M

ost owners would like to eliminate or con-t rol cracking in any industrial floor slab they build, reduce the number of joints in the s l a b, and get a superior long-lasting conc rete floor. These desirable results can be achieve dthrough three separate but highly compatible factors: expansive cement deformed welded wire fabric a new prog ram of certified uality control !sing these three components to produce a better floor begins in the planning"design phase of a pro j e c tand continues with close attention to detail to final acceptance by the ow n e r. # recently completed industrial floor illustrates how the three factors work together. The project was a $%& '''-s uare - f o o t( ) *+ ware house addition to an existing plant in ,illows, -alifornia ..oadings in the range of /'' to %'' pounds per uare f o o t ,( 0 *mainly by forklift trucks, we reexpected. To handle these rolling loads high perf o rmance standards and narrow tolerances were set for the /-inch-thick ( $ * floor in t e rms of smoothness ()1% inch in )' feet*, (&* eedom from cracks, a minimum of joints, and a long-term, virt u a l l y m a i n t e n a n c e - f ree life. 2replanning to help achieve those standards began with the ow n e r3s stipulation that the warehouse stru ct u re it self be erected before floor slab construction. This would avoid possible damage to the newly cast concre t e f rom the heavy erection e uipment moving over it and p rovide optimum curing conditions away from dire c t sunlight and hot winds.

Expansive cement concrete specified

4ince the owner wanted a virtually cra c k - f ree floor, the specification of shrinkage-compensating concrete was almost obv i o u s. 4uch concrete is made with expansive cement. 5ow the expansive cement functions in shri n k age-

compensating concrete to offset shrinkage and m i n i m i 6e cracking has been increasingly documented in recent ye a r s . 5e re3s how Type 7 expansive cement (an #-8 designation* work s. #s concrete made with expansive cement begins to set, it bonds to the steel re i n f o r cement embedded in it. #t the same time, the expansive reaction causes a con-t rolled vo l u m e t ric expansion of the concre t e. The concrete now is bonded to the steel, so this expansion will put the steel in tension and the concrete in compression. Thus, the concrete is pres t ressed, but at a much lo wer magnitude than that of conventional pr e s t re s s i n g . The expansive reaction is complete in the first few days of concrete curing. .ater, when the concrete is exposed to drying conditions, it will shrink. 9ut unlike conv entional portland cement concr ete , this shr inkage mer ely r eliev es the slight pr ecompr ession. 8t does not build up tensile stresses exceeding the tensile strength of concr ete:the reason for cracking in conventional portland cement concr ete . The pr estr essing caused by expansion of the concrete and r estr aint by the steel has compensated in advance for drying shr

inkage .9 ased on tests and observation, the net v olumetr ic change of shr inkage-compensating concrete is almost 6 er o. ;eduction or virtual elimination of cr a c k - p ro d u c i n g tensile stresses in shrinkage-compensating concrete has another important adv antage . That is the placement of lar ger slab areas without the need for any shrinkage contr ol joints and with fewer construction joints. 8n some cases , <' to %= percent of the total joints needed in a conv entional portland cement concrete floor may be eliminated in a shrinkage-compensating concrete floor of comparable area. >esigners normally break up portland cement concrete floor areas into )=- to 0=-foot
(=*

4hrinkage-compensating concrete for industrial floors on ground

5ow three-way combination of expansive cement, welded wire fabric and certified uality control was used for warehouse floor expected to be crack-free
B
Y

W
ILLIAM

P. L
ILJESTROM

P
RESI!E"T

#$S
ER%I$E

I
"$

.
A"!

$
&EMI$ALLY

P
RESTRESSE!

$
O"$RETE

$
ORPORATIO"

&
A$IE"!A

&
EI'&TS

$
ALI(OR"IA A"!

