Differential Shrinkage of Concrete

B. PARMENTIER Belgian Building Research Institute (BBRI), Limelette, Belgium ; bp@bbri.be C. VAN GINDERACHTER Belgian Building Research Institute (BBRI), Limelette, Belgium

SUMMARY Drying shrinkage is one of the most critical sources of damage for industrial ground floors for a long time. This volume reduction can not be easily avoided because of the inherent properties of concrete. Nevertheless, by using steel reinforcement bars, steel fibres or a good joints design the risk of cracking can be reduced or the crack openings can be limited. The goal of the research is to take all the parameters playing an important role in the design of the slab into account: vertical aspects (from geotechnical point of view) and horizontal aspects (problems associated with shrinkage). This paper will focus on the horizontal aspects that were studied in the BBRI research facility and in particular on gradient shrinkage. It will shows e.g. the positive influence of polyethylene sheet on sand as sub-base, the influence of the thickness on the shrinkage gradient and gives some results on the worst climatic conditions for curling effects.

INTRODUCTION

In order to implement technical and economical efficiency of the above mentioned elements the designer has to know the magnitude of the forces that will be present into the slab. So the knowledge of (gradient) shrinkage is very important for the determination of the shear stresses but also for the evaluation of the vertical displacement of the slab edges, the so-called curling phenomenon. Some models exist and are mentioned in [6][8][2][1][10]. The Belgian Building Research Institute (BBRI) has initiated a complete research programme to help designers making good design choices. Theoretically the floors on grade deformations could be evaluated by knowing two phenomena which occur in these systems: 1. the actions, that is : a. shrinkage b. loads i. self-weight ii. imposed loads the reactions : a. sub-base/subgrade friction b. settlements

Hence a first part of the research was specified to better identify the shrinkage and the second part was defined to determine the friction parameters of different subbases generally used with industrial floors on grade. The final goal of the research is the implementation of all the parameters into a simplified theoretical model written to calculate the potential crack openings in the floors. This model will be base on the works of Feron [3], Pettersson [8], Olesen & Stang [7]and Swilferbrand [9] amongst others. 2 SHRINKAGE TESTS

Different measurements have been carried out on small industrial concrete floor samples (0.7x0.7m). The following parameters were taken into account: time; temperature and relative humidity conditions; concrete thickness; type of sub-base; length of the slab.

2.

This research programme initiated by BBRI was orientated to the friction aspects caused by shrinkage. Some tests were achieved to characterize the friction parameters of different sub-bases but are not discussed in this paper. Further information on this can be found in Pettersson [8] and Parmentier [5].

Only drying shrinkage was observed. Auto-dessication shrinkage (plastic shrinkage) was not treated within the framework of this research programme. For each tests series different reference prisms were used in order to measure the free shrinkage of the concrete used. These tests were carried out according to the Belgian standard NBN B 15-216 (RH=60% and T=20C). The value of the free shrinkage (F) has been used to normalize the 0.7x0.7 m samples deformations (S) observed for different concretes coming from different mixes. This normalized shrinkage can be defined as R=F/S. -1-

200 mm
25 a a a a a 25

200 mm

200 mm
Dalles A1/C1/D1 Dalles A2 Dalles B1/C3/C4 Dalles B2/C2

h [mm] 200 150 200 250

a [mm] 30 20 30 40

50 mm

50 mm

700 mm

Figure 1: Dimensions of the concrete slabs.

Figure 2: Samples of concrete slabs used to measure de gradient shrinkage. The different measuring points on the small slabs are given in Figure 1. 2.1 Influence of temperature and relative humidity conditions The specimens were cast on 4 different 15cm thick sub-bases so that the influence of RH could be studied. The different sub-bases are listed hereafter: sand (S) wetted sand (WS) recycled aggregates (RA) polyethylene sheet on sand (PES)

Table 1 gives the features of the specimens (0.7x0.7m) used for the analysis of the relative humidity (RH) conditions. Slab Slab thickness [cm] B2/C2 D1 25 20 T [C] 20 20 RH [%] 60 95

An example of the results for sand is illustrated in Figure 3 in function of time and relative height (y/h).

