CREEP OF CONCRETE

Prepared by: PhD student Mariwan Mirhaj M.Salih

Supervised by: Dr. Dilshad K. Jaf
Date: 24/12/2017
 CONTENTS
Introduction

Total Creep

Creep Reversibility

Measurement of Creep

Mechanism of Creep

Prediction of Creep

Effect of Creep
 1. Introduction
• Definition of Creep: Creep is defined as the gradual increases in strain or deformation
with time for a constant applied stress in excess of the sum of the elastic strain and free
drying shrinkage strain [1].
• When concrete is loaded, the deformation caused by the load can be divided into two
parts: a deformation that occurs immediately (elastic strain) and a time-dependent
deformation that begins immediately but continues at a decreasing rate as long as the
concrete is loaded. This latter deformation is called creep [4].
• When a hydrated cement paste is subjected to a sustained stress, the C-S-H will lose
adsorbed water and the paste will show a creep strain. [1]
• Design significance: Creep can be several times as large as elastic strain at loading so
that creep is a significant factor in the serviceability of structures and needs to be
accounted for in design. The micro-strain of creep is 400 to 1000 × 10−6 which is large
and cannot be ignored in structural design. In practice, elastic strain is not too important
as it is the total strain that matters*. [1]
• Practical significance: Creep is of practical significance since it can be two or three
times the initial elastic strain after one year under load, which represents ~ 70% of 20-
year creep. [1]
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1.1 The amount of Creep is dependent on:
1. The magnitude of the applied stress,
2. The age and strength of the concrete when stress is applied,
3. The length of time the concrete is stressed,
4. Type, amount and maximum size of aggregate,
5. Type of cementing materials,
6. Amount of cement paste,
These factors are related to
7. Size and shape of the concrete element,
the quality of the concrete
8. Volume to surface ratio of the concrete element, and conditions of exposure.
9. Amount of steel reinforcement,
10. Prior curing conditions, and
11. The ambient temperature and humidity.
For more factors affecting on creep of concrete, refer to ACI Committee 209 (2005). [4]

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 1.2. Drying Shrinkage and Creep
• For a variety of reasons it is desirable to discuss drying shrinkage and creep together [2]:
1. For concrete, shrinkage and creep are the two major phenomena that compromise
the dimensional stability problem*.
2. Both the drying shrinkage and creep originate from the same source, i.e., the
hydrated cement paste,
3. The strain-time curves are very similar,
4. The factors that influence the drying shrinkage also influence the creep generally in
the same way,
5. In concrete the microstrain of each phenomenon, 400 to 1000× 10−6 is large and it
cannot be ignored in structural design,
6. Both drying shrinkage and creep are partially reversible.

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 1.3. Cause(s) of Creep: Main Causes
• In short, both the drying shrinkage and creep strains in concrete are assumed to be
related mainly to the removal of adsorbed water from the hydrated cement paste.
• Shrinkage strain: Is the result of the loss of physically adsorbed water from C-S-H, and
because a saturated cement paste will not remain dimensionally stable when exposed
to ambient humidifies that are below saturation. Here, the differential relative humidity
between concrete and the environment (which causes drying in concrete) is the driving
force [2].
• Creep strain: When a hydrated cement paste is subjected to a sustained stress,
depending on the magnitude and duration of applied stress, the C-S-H will lose a large
amount of the physically adsorbed water, and the paste will show a creep strain. Here,
the sustained applied stress is the driving force. Hence, the loss of adsorbed water
under sustained pressure appears to be the most important cause to creep in concrete,
i.e., the removal of adsorbed water held by hydrostatic tension in small capillaries (<50
𝑛𝑚) from the hydrated cement paste [2].

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 Other Causes of Creep
• The causes of creep in concrete are more complex.
1. Due to nonlinearity of stress-strain relation in concrete, at stress levels greater than 30
to 40% of the ultimate stress, micro-cracks at the interfacial transition zone (ITZ)
clearly contribute to creep [2].
2. The occurrence of delayed elastic response in aggregate is yet another cause of creep
in concrete. Since the cement paste and the aggregate are bonded together, the
stress on the former gradually declines as load is transmitted to the latter, which with
increasing load transfer deforms elastically. Thus the delayed elastic strain in
aggregate contributes to total creep [2].
Note: Increase in creep strain, which invariably occurs when concrete is simultaneously
exposed to the drying condition, is caused by additional microcracking in the ITZ owing to
drying shrinkage.

