Title: Stress Relaxation of Concrete Under Autogenous Early-Age Restrained Shrinkage

Author(s): M. Pigeon, B. Bissonnette, J. Marchand, D. Boily, and L. Barcelo

Publication: Symposium Paper

Volume: 227

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 337-348

Keywords: autogenous shrinkage; concrete; creep; early-age; relaxation; self-desiccation; strain; stress; test

DOI: 10.14359/14438

Date: 3/1/2005

Abstract:
This paper illustrates how stress relaxation can be used to obtain valuable information regarding the behavior of concrete at early ages. Five concrete mixtures were investigated using a so-called discretized restrained shrinkage (DRS) testing device, allowing the determination (from the time of casting) of the increase in load induced by autogenous shrinkage and the evaluation of the different strain components (free shrinkage, elastic strain, creep). Test results indicate that the stress due to early-age restrained autogenous shrinkage is quite variable, in good part due to the variation in the relaxation capacity of the mixtures. Both the relaxation ratio, defined as the stress generated divided by the theoretical stress, and the relative relaxation, defined as the absolute value of stress relaxation divided by the average applied stress, can be used to illustrate and analyze the variation of the relaxation phenomena as a function of the type of mixture tested.