Table 1: Slabs characteristics for the study of the RH conditions on the gradient shrinkage. -2-

RH Influence for SAND as sub-base

1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6

The influence of temperature has been investigated by the same approach. Table 2 gives an overview of the test conditions. Slab
20-95% (D1) - 3 Days 20-95% (D1) - 14 Days 20-95% (D1) - 63 Days 20-60% (B2/C2) - 3 Days 20-60% (B2/C2) - 14 Days 20-60% (B2/C2) - 63 Days

Slab thickness [cm]

T [C] 6 20

RH [%] 60 95

y/h

0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0 -50 -100 -150 -200 Shrinkage (S) -250 -300 -350 -400

A1/C1 D1

20 20

Table 2: Slabs characteristics for the study of the temperature conditions on the gradient shrinkage. The results expressed as a function of time and relative height are given in Figure 6 and Figure 7 for normalized shrinkage of concrete specimens respectively on sand and on PES as sub-base. Values lower than 1 indicates smaller deformations of the slabs than those of free shrinkage of the same concrete mix. From Figure 6 it can be found that for the dimensions of the test elements the effect of the hygral/thermal gradient and friction stresses at the interface is more important than the effect of the lower notional size h0 of the reference prisms. Conform with Eurocode 2 the notional size is defined as: h0=2Ac/u (1)

Figure 3: Shrinkage gradient of concrete slabs samples cast on sand. In order to be able to compare different concretes coming from different mixes it is necessary to make use of normalized data as explained before. Figure 4 shows the normalized shrinkage of two RH conditions for different relative heights in function of time.

RH Influence for SAND as sub-base

1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6

y/h

0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6
20-95% (D1) - 3 Days 20-95% (D1) - 14 Days 20-95% (D1) - 63 Days 20-60% (B2/C2) - 3 Days 20-60% (B2/C2) - 14 Days 20-60% (B2/C2) - 63 Days

where : Ac is the cross-sectional area u is the perimeter The type of sub-base is found to be playing a role into the deformations process. Actually the slabs on PES sub-base encountered more deformation differences between top and bottom (50%) than on other sub-base types (25).

Relative Shrinkage [/]

Figure 4: Relative (normalized) shrinkage gradient of concrete slabs samples cast on sand. The net differences between normalized shrinkage of two RH conditions are given in Figure 5. This figure indicates that differences are maximal at 3 days (up to 90% for y/h=0.875) and tend to be constant until 63 days. The type of sub-base does not influence the results while it influences the relative shrinkage of the specimens submitted to the same RH. The smallest differences (10%) are measured for y/h=0.125 (almost at the interface concrete-sub-base) whatever the age of the specimens. It must be noticed that the measures are for a short time period (2 months). It would be logical that values for a longer period evolve in the sense of equilibrium between all the relative positions yi/h because of the hygral inertia tends to be lower in function of the time. The difference between the top and the bottom of the specimens is about 50% at 63 days. Obviously the shrinkage of specimens maintained at 60%RH is the highest.

RH influence for slabs on Sand

Normalized Shrinkage Difference [/]
0.00 -0.25 -0.50 -0.75 -1.00 -1.25 -1.50 0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 70
D1-C2/B2 S---y/h=0.875 D1-C2/B2 S---y/h=0.725 D1-C2/B2 S---y/h=0.575 D1-C2/B2 S---y/h=0.425 D1-C2/B2 S---y/h=0.275 D1-C2/B2 S---y/h=0.125

Age [Days]

Figure 5: Normalized shrinkage of concrete slabs on Sand (S) focus on time effect.

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T Influence for SAND as sub-base

1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6

Finally the conditions of RH and temperature were analysed together to see the worst influence on shrinkage gradient of two usual climates in Belgium: RH=60% and T=20C (summer) and RH=95% and T=6C (winter). Figure 8 and Figure 9 give the results (winter normalized shrinkage summer normalized shrinkage) for sand and PES as sub-base, respectively.
1.6

y/h

0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4
20-95% (D1) - 3 Days 20-95% (D1) - 14 Days 20-95% (D1) - 63 Days 6-95% (A1/C1) - 3 Days 6-95% (A1/C1) - 14 Days 6-95% (A1/C1) - 63 Days

Normalized Shrinkage [/]

Figure 6: Normalized shrinkage of concrete slabs on Sand (S) focus on gradient effect.
T Influence for PES as sub-base
1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6

The differences between both climatic conditions are maximal at 3 days as for the previous examples. These values remain constant from 14 days to 63 days (last measurements). Measurements range between -0.10 and 0.25 for sand, between -0.18 and 0.15 for wetted sand and between -0.13 et 0.10 for PES, depending on the relative position on the thickness of the samples. For the slabs on sand and wetted sand the bottom of the slabs shrinks more in winter conditions than in summer conditions while the opposite effect is observed for the top.

