Finite-Element Modeling of Early-Age Concrete Stress Development
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 32, Issue 1
Abstract
Early-age cracking of concrete may influence the long-term durability of a structure. Cracking occurs when the tensile stress in concrete exceeds its tensile strength. Early-age stress development in concrete is influenced by temperature changes, modulus of elasticity, creep or stress relaxation, shrinkage and coefficient of thermal expansion, and the degree of restraint. Three-dimensional finite-element analysis was used to model the early-age stress development of concrete, and a rate-type creep analysis was used herein. Four creep compliance models, including the B3 Model, Modified B3 Model, B3 Model with , and B4 Model were incorporated in the finite-element model. Experimental results from restraint of volume change tests with a rigid cracking frame were used to assess the accuracy of the finite-element analysis. The experimental tests included 63 concrete mixtures, which contained varying cementitious materials, mixture proportions, temperature histories, aggregate types, water:cementitious materials ratios, and chemical admixtures. The results showed that the finite-element model provides accurate predictions of measured early-age concrete stresses. The Modified B3 Model provided the most accurate prediction of the measured early-age concrete stresses.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The financial support provided by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) is appreciated. The authors thank Dr. Qiang Yu of the University of Pittsburgh for providing an initial version of the UMAT code.
References
AASHTO. 2009. Standard method of test for coefficient of thermal expansion of hydraulic cement concrete. AASHTO T336. Washington, DC: AASHTO.
ACI (American Concrete Institute). 1992. Report on prediction of creep, shrinkage, and temperature effects in concrete structures. ACI 209. Farmington Hills, MI: ACI.
ACI (American Concrete Institute). 2010. Report on early-age cracking: causes, measurement, and mitigation. ACI 231. Farmington Hills, MI: ACI.
ACI (American Concrete Institute). 2016. ACI concrete terminology. ACI-CT. Farmington Hills, MI: ACI.
Al-Manaseer, A., and J. Lam. 2005. “Statistical evaluation of shrinkage and creep models.” ACI Mater. J. 102 (3): 170–176.
ASTM. 2008. Standard test method for time of setting of concrete mixtures by penetration resistance. ASTM C403. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Bazant, Z. P., and F. H. Wittmann. 1982. Creep and shrinkage in concrete structures. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Bažant, Z., M. Hubler, and R. Wendner. 2014. “Model B4 for creep, drying shrinkage and autogenous shrinkage of normal and high-strength concretes with multi-decade applicability.” RILEM Mater. Struct. 48 (4): 753–770. https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-014-0485-2.
Bažant, Z. P., and S. Baweja. 2000. “Creep and shrinkage prediction model for analysis and design of concrete structures: Model B3.” ACI Spec. Publ. 194: 1–84.
Bažant, Z. P., and S. Prasannan. 1989a. “Solidification theory for concrete creep. I: Formulation.” J. Eng. Mech. 115 (8): 1691–1703. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9399(1989)115:8(1691).
Bažant, Z. P., and S. Prasannan. 1989b. “Solidification theory for concrete creep. II: Verification and application.” J. Eng. Mech. 115 (8): 1704–1725. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9399(1989)115:8(1704).
Bažant, Z. P., Q. Yu, and G. Li. 2012. “Excessive long-time deflections of prestressed box girders. II: Numerical analysis and lessons learned.” J. Struct. Eng. 138 (6): 687–696. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ST.1943-541X.0000375.
Byard, B. E. 2011. “Early-age behavior of lightweight aggregate concrete.” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Auburn Univ.
Byard, B. E., and A. K. Schindler. 2015. “Modeling early-age stress development of restrained concrete.” Mater. Struct. 48 (1–2): 435–450. https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-013-0194-2.
Byard, B. E., A. K. Schindler, and R. W. Barnes. 2011. “Early-age cracking tendency and ultimate degree of hydration of internally cured concrete.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 24 (8): 1025–1033. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000469.
