains develop which may cause the exterior
tocrack.Thisoccurswhenthesurface cools, while
the interior is still warm from the heat of hydration,
-
Chapter 8 Control of cracking by correct or when thesurfaceconcretedriesfasterthan the
construction practices* interior concrete. Asnoted earlier, it is oftenfea-
-
8.1 Introduction sible to protect the surface for a time
so that such stress-inducing differentials
a t early ages
cannot de-
Construction practices, as used in this chapter, in-
clude designs, specifications, materials, and mix con- velop before the concrete is strong enough to with-
siderations, as well as on-the-job construction perfor- stand the strain without cracking.
mance.Before discussing
control of construction 8.2.3 - Acting similarly to the interior concrete in
practices whichaffectcracking, it is worthwhileto theforegoingexample,temperaturereinforcement
mention the basiccause of cracking. It is restraint. can restrain the shrinkage of surfaceconcrete,but
If all parts of the concrete in aconcretestructure more and narrower cracks may result.
are free to move as concrete expands or contracts, 8.2.4 - Restraint will occur at sharp changes in sec-
particularly the latter, there will be no cracking due tion,
since the
effect of temperaturechange or
to volume change. dryingshrinkage will bedifferent in thetwosec-
Obviously, however, all parts of concretestruc- tions. If feasible,acontractionjointcanbeused to
tures are not free, and inherently, cannot be free to relieve the restraint.
respond to the same degree to volume changes. Con-
sequently,differentialstrainsdevelopandtensile 8.2.5 - Restraint of flatworkresults from anchor-
stressesareinduced.Whenthesedifferentialre- age of slab reinforcement in perimeter slabs or foot-
sponsesexceedthecapability of the concreteto ings. When a slab is free to shrink from all sides to-
withstandthem at thattime, crackingoccurs.This warditscenter,there is aminimum of cracking.
points to the importance of protecting new concrete Contraction joints and perimeter supports should be
for as long as practicable from the loss of moisture designed accordingly (see Section 3.5.3).
or a drop in temperature. These considerations may 8.2.6 - Wall, slabs, and tunnel linings placed against
result in stressescapable of causingcracks atan theirregularsurface of arockexcavationarere-
strainedfrommovingwhenthesurfaceexpands or
*Principal author: Lewis H. Tuthill. contracts in response to changes in temperature or