y/h

0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
20-95% (D1) - 3 Days 20-95% (D1) - 14 Days 20-95% (D1) - 63 Days 6-95% (A1/C1) - 3 Days 6-95% (A1/C1) - 14 Days 6-95% (A1/C1) - 63 Days

1.2

1.4

1.6

Normalized Shrinkage [/]

Figure 7: Normalized shrinkage of concrete slabs on Polyethylene sheet on Sand (PES) focus on gradient effect. The differences reach 60% at the top of the slabs while only 10% are observed at bottom.

As it can be seen these figures the influence of the subbase is not negligible for the shrinkage gradient. Basic differences of about 0.75 and 1.5 were observed at 3 days between top and bottom of the slabs for respectively sand and PES. At this time a winter day is more critical than a summer day. After 14 days the influence of the sub-base is less important and counts for only 0.30 (sand/wetted sand) and 0.25 (PES).

RH/T influence for slabs on Sand 1.75

A1/C1-C2/B2 S---y/h=0.875

RH/T influence for slabs on PES on Sand 1.75

A1/C1-C2/B2 PES---y/h=0.875 A1/C1-C2/B2 S---y/h=0.725 A1/C1-C2/B2 S---y/h=0.575 A1/C1-C2/B2 S---y/h=0.425 A1/C1-C2/B2 S---y/h=0.275 A1/C1-C2/B2 S---y/h=0.125

1.50 Normalized Shrinkage Difference [/] 1.25 1.00 0.75 0.50 0.25 0.00 -0.25 -0.50 0 7 14 21 28 35
Age [Days]

1.50 Normalized Shrinkage Difference [/] 1.25 1.00 0.75 0.50 0.25 0.00 -0.25 -0.50

A1/C1-C2/B2 PES---y/h=0.725 A1/C1-C2/B2 PES---y/h=0.575 A1/C1-C2/B2 PES---y/h=0.425 A1/C1-C2/B2 PES---y/h=0.275 A1/C1-C2/B2 PES---y/h=0.125

42

49

56

63

70

14

21

28

35
Age [Days]

42

49

56

63

70

Figure 8: Normalized shrinkage differences between winter and summer conditions for Sand (S) as subbase.

Figure 9: Normalized shrinkage differences between winter and summer conditions for Polyethylene sheet on Sand (PES).

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-0.0090 -0.0080 -0.0070

20-95% S-20cm (D1) 20-95% WS-20cm (D1) 20-95% PES-20cm (D1) 6-95% S-20cm (C1) 6-95% WS-20cm (C1) 6-95% PES-20cm (C1) 20-60% WS-20cm (C4) 20-60% WS-20cm (C3) 20-60% WS-20cm RC (E3) 20-60% WS-20cm SFRC (E4)

(/f)/y [1/mm]

-0.0060 -0.0050 -0.0040 -0.0030 -0.0020 -0.0010 0.0000 0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56

63

70

77

84

91

Age [Days]

Figure 10: Normalized curvature (gradient shrinkage) of different concrete specimens submitted to winter and summer conditions. The curvature of the 20cm thick slabs is given in Figure 10 for the climate conditions in question. It can be clearly seen that the smallest gradient is measured for intermediate conditions (RH=95% and T=20C) and that this gradient grows for winter conditions (RH=95% and T=6C) and is maximum for summer conditions (RH=60% and T=20C). The normalized curvature seems hardly to be severely changed for PES sub-base from 14 days until 63 days. This sub-base allows for a reduction of around 30% of shrinkage gradient for summer conditions. However the same conclusion is not so clear for winter conditions due to more variations in function of the age of the slabs. The low temperature seems to homogenize the displacements whatever the sub-base. 2.2 Influence of the slab thickness

For normalized curvatures (see Figure 12) the results are similar and the observations can be listed here: from 7 days to 63 days the normalized curvature is more important for the 15cm slabs than for the 25cm slabs. The reduction for these last can be estimated to 20% for PES and 16% for sand utilisation of PES can reduce up to 30% of the shrinkage gradient for the same slab thickness normalized shrinkage gradient is constant from 28 days. So the shrinkage gradient is directly proportional to the free shrinkage of the concrete used for the slabs from this age.

