Dimensional stability (Shrinkage and creep)

Dimensional stability of a construction material refers to its dimensional change over a long
period of time. If the change is so small that it will not cause any structural problems, the
material is dimensionally stable. For concrete, drying shrinkage and creep are two phenomena
that compromise its dimensional stability.

Shrinkage

Drying shrinkage after concrete has been cured and begins to dry, the excessive water that has
not reacted with the cement will begin to migrate from the interior of the concrete mass to the
surface. As the moisture evaporates, the concrete volume shrinks.

The loss of moisture from the concrete varies with distance from the surface. The shortening
per unit length associated with the reduction in volume due to moisture loss is termed the
shrinkage.

Shrinkage is sensitive to the relative humidity. For higher relative humidity, there is less
evaporation and hence reduced shrinkage. When concrete is exposed to 100% relative humidity
or submerged in water, it will actually swell slightly. Shrinkage can create stress inside
concrete. Because concrete adjacent to the surface of a member dries more rapidly than the
interior, shrinkage strains are initially larger near the surface than in the interior. As a result of
the differential shrinkage, a set of internal self-balancing forces, i.e. compression in the interior
and tension on the outside, is set up.

If the tensile stress induced by restrained shrinkage exceeds the tensile strength of concrete,
cracking will take place in the restrained structural element. If shrinkage cracks are not
properly controlled, they permit the passage of water, expose steel reinforcements to the
atmosphere, reduce shear strength of the member and are bad for appearance of the structure.

Shrinkage cracking is often controlled with the incorporation of sufficient reinforcing

steel, or the provision of joints to allow movement.

Factors affecting drying shrinkage:

 material and mix proportions
 Aggregate type and content
 Cement type and content

Creep

Creep is defined as the increase in strain (deformation) under a sustained stress (load). When
loaded, concrete experiences an instantaneous elastic strain, which is recoverable. In addition,
an inelastic creep strain takes place that is only partially recoverable.
Creep is also defined as the time-dependent deformation under a constant load. Water
movement under stress is a major mechanism leading to creeping of concrete.

Creep:
 Loss of adsorbed water under mechanical pressure
 Delayed elastic response of aggregate
 Transition zone crack propagation.
(cement paste deforms first, then aggregate particles become more stresses, then aggregate will
have elastic deformation - that’s why its delayed) - (Elastic deformation of aggregate particles)

The ability of concrete to creep imparts a degree of ductility to concrete that enables it to
tolerate the normal range of structural deformations encountered in practice. Creep provides a
structure with the ability to redistribute excessive stresses.

Without the ability to creep, concrete would simply be too brittle for use in the majority of
structures.

However, creep also may have detrimental effects such as increased deflection resulting in
cracking, loss of pre-stress, and buckling of slender columns.

It is therefore important that the designer takes the necessary steps to allow for creep in the
design of concrete structures.

Creep consists of two components:

■ Basic creep, defined as the creep that occurs under conditions where there is no drying
■ Drying creep, the additional creep that occurs when the loaded concrete is drying

Creep of Concrete
 True or Basic Creep: Creep with no loss of water to the environment (under 100%
RH)
 When drying shrinkage and creep happen together, it is more than basic creep.
 Specific Creep: is defined as creep strain per unit of stress:
 Drying Creep: is the additional creep that occurs when the specimen under load is
also drying.
 Creep Coefficient: is defined as the ratio of creep strain to elastic coefficient.
 Typical strain vs time curve for concrete subjected to constant load followed by
load removal

Creep can influence reinforced concrete in the following aspects:

• Due to the delayed effects of creep, the long-term deflection of a beam can be 2-3 times
larger than the initial deflection.

• Creeping results in the reduction of stress in pre-stressed concrete which can lead to
increased cracking and deflection under service load.

• In a R.C column supporting a constant load, creep can cause the initial stress in the steel to
double or triple with time because steel is non-creeping and thus take over the force reduced
in concrete due to creep.

Shear Strength

Shear strength of concrete is taken approximately equal to 20 % its compressive strength

Bond Strength
• The strength of bond between steel reinforcement and concrete is called as bond
strength of concrete

• Bond strength develops primarily due to friction and adhesion between steel
reinforcement and concrete

• In general, bond strength is approximately proportional to the compressive strength of

concrete up to about 20 MPa (3000 psi)

• For higher compressive strengths of concrete, the increase in bond strength becomes
progressively smaller and eventually negligible.

Impact Strength
• Impact strength of concrete is of importance in driving concrete piles, in foundations for
machines exerting impulsive loading, and also when accidental impact is possible, e.g.
when handling precast concrete members

• There is no unique relation between impact strength and other strengths of concrete.
However, some researchers have found that impact is related to the compressive
strength, and it has been suggested that the impact strength varies from 0.50 to 0.75 of
the compressive cube strength

• It is found that the impact strength of water-stored concrete is lower than when the
concrete is dry

Fatigue Strength
• The strength of concrete against cyclic or repeated loading is called as its fatigue
strength.

• The fatigue strength of concrete is much less than that from static strength due to
sustained loading. A fatigue limit of (50-60)% of compressive strength in static, is
observed, when stress is applied in 2,000,000 cycle, for a maximum stress starting from
zero.
Factors Affecting Drying Shrinkage and Creep

I. Material and mix proportions

 Aggregate:
1. Aggregate content - any increment of these two factors reduce the drying
shrinkage & creep.
 Cement:
1. Water/cement ratio:
For a constant cement content an incremental increase in W/C ratio increases both
drying shrinkage and creep.
2. Cement content:
For a constant W/C ratio an incremental increase in cement content reduces the
creep but increases the drying shrinkage. This is the only case in which exists an
opposite effect.

II. Curing and testing conditions

 Humidity:
1. One of the most important factors for both shrinkage and creep is the relative
humidity of the medium surrounding the concrete. For a given concrete, creep is
higher the lower the relative humidity.
2. An incremental increase on relative humidity of air decreases both the drying
shrinkage and creep.
 Temperature:
1. Given the same curing history for two specimens, the one that is kept in a higher
temperature will have more creep and drying shrinkage than the other one.
 Age of loading:
1. There is a direct proportionality between the magnitude of sustained stress and the
creep of concrete.
2. Because of the effect of strength on creep, at a given stress level, lower creep
values were obtained for the longer period of curing before the application of the
load. Shrinkage is not affected by this factor.

Strategies for improving dimensional stability of concrete

The dimensional changes are quite variable because of their dependence on the environmental
conditions and applied loads, they are all related to the concrete mix proportions. Generally, the
dimensional stability of concrete can be improved by reducing its cement content and paste
volume. Moreover, since the aggregate also shrinks, the dimensional stability can be improved
by suppressing the shrinkage of aggregate as well. 

REFERENCES:
 Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering
 http://courses.washington.edu/cm425/dim_stab.pdf