Shrinkage Measurement in Concrete Materials using Cure Reference Method

Abstract

This paper describes the details of using Cure Reference Method (CRM) to determine the shrinkage that develops in concrete materials. The technique involves the replication of diffraction grating on the concrete specimen during curing. After demolded, the specimen is stored in a chamber where a specific drying condition is maintained for 6 days. Every day in this period, the specimen is removed from the chamber and a set of the consecutive moiré fringe patterns are recorded with the help of a specially-designed stage. An automated fringe analysis program is developed to obtain the full-field displacement and strain information. Shrinkage as a function of location, time, and drying conditions is measured. A numerical method is developed in order to obtain material properties from the complex geometry used in the tests. The test in different drying condition and the ring test are performed, and their results are compared with FEA to validate the constructed model.