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Engineering Director
ARKAN architects consultants
It is quite often
for cracks to
develop at
reinforced
concrete rafts
and/or
basement walls
Such cracking
would likely
lead to leakage
of ground water
in contact with
the crack
This discussion will be addressing
non-structural cracks
Drop in temperature
Drying shrinkage
What happens?
a. Concrete shrinks excessively
b. Its movement is usually
restrained so contraction is
physically obstructed
c. Tensile stresses – beyond
concrete resistance- will
develop and will cause cracking
Due to its low resistance to tensile
stress and to temperature / drying
shrinkage properties, concrete is
generally vulnerable to cracking of
various patterns, sizes and severities
Cracking at basement envelope
develops at an early stage but the
severe implication thereof often
takes place several months later
when dewatering system is switched
off allowing water to leak through
these cracks
Aftermath
remedy would
likely involve
high cost and
delay
potentiality
Let us have a model to analyze
the contraction & stresses
resulting from temperature drop
& drying shrinkage
Criteria of Contraction Analysis
Drying shrinkage and temperature drop contraction
fck.cube 45 Analysis is carried out to
fck 35 the provisions of the
b RH 1.35625 Eurocode 2: Design of
fcm 43 fctm 3.2 Concrete Structures
fcmo 10 EN1992-1-1
a ds1 3
Restraint:
Held at all but
upper boundary
edges
Basic assumptions:
Concrete grade 45 Mpa is used
Shuttering taken off after 12 hours
40% drying shrinkage takes place
48 hours after removing shutter
Temperature drop from hydration
to ambient = 55 – 28 = 27o C
No early curing applied
Tensile Stresses SX developed in the
wall 48 hours after stripping:
This means that:
Direct tensile stresses in the
wall will reach 5.41 Mpa under
the conditions given, while
tensile resistance of concrete
at age of 4 days will only be
2.3 MPa
As a result, the wall will crack where
tensile stresses will exceed the
concrete tensile resistance
Some of these
cracks will be too
fine to be seen, so
they will remain
invisible until after
several months later
when Dewatering
System will be
switched off
Q: Does that mean that cracks are
inevitable?
A: No ..
Pour
relatively
short
sectors of
basement
wall at
alternate
sequencing
Considerations taken during construction
Adopt high
waterproofing
standards,
materials &
accessories
Considerations taken during construction
Surface
preparation and
the insertion of
Water bars & Re-
injectable hoses
at joints
Considerations taken during construction
Re-injectable
hoses at joints
Thank you for paying
attention
Any questions?