' A C 1 224R 90 E 066271.19 0 0 2 L B B O 7 E 1
moisturecontent.
Asdiscussed in Section 8.2.1, not cement content. Moreover, the reduction of the
closely spacedcontractionjoints or deepgrooves amount of fineaggregatetocompensate for the
mustbeprovidedtoprevent or hide the cracks added cement, in accordance with correct principles
which oftendisfiguresuchsurfaces. h tunnel lin- of concrete proportioning, will offset any tendency to
ings, the shrinkage in the first few weeks is primar- increase the water requirement.
ily thermal,andtheuse of cold concrete (50 F or 8.3.2 Surface dryhg - Surfacedrying will ulti-
10 C) has reduced cracking materially. By the time mately occur except when the surface is submerged
drying is significant, t h e concreteliningismuch or backfilled. It will cause shrinkage strains of up to
stronger and better able to resist shrinkage crack- 600 millionths or more.Theamount of shrinkage
ing. However,circumferentialcracks in tunnel lin- cracking depends on 1. how dry the surface concrete
ingsandothercast-in-placeconcreteconduitsand becomes, 2. how much mixing water was in the con-
pipe linescanbegreatlyreduced in numberand crete, 3. thecharacteranddegree of restraint in-
width. As shown in the Bureau of Reclamation Con- volved, and 4. the extensibility of the concrete. The
crete Manual,*-'thiscanbedone if abulkheadis extensibility represents how much the concrete can
used topreventairmovementthroughthetunnel, be strained (stretched), without exceeding its tensile
and shallow ponds of water are placed in the invert strength and is the sum of creep plus elastic strain
as soon aspossibleafterlining,andleftuntilthe capacity. The latter is largely related to the composi-
tunnel goes into service. If the tunnel carries water, tion of theaggregateandmayvarywidely.Typi-
there will be no further drying shrinkage. If it does cally, someconcretes of highlyquartziticgravels
not, the concrete will have become much stronger in havea low straincapacityanda high modulus of
the humid. environment and will be better able to re- elasticity,
while
some concretes of granitic and
sist shrinkage-induced tensile stresses. gneissic aggregate have a high strain capacity and a
8.2.7 - The typical
examples presented above low modulus of elasticity.Concreteshavinga low
clearly indicate that many crack control procedures strain capacity are much more sensitive to shrinkage
must be considered by the engineer during design. due to drying (and to drop in temperature) and will
While proper construction performance can contrib- be subject to a greater amount of cracking.
ute a great deal (as will be discussed below), the con-
tractorcannotbeexpectedtoutilizethebestpro- Accordingly, a s mentioned in connection with tun-
cedures, unless these procedures are included in t h e nelliningsandconduits,aprimeobjective of crack
designsandspecificationsonwhich the bid price is . controlprocedures is tokeeptheconcretewetas
based. long as feasible, so that it will have time to develop
more strength to resist cracking forces. The impor-
-
8.3 shrinkage
tance of this will varywiththeweatherandthe
time of year. Cold concréte (below 50 F, 10 C) dries
The following sections discuss the major causes of
very slowly, provided the relative humidity is above
shrinkage, which isa key contributor tö the forma-
40 percent. A t some depth, concrete loses moisture
tion of cracks in concrete.
slowly, as shown in Fig. 3.5. Where surface drying
8.3.1 Effmt of water content - The greater the wa-
may be rapid, more care must be devoted to uninter-
tercontent of concrete,themoreit will shrink on
rupted curing to get good surface strength. Cracking
drying. Such a hypothesis is clearly indicated in Fig.
stresses will be further reduced by creep, if the sur-
3.2, as well as in Reference 8.1. The use of the low-
face is prevented from drying quickly at the end of
estpracticalslumpisimportant. Of major impor-
the curing period. To accomplish this, the wet curing
tance is the selection of mix proportions that require
cover can be allowed to remain several days without
the least amount of water per cubic yard for the de-
wetting after the specified curing period (preferably
siredconcretestrength.Thismeansavoidingover-
7 to 10 days), until t h e cover and the concrete under
sandedmixes(thericher the concrete,thecoarser
the sand should be and the less there should be of it it appear to be dry. If job conditions are likely to be
in the mix);usingthelargestmaximumaggregate such that these measures will beworthwhile,they
size practical; using aggregate with the most favor- should be required in the specifications for the work.
ableshapeandgradingconducivetobestwork- 8.3.3 Plastic shrinkage - Plasticshrinkagecracks
ability; and using well-graded sand with a minimum occur most commonly, and objectionably, in the sur-
of fines passing the 100-mesh and free of clay, such faces of floors and slabs when the ambient job condi-
that its sand equivalent value is n o t less than 80 tions are so arid that moisture is removed from the
percent AASHTO T176. concrete surface faster than i t is replacedbybleed
Contrary to common belief, increasing the cement Water from below, These cracks occur prior to final
content of concrete,perse,doesnotnecessarily finishingandcommencement of the curing process.
causeanincrease in shrinkage. This is because the Asthemoistureisremoved,thesurfaceconcrete
waterrequirement of concretedoesnotchange contracts, resulting in tensile stresses in the essen-
much with change
a in cementcontent.Drying tially strengthless,stiffeningplasticconcrete,that
shrinkage is proportional to water content (Fig. 3.21, causeshortrandomcracks or openings in the sur-

A C 1 224R 90 I0662749 0 0 2 L B B L 9 I
PRACTICE
face. Thesecracksareusuallyratherwideatthe In ordinaryconcretework,thewinterprotection

