This book forms the proceedings of a workshop held in Hiroshima in June 1998 and derive from the work of a Technical Committee of the Japan Concrete Institute. Topics include test and prediction methods, the science of autogenous shrinkage, strain and stress, and consequent design concerns.

CREEP, SHRINKAGE AND DURABILITY MECHANICS OF CONCRETE AND CONCRETE STRUCTURES contains the keynote lectures, technical reports and contributed papers presented at the Eighth International Conference on Creep, Shrinkage and Durability of Concrete and Concrete Structures (CONCREEP8, Ise-shima, Japan, 30 September - 2 October 2008). The topics covered

Restraint and intrinsic stresses in concrete at early ages are vitally important for concrete structures which must remain free of water-permeable cracks, such as water-retaining structures, tunnel linings, locks and dams. The development of hydration heat, stiffness and strength, also the degree of restraint and, especially for high-strength concrete, non-thermal effects, are decisive for sensitivity to cracking. Determining thses stresses in the laboratory and in construction components has led to a clearer understanding of how they develop and how to optimize mix design, temperature and curing conditions. New testing equipment has enabled the effects of all the important parameters to be qualified and more reliable models for predictiong restraint stresses to be developed. Thermal Cracking in Conrete at Early Ages contains 56 contributions by leading international specialists presented at the RILEM Symposium held in October 1994 at the Technical University of Munich. It will be valuable for construction and site engineers, concrete technologists and scientists.

This is the state-of-the-art report prepared by the RILEM TC “Application of Super Absorbent Polymers (SAP) in concrete construction”. It gives a comprehensive overview of the properties of SAP, specific water absorption and desorption behaviour of SAP in fresh and hardening concrete, effects of the SAP addition on rheological properties of fresh concrete, changes of cement paste microstructure and mechanical properties of concrete. Furthermore, the key advantages of using SAP are described in detail: the ability of this material to act as an internal curing agent to mitigate autogenous shrinkage of high-performance concrete, the possibility to use SAP as an alternative to air-entrainment agents in order to increase the frost resistance of concrete, and finally, the benefit of steering the rheology of fresh cement-based materials. The final chapter describes the first existing and numerous prospective applications for this new concrete additive.

This book presents new guidelines for the control of cracking in massive reinforced and prestressed concrete structures. Understanding this behavior during construction allows engineers to ensure properties such as durability, reliability, and water- and air-tightness throughout a structure’s lifetime. Based on the findings of the French national CEOS.fr project, the authors extend existing engineering standards and codes to advance the measurement and prediction of cracking patterns. Various behaviors of concrete under load are explored within the chapters of the book. These include cracking of ties, beams and in walls, and the simulation and evaluation of cracking, shrinkage and creep. The authors propose new engineering rules for crack width and space assessment of cracking patterns, and provide recommendations for measurement devices and protocols. Intended as a reference for design and civil engineers working on construction projects, as well as to aid further work in the research community, applied examples are provided at the end of each chapter in the form of expanded measurement methods, calculations and commentary on models.

This book forms the proceedings of a workshop held in Hiroshima in June 1998 and derive from the work of a Technical Committee of the Japan Concrete Institute. Topics include test and prediction methods, the science of autogenous shrinkage, strain and stress, and consequent design concerns.