R
OBERT

$. R
I$&AR!SO"

T
E$&"I$AL

!
IRE$TOR

!
A%IS

W
AL)ER

$
ORPORATIO"

L
OS

A
"'ELES

$
ALI(OR"IA
* "+m,ers in parent-eses refer to metric e.+iva/ents /isted 0it- t-is artic/e.

panels by construction and"or control joints. ! sing shr inkage-compensating concr ete , how e ve r , under co v er ar eas as large as 0',''' s uare feet
(/*

hav e been placed without joints. ?or slabs exposed to weather it is normally recommended that placements be limited to <''' to )0,''' s uare feet,
(<*

depending on what a nor mal cr ew can ade uately place and finish in a day. @n the , illo

ws job, the o wner 3s engineers selected ='by )='-foot

(%*

slabs as the nearly optimum panel si6e for their needs and column configuration. These typical < = ' ' - s u a re - f o o t
(A*

slabs of shr inkage-compensating concr ete each saved a total of &'' feet
()'*

of extra joints by eliminating the need for two ='-foot-long

())*

c o n s t ru c tion joints across the width of the slab and making unnecessar y $'' feet
()0*

of sawed control joints which would hav e divided the area into 0=-foot
()$*

s uar e panels (? ig ur e )*. !se of shrinkage-compensating concrete for the 0=%,<=' s uare feet
()&*

of slabs was to eliminate )$,%'' linear feet

()=*

of joints:a saving of over 0 miles of potential tr ouble and maintenance. The highly visible benefits of crack control and joint

reduction r e uir e more than just a decision to use shr inkage-compensating concr ete . 8nattention to necessar y design-details and construction pr ocedur es can mar those r esults . #mong those details and pr o c e d u re s : onstr uction joints in industrial floors should be doweled or keyed to allow thermal contraction and expansion. > efor med bars across these joints would cause cr acking of nearby slab ar eas . ;ectangular column boxouts that form r eentr ant corners may create stresses that initiate cracking. -ir cular bo xouts are r ecommended. 4labs should be cast leaving at least two adjacent sides u n re s t r ained and free to permit the desired initial expansion. 2lan the casting schedule carefully:and re-

lease the edge forms or stakes as soon as the concr ete has been finished.

Expansion a1ainst restraint essentia/

# related and e ually important factor is the steel reinfor cement in the slabs. The concept of providing restr aint against expansion is essential to any use of shr inkage-compensating concr ete . #-8 00$ (see ; efer ence )* states that r einfor cement, generally based on the #-8 $)% 9uilding ode , is pr eferr ed to other types of restr aint such as adjacent str uctur al elements or subgr ade fr iction, which are largely indeterminate and which may pr ovide either too much or too little r estr aint . The engineers on the , illo ws job first specified B um

ber &
()<*

Crade &'
()%*

r ebars , )% inches
()A*

on centers in each dir ection. This provided the r estr aint r e uir ed to contr ol the expansion reaction and, at a percentage of '.)%= for the /-inch-thick
($*

slabs , more than met the minimum r e uir ements of #-8 00$. The )%-inch spacing was selected in order to assure, through improved accessibility to wor kers , more accurate positioning of supports to hold the steel in the upper third of the slab as called for by #-8 00$. This would also assure more accur ate , complete embedment of the r einfor cement, while still allowing ade uate cov er .

!eformed 0e/ded 0ire fa,ric for restraint

9ut when a construction contract was awarded, the contr actor proposed substituting deformed welded wire fabr ic for the r ebar . The fabric proposed was designated as )/x)/->)&.&x>)&.&, that is, a fabric of defor med, '.&0%-inch-diameter
(0'*

cold-dr awn wir es , each with a cr oss-sectional area of '.)&& s uare inch and wir es spaced at )/ inches
(00*

in both dir ections .5 er e are the arguments advanced for this change: > efor med fabric has a higher, guaranteed yield str ength of <',''' psi.
(0$*

8t allows use of the minimum steel percentage of '.)= per mitted by #-8 00$. The proposed )/-inch
(0&*

wir e spacing is almost as convenient for workers to step between as the spacing of

)% inches
()A*

and offers comparable advantages of easy handling and positioning. The reduced amount of steel needed and the r educed (i1+re 2. $omparison of 3oint re.+irements in concrete f/oor s/a,s made 0it- expansive cement and conventiona/ port/and cement. manpo wer and time needed for placement of the sheets of fabric should produce significant savings. 8t was also pointed out that the wire defor mations would assure the ade uate bond r e uir ed to develop restr aint against the expansive reaction. ? u rt h e rm o r e the rigidity of the '.&0%-inch-diameter
(0'*

cold-dr awn wir es would assure that the sheets lie flat on the supports with full cov er . The owners accepted the proposed substitution and found that it sped up the schedule.