surfacebut only a fewinches in depth.Thecracks requiredforthedevelopment of adequate strength
generallyrangefroma fewinchestoafewfeet in will prevent the most critical effects of cooling. The
length and are a few inches to two feet apart. system of contraction joints and grooves previously
Sometimesplasticshrinkagecracksappearearly discussed for control of shrinkage cracking will serve
the same purpose against substantial later drops in
enough to beworkedout in laterfloating or first
trowellingoperations.Whenthis is successful, it is
surfacetemperature.InadditiontoChapter 7 of
this report, Chapters 4 and 5 of AC1 207.1R discuss
advisabletopostpone theseoperationsaslongas
temperature controls for mass concrete to minimize
possible togettheirmaximumbenefitwithoutthe
the early temperature differences between interior
recurrence of cracking.
and exterior concrete. Primarily, these controls
In other cases, an earlier than normal floating may lower the interior temperature rise caused by the
destroythegrowingtension by reworking the sur- heat of hydration by using 1. no more cement than
face mortar and prevent plastic cracking that would necessary, 2. pozzolans for a portion of the cement,3.
otherwise occur. At the first appearance of cracking water reducing admixtures, 4. air-entrainment, 5.
while the concrete is still responsive, a vigorous ef- large aggregate, 6. low slump, and 7. last butby no
fort should be made to close the cracks by tamping means least, whereat all practicable, chipped ice for
or beating with a float. If firmly closed, they will be mixing water to reduce the temperature of the fresh
monolithicand are unlikelytoreappear.However, concrete as much as possible. See Fig. 3.4 and Fig.
theymayreappear if theyaremerelytrowelled 3.1 of AC1 207.2R. At no time shouldformsbe
over.Inany event,curingshould be started at the removed to expose warm surfaces to low tempera-
earliest possible time. tures. As mentionedin Section 8.3.2,the extensibil-
Conditionsmostlikelytocauseplasticshrinkage ity, or strain the concretewillwithstandbefore
cracking are high temperatures and dry winds. Ac- tensile failure, is a function of the aggregate and
cordingly,specificationsshouldstipulatethateffec- should be evaluated, especially on larger projects.
tive moisture control precautions should be taken to What applies to one will not necessarily apply to
preventaserious loss of surfacemoistureunder another.
such conditions.Principalamongtheseprecautions 8.4 -Settlement
are the use of fog (not spray) nozzles to maintain a Settlement or subsidencecracksdevelopwhile
sheen of moisture on the surface between the finish- concrete is in theplasticstage,aftertheinitial vi-
ing operations. Plastic sheeting can be rolled on and bration. They are not due to anyof the causes dis-
off beforeandafterfloating,preferablyexposing cussed above, but are the natural result of heavy
only the area beingworked on at that time.Least solids settling in a liquid medium. Settlement cracks
effective
but
helpful are
certain
sprayed mono- occur opposite rigidly
supported
horizontal
re-
molecular films which inhibit evaporation. Wind- inforcement, form bolts or other embedments. Some-
breaks are desirable, and as such, it is desirable to timesconcrete will tendtoadheretotheforms.A
schedule flatwork after the walls are up (AC1 305R, check will appear at these locations, if the forms are
AC1 302.1R). hot at the top or are partially absorbent. Cracks of-
tenappear in horizontalconstructionjointsand in
Otherhelpful
practices that mayaugmentthe bridge deck slabs over reinforcing or form bolts with
bleeding and counteract the excessive loss of surface only a few inches cover. The cracks in bridge decks
moisture, are 1. using a well dampened sub-grade, 2. can be reduced by increasing the concrete
cooling theaggregates by dampening and shading Properly executed late revibration can be used to
them, and 3. using cold mixing water or chipped ice close settlement cracks and improve the quality and
as mixing watertolowerthetemperature of the appearance of theconcrete in the upper portion of
fresh concrete. such placements, even though settlement has taken
8.3.4 Surface coohg - Surface cooling will shrink place and slump has been lost.
thesurface of averageunrestrainedconcreteabout
10 millionths for each deg C (5.5 millionths per deg 8.5 - Construction
F) thetemperature goesdown.Thisamountsto 9 A great dealcanbedoneduringconstructionto
mm in a 30 m length with a drop of 30 C (1/3 in. in minimize cracking, or in many cases to eliminate it.
100 ft with a drop of 50 F). The amount of shrinkage But, as noted in Section 8.2.7, such actions must be
is reduced by restraint and creep,
but
tensile required by the specifications and by the engineer-
stressesare induced.Theearliertheageandthe ing forceswhich administer them.Suchactions
slower the rate at which cooling or drying occur, the include the following:
lower the tensile stresses will be. This is due to the 8.6.1 Concrete aggregates- The aggregate should
relaxinginfluence of creep, which imparts more ex- be one which makes concrete of high strain capacity,
tensibility to concrete at early ages. if reasonablyavailable(seeSection 7.2). Fineand

