4.

Properties of Hardened Concrete

4.1 Deformation of hardened concrete, Moduli of

elasticity
4.2 Shrinkage and Creep
4.3 Fatigue, impact and dynamic loading
4.4 Effect of porosity, water-cement ratio and
aggregate size
4.5 Effect of gel/space ratio
4.1 Deformation of Hardened Concrete
Deformation of concrete occurs due to the following strains:-

i. Elastic Strains: These are the instantaneous deformation that occur when
an external stress is first applied.
ii. Shrinkage Strains: These deformation occur either on loss of moisture
from the concrete or on cooling of concrete.
iii. Creep Strain: It is the time dependent deformation that occur on the
prolonged application of stress.
iv. Thermal Strain: It is the deformation due to change in temperature.

Any 1 or combination of these deformation in a hardened concrete leads to

cracking. To be able to calculate the deformation & deflection of various
structural member, we have to know the relation between stress and strain.
The non-linearity characteristic of concrete is due to the formation of micro-
cracks which are formed
i. at the interface betn aggregate and cement paste
ii. within the cement paste
These micro-cracks are formed due to the change in temperature & moisture
& due to the application of load too.
The relationship between the stress level expressed as a % of the ultimate load &
micro-cracking in concrete shows the four stages of concrete behavior.
1. At the 25-30% of the ultimate strength, random cracking are observed.
2. At about 50% of the ultimate strength, cracks grows stably from transition zone
into paste. Also, micro-cracks starts to develop in the paste.
3. At about 75% of the ultimate strength, paste cracks and bond cracks start to join
together, forming major cracks. These major cracks keeps growing while smaller
cracks come closer.
4. At the ultimate load, failure occurs when the major cracks link up along the
vertical direction & split the specimen.
Modulus of Elasticity
 Slope of the relation between the stress and strain.
 Measure of stiffness or resistance to deformation of a material.
 Elastic modulus is valid only for linear portion of the curve.
1. Non- linear
2. Non- Elastic
Types of Modulus of elasticity:
MPa
a. Initial tangent modulus of elasticity:
 Slope of a line drawn tangent to the stress-strain curve at the
origin.

b. Tangent modulus of elasticity:

 Slope of a line drawn tangent to the stress-strain curve at any
point.

c. Secant modulus of elasticity:

 Slope of a line drawn from the origin to the point on the curve
corresponding to 40% stress of the failure load.

d. Chord modulus of elasticity:

 Slope of a line drawn between two points of stress-strain curve.
Chord modulus
Use of modulus of elasticity:

1. For determining structural deformations.

2. In RCC, it is used to find the stress developed in
simple elements and also to find the moments,
deflection and stress in complex structures.
3. To determine the quality of concrete when
subjected to alternate freezing and thawing.
4.2 Shrinkage and Creep

Shrinkage:
 Defined as the volume change (reduction) in concrete due to
loss of water or moisture due to evaporation or by hydration
of cement or by carbonation.
 Its unit is mm per mm (i.e. linear change).

Types of Shrinkage:
1. Plastic Shrinkage
 It is the volumetric contraction of freshly placed concrete
when the cement paste is plastic.
 It is caused by loss of water by evaporation or suction of
water by the dry concrete below.
 The contraction in volume induces tensile stress in the
surface and thus, cracks are seen at the surface.
2. Drying Shrinkage:
 The reduction of volume after setting and hardening of
concrete with respect to time.
 Withdrawal of water from hardened concrete stored in
unsaturated air causes drying shrinkage.
 Cracks due to drying shrinkage occurs at an early age of
concrete when the strength is low.

3. Autogeneous Shrinkage:
 It is the shrinkage that is developed though the movement of
water to or from the set paste.
 It is caused by the loss of water during hydration.
 Its magnitude is very small and thus has no significance.
4. Carbonation Shrinkage:
 It is the volumetric contraction that is induced when CO2
present in the atmosphere reacts with the hydrated cement
minerals in the presence of moisture.