Byard, B. E., A. K. Schindler, K. A. Riding, and K. J. Folliard. 2016. “Validation of modified B3 model to predict early-age stress development of concrete.” ACI Mater. J. 113 (5): 691–700.
Carino, N. J. 2004. “The maturity method.” In Handbook on nondestructive testing of concrete, edited by V. M. Malhotra and N. J. Carino, 5.1–5.47. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Darwin, D., and J. Browning. 2008. “Construction of low cracking high performance concrete (LC-HPC) bridge decks: Field experience.” In Proc., Concrete Bridge Conf. Skokie, IL: National Concrete Bridge Council.
Dassault Systèmes Simulia. 2012a. Abaqus analysis user’s manual. Providence, RI: Dassault Systèmes Simulia Corp.
Dassault Systèmes Simulia. 2012b. Abaqus user subroutines reference manual. Providence, RI: Dassault Systèmes Simulia Corp.
Emborg, M. 1998. “Development of mechanical behavior at early ages.” In Prevention of thermal cracking in concrete at early ages: RILEM report 15, edited by R. Springenschmid, 76–148. London: E & FN Spon.
Krauss, P. D., and E. A. Rogalla. 1996. Transverse cracking in newly constructed bridge decks. Washington, DC: National Research Council.
Liu, Y., and G. Glass. 2013. Effects of mesh density on finite element analysis. Lafayette, LA: Univ. of Louisiana.
Mangold, M. 1998. “Methods for experimental determination of thermal stresses and crack sensitivity in the laboratory.” In Prevention of thermal cracking in concrete at early ages: RILEM report 15, edited by R. Springenschmid, 26–40. London: E & FN Spon.
Meadows, J. 2007. Early-age cracking of mass concrete structures. Master thesis, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Auburn Univ.
Mehta, P. K., and P. J. M. Monteiro. 2014. Concrete: Microstructure, properties, and materials. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Mindness, S., J. Young, and D. Darwin. 2002. Concrete. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Montgomery, D. C., E. A. Peck, and G. G. Vining. 2015. Introduction to linear regression analysis. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Neville, A. M., W. H. Dilger, and J. J. Brooks. 1983. Creep of plain and structural concrete. London: Construction Press.
Østergaard, L., D. A. Lange, S. A. Altoubat, and H. Stang. 2001. “Tensile basic creep of early-age concrete under constant load.” Cem. Concr. Res. 31 (12): 1895–1899. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0008-8846(01)00691-3.
Rostásy, F. S., T. Tanabe, and M. Laube. 1998. “Assessment of external restraint.” In Prevention of thermal cracking in concrete at early ages: RILEM report 15, edited by R. Springenschmid, 150–177. London: E & FN Spon.
Schindler, A. K., and B. F. McCullough. 2002. “The importance of concrete temperature control during concrete pavement construction in hot weather conditions.” Transp. Res. Rec. 1813 (1): 3–10. https://doi.org/10.3141/1813-01.
Tankasala, A., and A. K. Schindler. 2017. Early-age cracking of lightweight mass concrete. Auburn, AL: Highway Research Center, Auburn Univ.
Umehara, H., T. Uehara, T. Iisaka, and A. Sugiyama. 1995. “Effect of creep in concrete at early ages on thermal stress.” In Thermal cracking in concrete at early ages, edited by R. Springenschmid, 79–86. London: E & FN Spon.
Wei, Y., and W. Hansen. 2012. “Tensile creep behavior of concrete subject to constant restraint at very early ages.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 25 (9): 1277–1284. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000671.
Whigham, J. 2005. “Evaluation of restraint stresses and cracking in early-age concrete with the rigid cracking frame.” Master thesis, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Auburn Univ.
Yu, Q., Z. P. Bažant, and R. Wendner. 2012. “Improved algorithm for efficient and realistic creep analysis of large creep-sensitive concrete structures.” ACI Struct. J. 109 (5): 665–675.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 32 • Issue 1 • January 2020
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 15, 2018
Accepted: Jun 28, 2019
Published online: Nov 7, 2019
Published in print: Jan 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Apr 7, 2020
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.