’. A C 1 224R 90 Ob62949 0021882 O
~ . ~~
I
f-
coarse aggregates have to be clean and free ofun- ated that it starts setting before settlement takes
necessary fine material, particularly clays. The sand place. Another iscomposed of organicgellingcom-
should have a sand equivalent value in excess of 80 pounds of soluble cellulose which increase in viscosity
percent, and this should be verified frequently so that the solid particles remain in suspension. Still
(AASHTO T176). The sand should have sufficient another contains a form of carbon with a very large
time in storage forthe moisture content to stabilize surfacearea.Inthedryform,itcontainsalarge
at a level of less than 7 percent onan oven-dry basis. amount of adsorbed air, which is released gradually
8.5.2 Expansive cement - Expansive cement can be into the mix producing an expansion.
used todelayshrinkageduringthesetting of con-
Gas forming agents and air releasing agents pro-
crete in restrained elements reinforced with the min-
duce the same net effect, althoughall grouts, mortars
imum shrinkage steel required by AC1 318. The andconcretesemployingtheseagentshave no ex-
principal property of these cements is that the pansiveproperties
after
hardening, and
have
a
expansion inducedin the concrete while setting and
dryingshrinkageatleastequalto similarplain
hardening is designed to offset the normal drying
grouts, mortars and concretes not employing them,
shrinkage. With correct usage (particularly with
Grouts which expand (if unconfined) after hardening
early and ample water curing on which maximum
canfunctionasnonshrinkgrouts,asopposedto
expansion depends), the distance between joints can
grouts that expand only in the plastic state and later
sometimes be tripled without increasing the level of
suffer drying shrinkage.
shrinkage cracking. Details on the types and correct
usage of shrinkage compensating cements are given Among€hecommercialadmixtures,there isone
in ACI 223-83. containing a metallic aggregate which, in addition to
8.5.3 “Non-shrink”grout, mortar, or concrete - Or- opposingsettlementduringhardening,providesa
dinarily,thesolids in grout,mortar,andconcrete modest expansion after hardening. This acts to hold
mixtures will settle before hardening, and water will the grout tightly up under base plates, etc., and also
rise, some of it to the top surface. This settlement tends to offset the effect of drying shrinkage.
canbe objectionable if aspace is to be filled up Where feasible, the problem of settlement can be
tightly without leaving a void at the top, such as un- solved by t h e use of dry tamped mortar, instead of
der machine bases. Measures taken to prevent such a fluid grout or mortar. Grout mixed in a colloid mill
subsidencehaveproducedwhat is known in the will not readily settle.
tradeas“Non-shrink”grout,mortar, or concrete. It should be noted that prepackaged “Non-shrink”
Some of thematerialsmerelypreventsettlement; grouts,likeanyportlandcementgroutsandmor-
others in addition, provide a slight expansion as the tars, are subject to shrinkage if exposed to drying
mixture hardens. andmay deteriorate andloseserviceability if ex-
posed toanaggressiveenvironment(weathering,
The most widely used materials contain unpolished salt spray, etc.).
aluminum powder. These should contain no stearates,
palmitates, or fatty acids. In an alkaline solution, such 8.5.4 Handling and batching - Should be done with
as exists in portland cement mixtures, the aluminum all practical care to avoidcontamination,overlap of
reactsto formaluminumoxideandhydrogen.The sizes,
segregation, and
breakage, so that
extra
hydrogen gas tends to expand the mixture and thus amounts of fines are not needed in the mixes to ac-
prevents subsidence and may even cause expansion. count for variations in grading without a serious loss
The amount of aluminum powder used varies widely of workability. This is best done by finish screening
with conditions, but is usually in the neighborhood of and rinsingasacombination of coarseaggregate
0.005 to 0.01 percent by weight of the cement. It is sizesgoes tothebatchplantbins.Everyeffort
not possible to specify an exact percentage because should be made to uniformly batch and mix the con-
theamounttobeusedvarieswithsuchfactorsas crete so thatthere willbe aminimum of trouble-
temperature, alkalicontent of thecement,andthe somevariation in slumpandworkability.These, in-
richness of the mix. Therefore, itis advisable to make variably,lead todemands for agreatermargin of
trialmixeswithvariouspercentages of aluminum workability, with more sand and more water in the
powder to findwhich percentagegivesthedesired concrete.
(slight)expansionundertheprevailingconditions. 8.5.5Excessiveworkability - Whetheritis
The amount of aluminum powder used is so small that achievedwithunneededhigherslump,oversanding,
it is advisable to dilute it by blending with 50 parts small aggregate, or evenhigheraircontent(which
of sand or fly ash. This diluted mixture will have may reduce strength), is alwayspopularand in de-
enough bulk so that it can be easily measuredand mand on the job. It must be discouraged if the best
properly dispersed in the mix. concrete for the work (having adequate workability
Among the admixtures that merely prevent settle- with proper handling and vibration, and having min-
ment, a number of different mechanisms are in op- imum shrinkage factors) is to be obtained,
eration. One commercial grout is so highlyacceler- -
8.5.6 Cold concrete Cold concrete, when com-

