Self-Developed Testing System for Determining the Temperature Behavior of Concrete

He Zhu1, Qingbin Li2, Yu Hu3

  • 1Department of Hydraulic engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. zhuhe14@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn.

Summary

A new synchronous closed loop federated control temperature stress testing machine (TSTM) system effectively simulates mass concrete cracking. This advanced TSTM provides accurate deformation measurements and compensates for external temperature effects, improving concrete quality assessment.

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Cold Weather Concreting01:27

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When freshly poured concrete is exposed to freezing temperatures before it has set, the water within the concrete can freeze. This expansion disrupts the setting process, delays chemical reactions necessary for hardening, and increases the volume of pores within the hardened concrete, which weakens its overall structure. If the concrete manages to reach an appreciable strength before it freezes, the damage can be somewhat mitigated.
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408
Mass Concreting01:22

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Mass concreting refers to the process of placing large volumes of concrete, such as in gravity dams. The heat generated during the cement hydration process and differential cooling rates within the concrete mass can lead to a temperature gradient, which can result in thermal cracks in the concrete mass.
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Hot Weather Concreting01:20

Hot Weather Concreting

Concreting at elevated temperatures accelerates the hydration process, leading to quicker setting but potentially reducing the long-term strength of the concrete structure. Additionally, low air humidity fosters rapid moisture loss from the concrete, resulting in reduced workability, pronounced plastic shrinkage, and a higher likelihood of crazing.
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Testing Water Quality01:14

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When the quality of water for concrete preparation is uncertain, its impact on the setting time of cement and compressive strength of mortar is assessed by comparison with de-ionized or distilled water benchmarks. American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) C1602 requires the setting times to be within 90 minutes of the control, British Standard (BS) 3146:1980 allows a 30-minute variance in the initial setting, while British Standards European Norm (BS EN) 1008 specifies initial setting...
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