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 2. Total Creep:
• Total creep = Basic + Drying creep.
• For sealed concrete, representing mass or
large-volume concrete only basic creep
occurs and there is no drying creep.
• Consider concrete loaded to a stress, 𝜎𝑜 , at
age, 𝑡𝑜 . If the specific creep after a time
under load, 𝑡 − 𝑡𝑜 is 𝐶𝑠 , then the total
strain due to load at age 𝑡 when loaded at
age 𝑡𝑜 is:
𝜎
𝜎𝑜 𝝓 𝑡 , 𝑡𝑜 = 𝑜 (1 + 𝜑𝑜 ) (1)
𝐸 𝑡𝑜
where
𝝓 𝑡 , 𝑡𝑜 = Total load strain per unit of stress
or creep function or creep compliance,
𝐸 𝑡𝑜 = Secant modulus of elasticity at age 𝑡𝑜 ,
𝜑 𝑡 , 𝑡𝑜 = creep coefficient= Creep Figure 1. Components of strain at age t of drying concrete
strain/Elastic strain= 𝐶𝑠 Τ𝐸(𝑡𝑜 ). subjected to load at age, 𝑡𝑜 .
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 3. Creep Reversibility:

• Fig.2 shows typical behavior of concrete on

loading and unloading.
• Creep is a partly recoverable phenomenon.
When a sustained load is removed after
some time, there is an immediate recovery
of elastic strain (generally smaller than the
initial elastic strain because E has
increased), followed by a gradual decrease
in strain, called creep recovery. The
recovery reaches its maximum value more
rapidly and is much smaller than the
preceding creep so the most of creep is
irreversible in nature [1].
• In relatively young concrete, the change in
volume or length due to creep is largely
unrecoverable; in older or drier concrete it
is largely recoverable [4]. Figure 2. Elastic and creep recovery on removal of stress [2].
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 4. Measurement of Creep:
• Creep of any type of concrete under uniaxial compression can be measured using ASTM
C512 (1987) Standard test method for creep of concrete in compression :

• In this test, both sealed and unsealed

specimens are to be loaded.
• Cylinders were loaded to almost 40% of
their compressive strength.
• Companion cylinders not subject to load
were used to measure drying shrinkage; this
was then deducted from total deformation
of the loaded specimens to determine
creep.
• Cylinders were allowed to dry while under
load for those marked ‘sealed’.

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Measurement of Creep:
• These two 28-day curves for 28 MPa and 41
MPa concrete strengths show the
relationship of time and age of loading to
creep of two different concrete strengths.
Test specimens were allowed to dry during
loading, except for those labelled as sealed.
Interpretation of the results:
• The creep of concrete loaded under drying
conditions is greater than creep of concrete
sealed against drying.
• Concrete specimens loaded at a late age will
creep less than those loaded at an early age.
• As concrete strength decreases, creep
increases [4].

Fig.3 11
 Measurement of Creep:
• For practical purposes, we are usually interested in creep after several months or years,
or even in the ultimate value of creep [3]. We know that the increase in creep beyond 20
years under load (within the range of working stresses) is small, and, as a guide, we can
assume that:
~ 25% 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 20 − 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 2 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑠;
~ 50% 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 20 − 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 3 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑠;
~ 75% 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 20 − 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑛 1 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟.
• Typical equations relating creep after any time under load, 𝑐𝑡 , to creep after 28 days
under load, 𝑐28 , are:
For sealed or saturated concrete: 𝑐𝑡 = 𝑐28 × 0.5𝑡 0.2 (2)
1Τ
For drying concrete: 𝑐𝑡 = 𝑐28 −6.19 + 2.15𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡 2.64 (3)
Where
t= time under load (days)> 28 days.
𝑐𝑡 = Long-term specific creep in 10−6 per MPa. [5]
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 5. Mechanism of Creep:
• The exact mechanism of creep is unclear.
• It is related to the internal movement of adsorbed or interlayer water since concrete
from which all evaporable water has been removed exhibits little creep.
• Movement of water to the outside of concrete is essential for drying creep.
• It is thought by Brooks (2001) that some of the basic creep of mass or sealed concrete is
possibly to the internal movement of water, which can occur because all the pores do
not remain full of water. The strong dependency of basic creep on porosity or strength is
indirect evidence suggesting that it is the empty pores that govern much of creep.
• The creep of the solid gel and long-term creep after all the water has disappeared may
be due to viscous flow or sliding between gel particles.