A C 1 224R 90 0662947 0023883 2
PRACTICE
binedwithfactorstoreducewaterandcement 2. Concreteshouldnotbe placed againsthotre-

content to a practical minimum will reduce temper- inforcement or forms.
ature differentials which cause cracking. Cold con- 3. Formwork support should be strong enough to
crete is particularly useful for massive concretes. It be free of early failures and distortion causing crack-
requires less mixing water and thus reduces drying ing.
shrinkage. In warm weather it expedites the work 4. Subgradeandothersupports must notsettle
by reducing slump loss, increasing pumpability, and unevenly, to prevent cracks due to overstress in the
by improving the response to vibration. It is ob- structure.
tained by substituting chipped ice for alla por a r t of 5. Contact between aluminum and steel embedded
the batched mixing water. In cold weather, concrete in theconcrete must beeliminated,particularly if
is naturally cold and every effort should be made to use of calcium chloride is permitted. If it is used, cal-
use it a s cold as possible without inviting damage ciumchloride must belimited totheabsolute min-
fromfreezing. It is pointless to expect to protect imum (see Section 3.4.4).
surfaces, edges, and corners by placing needlessly 6. Special care is needed in handling precast units
warm concrete in cold weather. These vulnerable to prevent overstress due to handling.
parts must be protected with insulation or protective 7. Unvented salamanders in cold weather (AC1
enclosures (AC1 306R). 306R) or gasoline operated equipment must be
8.6.7 Revibration - Whendoneaslate as the avoidedwhereadequateventilationisnot
formedconcrete will respondtothevibrator, will furnished, because of the danger of carbonation
eliminate cracks and checks where something rigidly shrinkage surface cracking.
fixed in theplacementpreventsapart of the con- 8.Controljoints,discussed in Sections3.5.3and
cretefromsettlingwiththerest of it.Settlement 8.2.6, must notbeomittedandgroovesmustbe of
cracks are most apparent in the upper part of wall thespecifieddepthand well withinthemaximum
and column placementswhererevibration can be permitted spacing.
readily
used.
Deep
revibrationcorrects
cracks 9. Inaddition to cleanliness of aggregate, stipu-
caused by differentialsettlementaroundblockout lated in Section 8.3.1,
anyreactive
elements of
and window forms,andwhereslabsand walls are aggregate should be neutralized throughthe use of
placed monolithically. low alkali cement or a suitable pozzolan, or prefer-
8.6.8 Finishing - Flatworkfinishing can makea ably both. Certain cherts and other expansive ag-
great difference in thedegree of freedomfrom all gregates and lignite can cause cracks at popouts. Job
types of cracking (AC1 302.1R). Low-slump concrete specifications should cover these aggregate proper-
should be used. More than a 3 in. (76 mm) slumpis ties and constructors should ensure observance of
rarely necessary except perhaps in very hot weather these requirements.
in which both slump and moisture are lost quite 10. Correctamounts of entrainedairshouldbe
rapidly.Finishingshouldnotbedoneinthe specified and used to prevent cracking due to freez-
presence of surface water. Precautions (see Section ing and thawing and exposure to calcium or sodium
8.3.4)should be taken to prevent plastic shrinkage. chloride.
Any required marking and grooving should be
carefully cut to t h e full depth specified. Curing
should be prompt,of full duration, and the wet cover
-
8.6 Specifications to minimize drying shrinkage
Actionsduringconstructiontoobtainthelowest
should be allowed to dry before it is removed.
possible drying shrinkage must be supported by the
8.5.9 Curing and protection - Newly placed con-
specifications.Unlessbids aretaken on thisbasis,
crete must be broughta level to of strength maturity
and protected from low temperatures and drying the contractor cannot be expected to provide other
conditions which would otherwise cause cracking. than ordinary materials, mixes, and procedures. The
The curing and protection should not be discontin- following items should be carefully spelled out in the
ued abruptly.If the new concreteis given a few days specifications.
to gradually dry orcool, creep will havean opportu- 8.6.1 Concrete materials - They can have an impor-
nity to reduce the possibility of cracking when the tant influence on drying shrinkage.
curing and protectionare fully discontinued. 1. Cement should be Types I, II, V, or IS, prefera-
8.6.10 Miscellaneous - Someitemsnormally cov- bly not Type III.
ered in specifications (or certainly which shouldbe 2. Aggregates favorable to low mixing water con-
covered where appropriate) require special attention tent are (a) well graded, (b) well shaped(notelon-
during construction because of their potential effects gated, flat, or splintery), and (c) free of clay, dirt,
on cracking. and excess fines.
1. Reinforcement and embedments must be prop- 3. Aggregateshouldconsist of rock types which
erlypositionedwiththedesignatedthickness of will produce low-shrinkage concrete(see
Section
cover in ordertopreventcorrosion,expansionand 3.4.2).
cracking. 4. Calcium chloride should be prohibited.