$ertified .+a/it4 contro/ retained

The engineers on this job took another step to help meet their own per for mance standar ds . This was to con-

tr act for a pr ogr am of certified uality control cov e ri n g e ve r y aspect of site-cast shrinkage-compensating conc re t e : f r om supply of cement and aggr egates , batching and testing, to project acceptance. This r elativ ely new concept eliminates the inability an owner sometimes has of fixing responsibility when concr ete does not meet design r e u i re m e n t s . 9y this system it is no longer necessary to go from architect to engineer to contractor to testing labor ator y to concr ete pr oducer to concrete subcontractor when something goes wrong. The sort of certified service retained on this pr oject can put the responsibility on a single entity. Traditional design and construction channels r emain unchanged under this concept, except that the cer tified uality control group carries out an evaluation and tr aining pr ogr

am and selects all participants in the concr ete supply operation. The uality control group assumes full responsibility to the owner for each step as well as for the end product. @n the , illo ws project, the uality control group certified the producer of r eady mixed concr ete , who set up a batch plant on site. The gr oup also retained a testing labor ator y and trained two of its employees in testing expansive cement mixes, tr ained batchplant and jobsite inspectors, and r e p o rt e d daily to the o wner . onstr uction on the addition, a D$
)

1
0

-million pr oject, star ted in 4eptember )A<<. 2r epar ation of the site was a first, all-important step. #s much as 0 feet
(0=

* of unstable soil was dug out and up to < feet

(0/*

of fill was impor ted, compacted to A= percent to form a subgrade for the floor slab to come. This was cov er ed with )0 inches
(0<*

of limestabili6 ed material, and topped with / inches

(0%*

of -lass 0
(0A*

cr ushed stone subbase. Bext came construction of footings , followed by erection of the metal-clad str uctur e itself. 8n # pr il of )A<%, placement of shr inkage-compensat ing concrete began for the first of thirty <=''-s uar efoot
(A*

and three )),0='-s uar e-foot

($'*

jointless slabs. 2lacement continued at a rate of about 0 slabs each wor king day until the middle of E ay , when concreting of these slabs and over )0=,''' s uare feet
($)*

of conv en tional slabs was completed.

(a,ric p/acement proced+res

#fter final pr epar ation of the subgrade and subbase, the first step in the slab construction se uence was placement of the welded wire fabric sheets. ?or the typical ='- by )='-foot
(%*

slab a total of for ty -two %-footwide

($0*

sheets was r e uir ed, half of the sheets 0) feet

($$*

long and the others $' feet

($&*

long. These w er e placed in 0) rows down the length of the slabs with the 0)- and $'foot lengths alternating so that the laps between the pairs of sheets in each row w er e stagger ed. #s anticipated by the decision to conv er t from r ebars to fabric, significant manpower savings w er er eali6

ed in placing the sheets. # single ir o n w o rk e r , assisted by a man operating a front-end loader e uipped with a )&foot-long
($=*

spr eader beam, was easily able to place up to two bays of steel a day. The loader brought stacks of seven sheets to a point at or near their final position on the subbase . ?rom there, the ir onwor ker was able to slide the )<<-pound
($/*

sheets singly into final position. 8t took just 0/ man-days to place $)$,<=' s uare feet
($<*

of fabric, or over )='' s uare feet

($%*

an hour:much faster than placing rebars individually. -lose attention to splicing of the sheets was necessar y to assure that the steel was continuous and thus capable of providing consistent r estr aint to the expansive reaction, and also to get the greatest benefit from the splicing system designed into the sheets. This consisted of a pair of ><.0 wires % inches
($A*

