Abstract:
Early age thermal cracking due to temperature differential is one of the major issues related to
mass concrete construction. Temperature differential is created due to heat of hydration of cement and heat
loss from the surface. If induced tensile stresses due to temperature differential exceed tensile strength of concrete,
concrete tends to crack. Current practice in the local construction industry is to limit the temperature differential
to 20ºC irrespective of the grade of concrete. A Finite Element Model (FEM) was developed using
ANSYS to predict early age thermal stress behavior and to propose limiting value for the temperature differential
for different grades of concrete. An analytical method was also considered to obtain the limiting values for
temperature differentials for different grades of concrete.
Citation:
Girihagama, A.W.R.M.G.W.D.B., & Nanayakkara, S.M.A. (2016). Limiting values for temperature differentials to control early age thermal cracking of concrete. In M.T.P. Hettiarachchi (Ed.), Proceedings of the Civil Engineering Research Symposium 2016 (pp. 21-24). Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa.