. ~.
CONTRÖL OF CRÄCKiNG~ 224R-41
8.6.2 Concrete mixes - For least shrinkage, the mix avoided. Providing time for adjustment and gradual,
proportioningshouldincorporatethosefactorsthat slow elongation will minimize cracking.
contribute to the lowest water content. This means: Watercuringshoulduseawetcover in contact
1. Thelargest practicalmaximumsize of aggre- with theconcretesurfaces.Attheend of the wet
gate (MSA). curing period, preferably at least 7 days, the cover
2. The lowest practical sand content. should be left in place until it and the concrete sur-
3. The lowest practical slump. face appear to be dry, especially in arid weather.
4. The lowest practical temperature.
5. Less than half the smoothgrading
curve In less arid areas and for interiors, the forms will
amount of smallcoarseaggregate, No. 4 to 3/8 or provide adequate curing if exposed surfaces are pro-
3/4 in, (4.75 mm to 9.5 or 19 mm), especially if it is tected from drying and provided they can be left in
crushed material. contact with the concrete for at least 7 days. There-
after, the forms should be left on with loosened bolts
8.6.3 Concrete handling and placing - Equipment long enoughto allow theconcretesurfacestodry
(chutes,
belts,
conveyors,
pumps, hoppers,
and gradually.
bucket openings) should be capable of working effec-
tively with lower slump, larger MSA concrete wher- Ponding is not a desirable method of curing in an
ever it is appropriate and feasible €o use. (It is cau- arid climate because of the quick drying that occurs
tioned that too often, in order to expedite pumping, when it is discontinued.
the actionstaken arethose which increasedrying Because drying is slow and prolonged, a properly
shrinkageandresultantcracking:moresand,more applied sealingcompoundprovides good curing for
fines, morewater,moreslump,smalleraggregate. flatwork placed on a well-wetted subgrade and pro-
When pumping is to be permitted and freedom from videsadequatecuring for massivesections.In an
shrinkagecrackingisimportant,specialemphasis arid climate, sealing compounds are not adequate for
must beplacedon obtainingeffectivelocationsand thinnerstructuralsections.Whenused on formed
an adequate number of contraction joints. Moreover, surfaces, they shouldbeappliedwhenthethor-
the use of pumpingequipmentcapable of handling oughly wettedsurface is stilldampbut no longer
mixesfavorable toleastcrackingshouldbe re- wet.
quired,)
Vibrators should be the largest and most powerful
8.7 -Conclusion
As noted early in this chapter, it is the responsi-
that can be operated in the placement. bility of the engineer to developeffective designs and
Upperlifts of formed
concrete
should
be re- clearandspecificspecifications.Toassureboththe
vibratedaslateas the runningvibrator will pene- owner’s and the engineer’s satisfaction with the re-
trate under its own weight. sults, the engineershould have the owner arrangefor
inspectionbyeithertheowner’spersonnel,theen-
8.6.4 Finishing - Finishing should follow the gineer,or a reliableprofessionalinspectionservice
recommendations of AC1 302.1R to minimize or who will insure that the constructionis performed on
avoid all forms o f surface cracking. the same basis as i t was bid. Without the fulland
It isparticularlyimportantthatflatworkjoint firm intent to confirm the specified character and de-
grooveshave a depth of at least 1/5 of slabthick- gree of performance, there is a serious chance that
ness, but not less than 1 in. (25.4 mm) deep. undesirable results will be obtained. Without firm in-
spectionandcontrols,andaclearunderstanding of
8.6.5Forms - Forms should have ample strength to
the job requirements by the contractor, it islikely
sustain strong vibration of low slump concretes.
that concrete will contain more water than it should,
Exposure of warm concrete surfaces to fast drying
finishing operations will be expedited with the water
conditions or to low temperaturespriortocuring,
brush (or hose), and curing will be interrupted or ab-
shouldbeavoided during formremoval, if drying
breviated(nottomentionother less obviousitems
and thermal ihrinkage cracking is to be prevented.
whichinfluence thelaterappearance of unsightly
8.6.6 Coatractioo joints - Plansshould include an cracks). When properly applied, the procedures dis-
adequate system of contraction joints to provide for cussed in this chapter can be used to produce a high
shrinkage. Formed grooves should be constructed in quality concrete with the least probable amount of
both sides of parapet, retaining, and other walls at cracking.
the depth and s,,acings indicated in Sec. 8.2.1,
8.6;7 Curing md protection - Theseprocedures
References
should insure the presence of adequate moisture to 8.1. Concrete Manual, 8th Edition, U S . Bureau of
sustainhydrationandstrengthdevelopment in the Reclamation, Denver, 1975, 627 pp.
surface concrete. Rapid drying of the surfaces at the 8.2. Dakhil, Fadh H.; Cady, Philip D.; andCarrier,
conclusion of the specifiedcuringperiod should be Roger, E., “Cracking in Fresh Concrete as Related to