For relative height positions that are closer to the subbase (y/h 0.1) the influence of the slab thickness is less sensitive up to 63 days. Figure 13 shows the normalized shrinkage for sand and PES at a relative height position of y/h=0.1. Only 8% difference is observed for sand and 5% for PES. On the other hand Figure 14 shows the same results for y/h=1 but with slightly higher values: 10% for sand and 15% for PES.

Different slab thicknesses (15-20-25cm) were tested with the same test conditions as before. The absolute curvatures are shown in Figure 11. It appears that the thinner the slab the larger the gradient. Once again the PES reveals the smallest gradient whatever the slab thickness.

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3.50
20-95% S-20cm (D1) 20-95% WS-20cm (D1) 20-95% PES-20cm (D1) 6-95% S-20cm (C1) 6-95% WS-20cm (C1) 6-95% PES-20cm (C1) 20-60% S-25cm (C2) 20-60% WS-25cm (C2) 20-60% PES-25cm (C2) 20-60% WS-20cm (C4)

3.00 2.50

/y [S/mm]

2.00 1.50

1.00 0.50

20-60% WS-20cm (C3) 20-60% WS-20cm RC (E3) 20-60% WS-20cm SFRC (E4) 20-60% S -15cm (A2)

0.00 0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 70 77 84 91

20-60% WS-15cm (A2) 20-60% PES-15cm (A2)

Age [Days]

Figure 11: Absolute curvatures of concrete slabs samples.

-0.0090
20-95% S-20cm (D1)

-0.0080 -0.0070

20-95% WS-20cm (D1) 20-95% PES-20cm (D1) 6-95% S-20cm (C1) 6-95% WS-20cm (C1) 6-95% PES-20cm (C1)

(/r)/y [1/mm]

-0.0060 -0.0050 -0.0040 -0.0030 -0.0020 -0.0010 0.0000 0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 70 77 84 91

20-60% S-25cm (C2) 20-60% WS-25cm (C2) 20-60% PES-25cm (C2) 20-60% WS-20cm (C4) 20-60% WS-20cm (C3) 20-60% WS-20cm RC (E3) 20-60% WS-20cm SFRC (E4) 20-60% S -15cm (A2) 20-60% WS-15cm (A2) 20-60% PES-15cm (A2)

Age [Days]

Figure 12: Normalized curvatures of concrete slabs samples.

1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 70 77 84 91

Sand y/h=0.1 h=15cm Sand y/h=0.1 h=25cm PES y/h=0.1 h=15cm PES y/h=0.1 h=25cm

1.6 Sand y/h=1 h=15cm Sand y/h=1 h=25cm PES y/h=1 h=15cm 1.4 PES y/h=1 h=25cm

1.5

Normalized shrinkage

Normalized shrinkage

1.3

1.2

1.1

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6 0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 70 77 84 91

Age (days)

Age (days)

Figure 13: Normalized curvature of concrete slabs samples at y/h=0.1.

Figure 14: Normalized curvature of concrete slabs samples at y/h=1.

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2.3

Influence of the type of sub-base

The influence of the sub-base type has been investigated through all the precedent taks described. A good example of the shrinkage gradient has been plotted at Figure 15 for sand. The results are expressed as shrinkage deformations (in microstrains) in function of the relative height position and in function of the age of the specimens. The very good linear interpolation between the different points for the same age means that the plane sections remains plane (Bernouilli assumption). The gradient evolution is a clear function of the age of the slabs. More deformations are observed at the top of the slabs while the deformations at the bottom are less important. Figure 16 shows the same gradient evolution for PES as sub-base. It can be seen that the values at the top of the slabs are very similar to those of the sand sub-base. Once again the deformations at the bottom of the slabs are more important for PES than for sand. This is caused by the sliding which is permitted by the PES.while de restraint is more important for sand
Differential shrinkage for SAND for SLABS B2 1.000 0.900 0.800 0.700 0.600
3 days 7 days 14 days 21 days 28 days 42 days 63 days

A last figure (see Fig. 17) shows the comparison at 63 days for 3 different sub-bases (sand, wetted sand and PES). The sliding of the specimens cast on PES is obvious. It means that the effect of the sliding capacity of PES is more important than the impossible absorption by the sub-base (sand) under the polyethylene sheet. The shrinkage gradient which could be more important is in fact reduced by the PES.
Differential shrinkage for Slabs B2 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7
y/h [/]
Sand Wetted Sand PE Sheet on Sand

