Related Concept Videos
01:20Microcracking in Concrete
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Microcracking in concrete refers to the tiny cracks that can form within the material even before any external load is applied. These microcracks typically occur at the interface between the coarse aggregate and the hydrated cement paste, often as a result of differential volume changes prompted by variations in stress-strain behavior, as well as thermal and moisture movement. Initially, these microcracks remain stable and do not grow substantially until the concrete is stressed to about 30...
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01:27Shrinkage in Concrete
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Shrinkage in concrete is primarily due to water loss from evaporation, hydration of cement, or carbonation, leading to a reduction in volume. The volumetric contraction results in volumetric strain in concrete. However, in practice, shrinkage is measured as linear strain, which is one-third of the volumetric strain.
When concrete is still in its plastic state, it can undergo a decrease in volume by about 1% of its absolute volume. This decrease is known as plastic shrinkage. It arises either...
When concrete is still in its plastic state, it can undergo a decrease in volume by about 1% of its absolute volume. This decrease is known as plastic shrinkage. It arises either...
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01:28Types of Non-structural Cracks in Concrete
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Non-structural cracks are primarily of three types: plastic, early-age thermal, and drying shrinkage cracks. Plastic cracks are further classified into plastic shrinkage cracks and plastic settlement cracks.
Plastic shrinkage cracks typically form within hours after the concrete is poured. The concrete's surface dries faster than the bottom, creating tensile stress that the still-plastic concrete cannot withstand, leading to diagonal or randomly patterned cracks on the concrete surface.
Plastic shrinkage cracks typically form within hours after the concrete is poured. The concrete's surface dries faster than the bottom, creating tensile stress that the still-plastic concrete cannot withstand, leading to diagonal or randomly patterned cracks on the concrete surface.
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01:21Drying Shrinkage
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When hardened concrete is exposed to air with a relative humidity of less than 100 percent, it begins to lose the free water within its capillaries. As this water evaporates, the water initially adsorbed onto the calcium silicate hydrates migrates towards these now empty spaces and eventually evaporates as well. Over time, as more water leaves, the volume of the concrete decreases, a phenomenon known as drying shrinkage.
A portion of this drying shrinkage can be reversed; if the concrete is...
A portion of this drying shrinkage can be reversed; if the concrete is...
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01:24Stress-Strain Diagram - Brittle Materials
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Brittle materials, including glass, cast iron, and stone, exhibit unique characteristics. They fracture without considerable change in their elongation rate, indicating that their breaking and ultimate strength are equivalent. Such materials also show lower strain levels at the point of rupture. The failure in brittle materials predominantly results from normal stresses, as evidenced by the rupture created along a surface perpendicular to the applied load. These materials do not display...
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01:22Creep in Concrete
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Creep refers to the time-dependent increase in strain under a sustained load, excluding other time-dependent deformations associated with shrinkage, swelling, and thermal expansion in concrete. The primary mechanism behind creep involves the loss of physically adsorbed water from the calcium silicate hydrate within the hydrated cement paste. This process is further exacerbated by concrete's non-linear stress-strain relationship, microcrack development in the interfacial transition zone, and...
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Full-field Strain Measurements for Microstructurally Small Fatigue Crack Propagation Using Digital Image Correlation Method
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Scale-free bursting activity in shrinkage induced cracking.
Roland Szatmári1, Akio Nakahara2, So Kitsunezaki3
1Department of Theoretical Physics, Doctoral School of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen, P.O.Box: 400, Debrecen, 4002, Hungary.
Scientific Reports
|March 27, 2024
Summary
Shrinkage-induced cracking in heterogeneous materials occurs in bursts, with crack patterns exhibiting scale-free distributions. Local micro-cracking events follow universal power-law statistics, explaining overall crack behavior and aiding acoustic monitoring.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Physics
- Computational Modeling
Background:
- Heterogeneous materials exhibit complex crack patterns during shrinkage.
- Acoustic emissions are used to monitor material degradation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the dynamics of shrinkage-induced cracking in thin heterogeneous layers.
- To explain the observed crack patterns and acoustic signals.
Main Methods:
- Computer simulations using a realistic discrete element model.
- Analysis of crack patterns, size, and duration distributions.
- Investigation of local micro-cracking events and their correlations.
Main Results:
- Shrinkage cracking proceeds in bursts with scale-free distributions of size and duration.
- Non-universal exponents depend on system size and shrinking rate.
- Local avalanches of micro-cracking obey universal power-law statistics.
- Non-universality of the integrated signal results from temporal superposition of local avalanches.
Conclusions:
- The study explains crack pattern formation and acoustic emissions during material shrinkage.
- Findings offer insights into electro-mechanical degradation monitoring in battery electrodes.