A C 1 224R 90 Obb2949 0 0 2 L B B 5 b I
NUAL 224R-42 PRACTICE
OF CONCRETE
Reinforcement,”AC1 JOURNAL,Proceedings V. 72, No. 517.2R Accelerated

Curing of Concrete a t Atmo-
8, Aug. 1975, PP. 421-428. spheric Pressure- State of the Art
544.3R Guide for Specifying, Mixing,
Placing
andFinishingSteelFiber Reinforced
Chapter 9 - References Concrete
9.1 - Recommended references ASTM
The documentsof the various standards producing’ 512
C Test Methodfor Creep of Concrete in
organizations referred to in thisdocument are listed Compression
below with their serial designation. E 399 Test Methodfor Plane-StrainFracture
Toughness of Metallic Materials
American Association of State Highway and Transporta-
tion Officials Comité Euro-Internationald u Béton and Fédération Inter-
nationale de la Précontrainte
T176 Plastic
Fines
Graded
in Aggregate
and CEB-FIP Model
Code for Concrete Structures
Soils By Use of the Sand Equivalent Test
The above publications may be obtained from the fol-
American Concrete Institute lowing organizations:
201.2R Guide to Durable Concrete
207.1R Mass Concrete American Associationof State Highway and Transporta-
207.2R Effect of Restraint, Volume Change, and tion Officials
Reinforcement on Cracking of Massive 444 North Capital St., N.W.
Concrete Suite 225
211.1 StandardPractice for Selecting Propor- Washington, DC 20001
tions for Normal, Heavyweight, and
Mass Concrete American Concrete Institute
212.1w Admixtures for Concrete P.O. Box 19150
212.2R and Guide for Use of Admixtures in Con- Detroit, MI 48219
crete
223 Standard Practice for the Use of Shrink- ASTM
age-Compensating Concrete 1916 Race Street
302.1R Guide for ConcreteFloor andSlab Con- Philadelphia, PA 19103
struction
304R Guide for Measuring,Mixing,Transpor- Comité Euro-International du Béton and Fédération In-
tating, and PlacingConcrete ternationale de la Précontrainte - English edition avail-
305R Hot Weather Concreting able from:
306R Cold Weather Concreting British Cement Association
308 Standard Practice for Curing Concrete Wexham Springs
313 Recommended Practice for Design and Slough SL# 6PL
Construction of Concrete Bins, Silos, ENGLAND
and Bunkers for Storing Granular Ma-
terials
318 Building Code Requirements for Rein- 9.2 - Cited references
forced Concrete
Cited references are provided at the end of each chapter.
340.1R Design Handbook in Accordance with the
Strength Design Method of AC1 318-83,
Volume 1- Beams, Slabs, Brackets,
Footings, and Pile Caps (SP-17) This report was submitted to letter ballotof the committee which
347.1R PrecastConcrete Units Used as Forms consists of 24 members; 21 were affiimative,2 were not returned,
for Cast-in-Place Concrete and 1 abstained. It has been processed i n accordance with the
504R Guide to Joint Sealants for Concrete Institute procedure and is approved for publication and discus-
Structures sion.