on centers along each edge or side of the %-foot-wide

($0*

sheets . 9y placing these pairs of wires over each other, an %

=

1
%

-inch
(&'*

lap was provided without an attendant buildup of steel. The combination of the edge wires added up to the same r e uisite steel area as given by the main >)&.& wir es:without ov er design, and with savings in steel. ;educing the wire si6e in the splice 6one also pro vided for uniform distribution of steel across the slab in the longitudinal direction of the fabric sheets, thus eliminating steel buildup that often induces stiffness in the conc re t e . 8t is also desirable to avoid buildup at the splices so that the fabric sheets lie flatter and are assured of ade(i1+re 5. Lapped sp/ices +sed at sides and ends of 0e/ded 0ire fa,ric. uate cov er . The sheets w er e overlapped at the ends a minimum of )$ inches.
(&)*

9oth side and end lapped splices conformed to cr iter ia established by the , ir e ;einfor cement 8nstitute (see ? igur

e 0 and ; efer ence <*. The sheets r e uir ed only a minimum amount of tieing, just enough to guard against shifting during concr ete placement. The final step was positioning the fabric accurately at the proper level in the slab. #-8 00$ points out that because most of the drying occurs in the top portion of slabs on gr ade , the r einfor cement should be placed there, pr efer ably one-third the distance fr om the top. This was accomplished by supporting the sheets on $
)

1
0

-inch
(&0*

cubes of concrete adobe brick located about & feet

(&$*

on centers. The cubes w er e distributed about the subbase prior to concreting, but w er e not actually placed under the wires as supports until concreting was in pr o g re s s . This permitted the truck mixers to be dri-

ven onto the subbase without fear of bending or distorting the sheets between the suppor ts . ,hile the tr uck mo ved down the lane between columns depositing the mix by chute onto the subbase, one man moved along betw een the truck and the end of the chute and placed the adobe cubes under the wir es . The sheet was thus accur ately positioned just before being embedded in conc re t e .

$oncrete p/acement proced+res

This same worker accomplished another impor tant oper ation. To be effective, the expansive cement mix reuir es proper wetting of the subbase. 8t is suggested that this be done with a soaking the night before, followed by spr inkling just ahead of the concrete placing oper ation. The Fadobe manG at , illo ws had the responsibility for spr inkling just ahead of concrete placement . 9atching and mixing of the &'''-psi-designs t re n g t h
(&&*

concr ete was closely observed and checked

by the certified uality control people. > e l i ve r ies w er e br ought under the warehouse roof from the nearby batch plant by a fleet of five %-cubic-yard
(&=*

tr uck mixers. The drum of each truck turned at least <' r ev olutions befor e dischar ge . # )$-man crew placed the mix at a r ate of about /0
)

1
0

s uar e feet
(&/*

a minute. They completely finished two slabs, or )=,''' s uare feet,

(&<*

in )) hours. # =0-foot-wide
(&%*

a i r- p re s s u re - o p e r ated vibr ator y scr eed with 0/ vibrating heads struck off the ='-foot-wide
(&A*

slabs and produced a flat, level floor meeting the tight sur face tolerance specification and assuring complete

embedment of the deformed wir es . #lthough the handling char acter istics of shr inkagecompensating concrete are similar to a comparable T ype 8 or 88 portland cement concr ete , one notable and significant difference r e uir ed close attention by the finishers . There is an almost total absence of bleed water after scr eeding or floating. ?or this reason a cement mason wor king with the mix the first time might be inclined to star t finishing operations too soon. # good rule of thumb , which was followed at , i l l ow s , is to hold off until the slab is firm enough to support the finishers. #s provided in the design"planning stage of the project, the forms on two adjacent sides of the typical <=''s u a re - f o o t
(A*

slab w er e released as soon as possible without inflicting surface damage on the concr ete . This

