FINITE ELEMENT MODELING OF EARLY-AGE CRACKING IN RESTRAINED CONCRETE RING SPECIMENS

Abstract

High strength–high performance concrete (HPC) is an engineered product that provides specific performance advantages in terms of strength and conductivity in comparison with the conventional strength concrete1,2. As the use of high performance concrete has increased, problems with early-age cracking have become prominent. The objective of this paper is to present a numerical analytical study using a finite element analysis, to predict cracking of high performance concrete in restrained shrinkage. The numerical method estimates the residual stress development and, accordingly, quantifies the material’s potential for cracking.