ASSESSMENT OF PLASTIC SHRINKAGE CRACKING AND ITS IMPACT ON DURABILITY

Fresh concrete may be susceptible to plastic
shrinkage cracking. Cracks that
develop at an early-age can significantly impact the
durability of concrete structures.
This study has developed a quantitative approach
to determine the efficiency of fiber reinforcement
for plastic shrinkage crack reduction.
A semi-automated image
analysis technique was used to process digital
images of surface crack widths. Statistical analysis
methods were used to determine the repeatability of
the test as a proposed standard plastic cracking
test method. Finally, the
impact of premature cracking on the corrosion of
steel reinforcement was quantitatively
assessed.

Autorentext

Chengqing Qi was born in 1972. He studied at Southeast University (China) in the area of cement and concrete materials, before joining Purdue University for Ph.D. study. He works on microscopy and petrography of cementitious systems,durability of concrete, and hydration of cementitious materials.

Klappentext

Fresh concrete may be susceptible to plastic shrinkage cracking. Cracks thatdevelop at an early-age can significantly impact the durability of concrete structures.This study has developed a quantitative approachto determine the efficiency of fiber reinforcement for plastic shrinkage crack reduction.A semi-automated imageanalysis technique was used to process digital images of surface crack widths. Statistical analysis methods were used to determine the repeatability of the test as a proposed standard plastic cracking test method. Finally, theimpact of premature cracking on the corrosion of steel reinforcement was quantitativelyassessed.