per mitted the controlled expansive reaction to go to its limit. These sides w er e kept open for at least $ days. ur ing of the shrinkage-compensating concrete floor follo wed accepted pr ocedur es for conventional slabs but with an added precaution. 4ince any deficiencies in procedur es for curing expansive slabs may reduce the amount of initial expansion needed to offset the later dr ying shr inkage , more care is r e uir ed than usual. #t the alifor nia project, a 0<-percent chlorinated r ubber solution was spr ay ed over the surface of subareas of the lar ge slab immediately after finishing.
References 627 Recommended Practice for t-e 8se of S-rin9a1e:$om: pensatin1 $oncrete 6A$I 55;:<<7 52 pa1es American $on: crete Instit+te Box 2=2#> !etroit Mic-i1an ?@52=. 657 B+i/din1 $ode Re.+irements for Reinforced $oncrete 6A$I ;2@:<<7 American $oncrete Instit+te same address. 6;7 Tentative Specification for Expansive &4dra+/ic $ement ASTM $ @?#:<AT ; pa1es American Societ4 for Testin1

and Materia/s 2=2A Race Street P-i/ade/p-ia Penns4/vania 2=2>;. 6?7 Standard Test Met-od for Restrained Expansion of Ex: pansive $ement Mortar ASTM $ @>A:<# ? pa1es Ameri: can Societ4 for Testin1 and Materia/s same address. 6#7 BS-rin9a1e:$ompensatin1 $ement $oncrete C $oncrete $onstr+ction ? pa1es (e,r+ar4 2=<A pa1e A;. 6A7 '+ide for Testin1 &and/in1 and P/acin1 $-em$omp $e: ment $oncrete Second Edition $-emica//4 Prestressed $oncrete $orporation 2?A#A Oxnard Street %an "+4s $a/i: fornia =2?>2 6<7 Jointed $oncrete S/a,s and Pavements 6WW( 2>27 Sec: ond printin1 Marc- 2=<# Wire Reinforcement Instit+te <=>> Westpar9 !rive McLean %ir1inia 552>5.
Metric e.+iva/ents
627 ;# <>>:s.+are:meter 6;>7 2>#>:s.+are:meter 657 ;> >>> to ?> >>> pasca/s 6;27 22 A>> s.+are meters 6;7 2#>:mi//imeter:t-ic9 6;57 5.?:meter:0ide 6?7 ; mi//imeters in ; meters 6;;7 A.? meters 6#7 ?.#: to <.#:meter 6;?7 =.2 meters 6A7 5>>> s.+are meters 6;#7 ?:meter:/on1 6<7 A#> to 22>> s.+are meters 6;A7 @>:9i/o1ram 6@7 2#: ,4 ?#:meter 6;<7 5= 2#> s.+are meters 6=7 A<#:s.+are:meter 6;@7 2?> s.+are meters 62>7 25> meters 6;=7 5>> mi//imeters 6227 2#:meter:/on1 6?>7 55>:mi//imeter 6257 => meters 6?27 ;;> mi//imeters 62;7 <.# meter 6?57 =>:mi//imeter 62?7 5? >;@ s.+are meters 6?;7 2.5 meters 62#7 ?5>> meters 6??7 5@:me1apasca/:desi1n:stren1t62A7 over ? 9i/ometers 6?#7 A:c+,ic:meter 62<7 25.<>:mi//imeter:diameter 6?A7 #.@ s.+are meters 62@7 5<A:me1apasca/ 6?<7 2?>> s.+are meters 62=7 ?A> mi//imeters 6?@7 2A:meter:0ide 65>7 2>.=:mi//imeter:diameter 6?=7 2#:meter 0ide 6527 =; s.+are mi//imeters 6#>7 5.?: ,4 =.2 meter 6557 ?>> mi//imeters 6#27 2>> mi//imeters 65;7 ?@>:me1apasca/ 6#57 <# c+,ic meters 65?7 ?2>:mi//imeter 6#;7 2# meters 65#7 A>> mi//imeters

6#?7 ?# meters 65A7 5 meters 6##7 ;> meters 65<7 ;>> mi//imeters 6#A7 55> mi//imeters 65@7 2#> mi//imeters 6#<7 <.# meters 65=7 a,o+t 5>: to A#:mi//imeter

2 ! 9 . 8 - #T 8 @ BH - < A ' )) '

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