AC1 Committee 224
Cracking
David Darwin Bernard L. Meyers

Chairman Past Chairman
R. S. Barneyback, Jr. Donald L. Houghton Robert E. Philleo

Eduardo Santos Basil;.o Paul H. Kaar Milos Polivka
Alfred G. Bishara Tony C. Liu Julius G. Potyondy
Roy W. Carlson J. P. Lloyd Robert E. Price
Noel J. Everard LeRoy Lutz Ernest K. Schrader
J. Ferry-Borges V. M. Malhotra Lewis H. Tuthill
Peter Gergely Dan Naus Robert L. Yuan
Edward G. Nawy
The committee voting on the 1990 revisions was as follows:
Grant T. Halvorsen* Randall W. Poston

Chairman Secretary
Florian G. Barth Will Hansen Ernest K. Schrader

Alfred G. Bishara Tony C. Liu Wimal Suaris
Howard L. Boggs Edward G. Nawy Lewis H. Tuthill”
Merle E. Brander John D. Nicholas Thomas D. Verti
David Darwin” Harry Palmbaum Zenon Zielinski
Fouad H. Fouad* Arnfmn Rusten
Peter Gergely Andrew Scanlon
*Members contributingto these revisions.


Aci 318M - 11

Transféré par

Informations du document

Titre original

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Aci 318M - 11

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

A C 1 229R 90 m 0 6 6 2 9 4 9 0021849 3 m

Reported by AC1 Committee 224

The principal causes of cracking in concrete and recom- Contents

AC1 Committee Reports. Guides, Standard Practices, and Com-

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

Studies of thestress-strainbehaviorand volume

microcracking is a function of the total compressive

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

seemed to indicate a very large effect, thus empha- WorkbyCarino,2.J8usingpolymerimpregnated

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

Stress. PSI duplicated.’ 2 5 While thestatisticalvariationsun-

75t\ studies in this area are clearly warranted.

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

mens, and mortar specimens made with fine aggre-

notch width on K,, for both mortar and concrete.'.'0 U

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

A C 1 224R 90 0bb2949 0021851 O M

paste, but not to the small size specimens of mortar 2.2.

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

Crete canbeminimized by keeping the water con-

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

the rate of shrinkage will be beneficial, because con-

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

made with portland cements is usually more than ad- -

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

where 4.22 CEB recommendations - Crack control recom-

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

The mean crack spacing is action squareslabsandplates. For concen-

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

sion moment and, especially, the stress in th'ë steel

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

reinforcement. If concrete is not resistant to freezing 5 the possible hazard

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

5.5. Bennett,E. W.,and Dave, N. J., “TestPerfor-

*Principal authors: Alfred G. Bishara and Ernest K. Schrader.

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

high incidence of fine, random, shrinkage cracks in a -

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

temperature of only 3 C (6 FI. On the other hand, As statedabove,thetwofactorsgoverningthe

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

of theaggregateacts in twowaystoreducethe 1. Concrete with large tensile strain capacity.

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

CONTROL ÖFCRACKING 224R-29

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

CurveC - Portland Cement . I81Ib/cu yd (107kg/d);Fbzzolan-63Ib/cuyd (37 kg/m)

Static modulus of elasticity (E) for age of test indicated

2.56 I 180 4.00 352 5.00

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

thus, creep as measured in compression is assumed. 28

specimens should be large enough to permit concrete

COPYRIGHT American Concrete Institute

and usingsmall ice particlesasareplacement of

TABLE 7.2 - Illustration of computation of sustained modulus