Chemo-mechanical model for the expansion of concrete due to alkali silica reaction

Abstract

A chemo-damage model is proposed to predict the expansion caused by the alkali silica reaction (ASR). The model covers the formation of the pre-expansion gel driven by alkali and the swelling of the gel driven by water. The swelling capacity of the ASR gel is quantified by the sodium to calcium ratio in the pore solution. The bound alkali in the gel recycled by calcium is also considered in this model. Both external alkali supply and internal alkali released from aggregates are included. Several sets of experimental data are compared with the simulation results for the verification of the model.