An Experimental Study on Thermal Stresses and Effect of Temperature on Thermal Properties of Mass Concrete

Thermal deformation under restrained conditions often leads to early-age cracking and durability problems in mass concrete structures. The principal parameters that considerably affect the performance of mass concrete structures are the cement content, temperature of concrete making constituents, maximum concrete temperature, temperature differential, time and duration of the maximum temperature differential. Hydration process generate heat, if it is not controlled or dissipated properly, thermal damage cause thermal cracking and/or delayed ettringite formation. Therefore it becomes very important to predict temperature rise and thermal stresses developed in mass concrete. The objective of this paper is to predict the maximum placement temperature of concrete for various ambient temperatures to control the occurrence of early age thermal cracks.