Creep:
 Defined as the increase in strain under a sustained stress.
 When the hydrated cement paste is subjected to a sustained
stress, the C-S-H will lose the physically adsorbed water and
the paste will show creep strain.
 The loss of absorbed water under sustained loading is the
major cause of creep which is also called as creep caused by
moisture movement.
 Creep in concrete is a post-elastic phenomena.
Factors affecting Shrinkage and creep:
1. Aggregates and its properties:
 Inverse relationship with aggregate volume.

2. Relative Humidity:
 Inverse relationship

3. Cement content:
 Drying shrinkage increases with higher cement paste where
as due to higher strength, creep decreases.

4. Effect of time:
 Both shrinkage and creep increases with time.
4.3 Fatigue, impact and dynamic loading

Fatigue:
 It is the failure of a material by fracture when subjected to a
cyclic stress or repeated loads, each load being smaller than
the static compressive strength of concrete.
 2 types of fatigue failure:-

i. Simple fatigue failure:- Failure that occurs under cyclic or

repeated loading.

ii. Static fatigue or creep rupture failure:- Failure that

occurs under a sustained or slowly increasing load near or
below the strength under an increasing load.
Impact strength of concrete or dynamic loading:

 Impact strength of a concrete is the ability to withstand

repeated blows and to absorb energy.

 The impact strength and the total energy absorbed by

concrete increases with its compressive strength and age.

 The knowledge of impact strength is necessary when

impulsive loads are exerted in structures.
4.4 Effect of porosity, water-cement ratio and
aggregate size
Effect of porosity:-

 Porosity , Strength

 Porosity , Permeability
 W/C ratio, hydration degree, air content, alkali
aggregate reaction, admixture, etc. affects concrete
porosity.
 For high durability, porosity should be low so as to
reduce permeability.
Effect of Aggregate Size:-

 Large size aggregate low surface area for a particular

volume low gel bonding area lower strength

 Bigger size of aggregate causes heterogeneity & load may be

distributed on a particular location non-uniform loading
area weak

 Use of large aggregate bleeding makes the transition

zone much weaker due to the formation of micro-cracks
4.5 Effects of gel/space:-

 Gel/space ratio is defined as the ratio of hydrated cement & capillary

pores.
 In other words, it is the ratio of the solid products of hydration to the
space available for these hydration products.
 The porosity of concrete which governs the strength of concrete is
affected by the gel/space ratio in concrete.
 A higher gel/space ratio reduces the porosity & therefore increases the
strength.
 W/C , Porosity , gel/space , strength
 Power’s experiment showed that the strength of concrete bears a
relationship with the gel/space ratio.
fc= 240 x3 , fc=Compressive strength
x = gel/space ratio
1. For partial hydration,

Gel/space ratio (x) = (0.657Cα) / (0.319Cα + W)

2. For full hydration,

Gel/space ratio (x) = (0.657C) / (0.319C + W)

Where, C Weight of cement in gm.

W Volume of mixing water in ml.
α  Degree of hydration
Also, Porosity(p)= Vv/V = 1- x
1. Calculate the gel/space ratio and theoretical strength
of a concrete sample made with 600gm of cement
with 0.5 w/c ratio on full hydration and 70%
hydration.

Ans: (x= 0.8, fc= 123 Mpa) & (x= 0.636, fc= 61.74 Mpa)

Note:
1 cm3 of cement before hydration = 2.06 cm3 of cement
after hydration
2. Calculate the percentage porosity, gel/space ratio and
theoretical strength for w/c= 0.55 when the degree of
hydration is 80%.
Soln;
Assume volume of cement (Vc) = 100 cm3
Total volume of cement paste:
(V) = Vc + Vw
= 100 + w/c * Vc * Sp. Gr. Of cement
= 100 + 0.55 * 100 * 3.15
= 273. 25 cm3
Volume of hydrated product (Vp) = 2.06*0.8*100
= 164.8 cm3
Volume of un-hydrated cement (Vo) = 100-0.8*100
= 20 cm3
Volume of void (Vv) = V-Vo-Vp
= 273. 25- 164.8-20
= 88.45 cm3
Percentage porosity (p) = Vv/V
= (88.45/273.25)*100%
= 32.37 %
Gel/Space ratio (x) = 1-p = 1-0.3237 =0.6763
Theoretical strength, fc = 240x3 = 74.24 MPa