A Critical Review on Early-Age Cracking in Concrete

Abstract

The most widely used concrete versatile building material extensively used for the wide range of residential and industrial applications. It is a combination of three basic components: Portland cement, water and aggregates (gravel, rock or sand). Inappropriate mixing, unsuitable humidity and variations in the temperatures may lead to poor quality in concrete resulting to cracks Premature concrete cracking is a major issue in structures under working conditions, which is mainly depending on the nature of the material, hydration intensity, treatment atmosphere and healing conditions. This comprehensive review article will assist in identifying the common causes and Impact of early cracking of concrete and future prevention steps. Furthermore, the various types of early-age cracking, factors causing cracks such as temperature, thermal expansion, and tensile strength are discussed with simulation and identification of early-age cracking.

Autogenous self‐healing of concrete: Experimental design and test methodsA review

“…Autogenous self-healing approaches can be applied when water retaining concrete structures show early load-independent cracking, which is mainly due to constrained stresses resulting from temperature profiles within the concrete element, plastic-, drying-, chemical-, and autogenous shrinkage. 4,11,66 When through cracks are formed the constrained stress shows a uniform tensile-stress distribution. 4,67 Generally, the crack generation technique impacts the crack geometry due to different stress states.…”

Modelling the hydration of cement ‐ Does chemical shrinkage influence autogenous self‐healing?

“…Early load independent cracking of reinforced concrete structures is unavoidable and can be caused by various factors and exhibit different characteristics. For instance, drying shrinkage cracks typically occur near the surface [8], while the early formation of separation cracks in concrete elements thicker than 0.3 m is generally attributed to constrained stresses resulting from temperature profiles within the concrete during the dissipation of hydration heat [9]. It is the latter type of cracks that impairs the functionality of concrete structures and is of interest for the study at hand.…”