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Mechanism of Creep:

a) Long-term Creep Mechanism b) Short-term Creep Mechanism

Figure 4. Creep Mechanism [6]
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 6. Prediction of Creep:
1. CEB-FIB (1990) Method: This method gives a series of equations to estimate the
creep coefficient as function of time, age at loading, relative humidity, size of member
and strength. The method also allows for the use of some admixtures in concrete [1].
2. BS 1881: Part 2 (1985) Method: This method is not appropriate for concrete
containing admixtures but is simpler to use as it gives estimates of ultimate creep
coefficient, ∅∞ , as represented in Fig. 6. The ultimate creep function, 𝚽∞ , is then
given by:
1
𝚽∞ = (1 + ∅∞ ) (3)
𝐸𝑐 (𝑡𝑜 )
where 𝐸𝑐 (𝑡𝑜 )= Modulus of elasticity at the age of loading, 𝑡𝑜 , which is related to the
compressive cube strength, 𝑓𝑐𝑢 (𝑡𝑜 ), as follows:
𝑓𝑐𝑢 (𝑡𝑜 )
𝐸𝑐 (𝑡𝑜 )=𝐸𝑐28 0.4 + 0.6 (4)
𝑓𝑐𝑢28
• The strength ratio term of this equation is best obtained by measurement; however, the
values in Table 1 may be used.

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Prediction of Creep [1]:
• The modulus of elasticity at 28 days, 𝐸𝑐28 , is obtained from the 28-day cube strength, 𝑓𝑐𝑢28 ,
by:
𝐸𝑐28 =20 + 0.2𝑓𝑐𝑢28 (6)
Table 1. Values of the strength ratio, 𝑓𝑐𝑢 (𝑡𝑜 )/𝑓𝑐𝑢28 , for use in Eq. (6).
Age, 𝑡𝑜 Strength ratio
7 0.7
28 1.00
90 1.17
365 1.25
• If there is no moisture exchange, i.e. the concrete is sealed to represent mass concrete,
creep is assumed to be equivalent to that of concrete with a volume/surface ratio greater
than 200 mm at 100% relative humidity.
• As the accuracy of prediction is low, a short-term test is recommended using the actual
concrete and the measured data then extrapolated by the method suggested by Neville and
Brooks (2001). 16
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Fig 7. BS 1881-Part 2(1985) method for estimating the ultimate
creep coefficient. *Sometimes effective section thickness is
used instead of volume/surface ratio; effective section
thickness= 2 x volume/surface ratio [1].
 7. Effects of Creep:
1. In R.C beams: Creep of concrete increases the deflection, and in some cases, may be a critical
consideration in design. The long-term deflection of a R.C beam can be 2-3 times larger than
the initial deflection.
2. In prestressed R.C beams: The loss of prestress due to creep of concrete accounts for the
failure of all early attempts at prestressing prior to the invention of high tensile steel.
3. In R.C columns: Creep results in a gradual transfer of load from the concrete to the
reinforcement. Once the steel yields, the concrete takes any increase in load, so that the full
strength of concrete and steel is developed before failure occurs. If it is not considered during
the design process, overstressing in steel may cause yielding and put the structure in danger.
4. In mass concrete: Creep itself may be a cause of cracking when the restrained concrete
undergoes a cycle of temperature change due to the development of heat of hydration and
subsequent cooling.
5. In tall buildings and long bridges: Differential creep between inner and outer columns may
cause serviceability problems and excessive deflections, movements and cracking of
partitions; a related problem is cracking and failure of external cladding rigidly affixed to a R.C
column. [3] 18
 References
[1] Newman J. and Choo B. S. (2003) Advanced ConcreteTechnology: Concrete Properties. Elsevier.
[2] Mehta P. K. and Monterio P. J.M. (2006) Concrete: Microstructure, properties, and Materials.
3rd Edition. McGraw-Hill.
[3] Neville A.M. and Brooks J.J (2010) Concrete Technology. 2nd Edition. Longman group: UK
Limited.
[4] Kosmatka S. H. and Wilson M. L. (2011) Design and control of concrete mixtures: The guide to
applications, methods, and materials. 15th Edition. Portland Cement Association (PCA).
[5] Neville A.M. (2011) Properties of Concrete. 5th Edition. Pearson.
[6] Torrenti J-M., Cabot G.P., and Reynouard J-M (2010) Mechanical behavior of concrete. Wiley.

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Thanks for Listening
QUESTIONS?

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