0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0 0 -50 -100 -150 -200
Shrinkage [S] y h

-250

-300

-350

-400

Figure 17: Shrinkage gradient comparison at 63 days. 3 CONCLUSIONS

y/h

0.500 0.400 0.300 0.200 0.100 0.000 0 -50 -100 -150 -200 -250 -300 -350 -400 Shrinkage [S]
y h

Li

(7 d

Drying shrinkage of small (0.7x0.7m) concrete slabs with different thicknesses has been evaluated in 3 different constant climatic conditions (RH en T). The different samples were cast on different types of subbase (sand, wetted sand, polyethylene sheet, lean concrete, recycled aggregates) and the shrinkage gradient was measured until 63 days. The most interesting results were presented as function of normalized shrinkage and relative height position. It appears from the experiments that: - the worst shrinkage gradient is observed for RH=60% and T=20C; - the shrinkage gradient is linear in function of the relative position through the slab thickness; - from 28 days to 63 days the shrinkage gradient is directly proportional to the free shrinkage associated; - for relative positions which are close to the interface concrete/sub-base the climatic conditions have no big influence on the deformations; - shrinkage gradients of more than 3S/mm have been observed for a summer day; - the PES reduces the shrinkage gradient for slabs with thickness up to 25cm (30% of reduction); - there is a small difference between wetted sand and sand in these tests but the RH condition of the sub-base must be investigated with more details in the future. The curling effects (slab edges that go up due to the shrinkage gradient) are important for the robustness of the slab for industrial floors. Damages that can occur -7-

Figure 15: Shrinkage gradient evolution for sand as subbase.

Differential shrinkage for PE on SAND for SLABS B2 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6
y/h 3 days 7 days 14 days 21 days 28 days 42 days

0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0 0 -50 -100 -150 -200
Shrinkage [S]

y h

63 days Li (7

-250

-300

-350

-400

Figure 16: Shrinkage gradient evolution for PES as subbase.

because of curling are predominant near the edges of sawed shrinkage joints. Due to the traffic the edges of the joint can be damaged. This type of problem is not easy to repair and the costs associated with it are large (materials, working time, use of the floor-traffic,). It is therefore recommended to minimize the shrinkage gradient by using the results mentioned above. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The programme research presented in this paper was founded by the Belgian Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Belgian Regions. Their support is gratefully acknowledged. 5 REFERENCES [1] Altoubat S.A. & Lange D. A.: Creep, Shrinkage, and Cracking of Restrained Concrete at Early Age, ACI Materials Journal, July-August 2001. [2] CUR: Ontwerpen van elastische ondersteunde betonvloeren en verhardingen, Aanbeveling 36, CUR, 2000. [3] Feron C. & Chanvillard G.: Calcul des contraintes de retrait gen par le frottement dans les dallages : influence des fibres vis--vis des risques de fissuration, Proceedings of the Fifth International RILEM Symposium on Fibre-Reinforced Concretes (FRC) BEFIB 2000, Rossi & Chanvillard, 2000. [4] Institut Belge de Normalisation-Belgisch Instituut voor Normalisatie (IBN-BIN) : NBN B 15-216 Essais sur bton : retrait et gonflement, IBN-BIN, 1974. [5] Parmentier B. : Vers une conception intgrale des sols industriels. Rapport annuel. BBRI, Brussels, 2002. [6] Perenchio W.F.: The drying Shrinkage Dilemma, Concrete Construction, Avril 1997. [7] Olesen J.F., Stang H.: Designing FRC slabs on
grade for temperature and shrinkage induced cracks, Proceedings of the Fifth International RILEM Symposium on Fibre-Reinforced Concretes (FRC) BEFIB 2000, Rossi & Chanvillard, 2000.

[11] Ytterberg R.F.: Shrinkage and Curling of Slabs on Grade (Part 1), Practitioners guide for Slabs on Ground, American concrete Institute (ACI), 1998.

[8] Pettersson D.:, Stresses in concrete structures from ground restraint. Doctoral thesis. Rapport TVBK-1014, ISSN 0349-4969, University of Lund, Sweden, 1997. [9] Silfwerbrand J.: Design of Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete Slabs on Grade, Proceedings of the Fifth International RILEM Symposium on Fibre-Reinforced Concretes (FRC) BEFIB 2000, Rossi & Chanvillard, 2000. [10] Wagneur M.: Pathologie des sols industriels, Sminaire organis par le CERES, Lige, 1999.

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