Estimation of Critical Degree of Hydration and Thermal Expansion Coefficient of Early-Age Concrete from Measured Temperature, Strain and Stress

온도, 변형 및 응력 계측을 통한 초기재령 콘크리트의 임계수화도 및 열팽창계수 추정

Recently, the properties of early-age concrete are increasingly important because these properties directly influence the behavior of early-age concrete structures including stress and cracking behavior. Nevertheless, the studies on early-age concrete are limited to strength and temperature development. The purpose of present study is to propose a simple and rational method which can predict the stress and strain behavior of young age concrete. A series of test have been done to measure the temperature development, strains and stresses in concrete members. The concept of equivalent age was used to define the degree of hydration and this degree of hydration was used to calculate the strength and elastic modulus. The critical degree of hydration and thermal expansion coefficient were calculated using experimental data. It is seen that the critical degree of hydration range from 0.05 to 0.11 based on the measuring method. The thermal expansion coefficient was calculated based on the measured non-mechanical strain and it is found that the coefficient decreases slightly with the increase of age. The consideration of critical degree of hydration in calculating stresses gives more accurate results. The present study provides useful method and data in evaluating early-age behavior of concrete structure.