Articles

Restrained Shrinkage in Mild Reinforced UHPC Members

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Abstract

Shrinkage is a phenomenon common to all concrete types, however, its effects in UHPC can be highly pronounced. Due the high paste content, autogenous and drying shrinkage in UHPC can have many effects on the design of the final structure. In prestressed members, this autogenous shrinkage results in prestress losses that may be higher than estimated normally. For non-prestressed reinforced members, this will result in restraint forces generated in both the reinforcement and UHPC. The forces generated in the UHPC can be very large, resulting in premature cracking and effectively reducing the tensile strain capacity of the UHPC. The restraint forces generated in the mild steel, and resulting stresses in the UHPC require knowledge of early age creep and early age shrinkage, both of which can be difficult to measure. A laboratory test is proposed that can investigate this specific phenomenon in a simple way and provide the required information for design. This paper aims to demonstrate the laboratory test along with analysis of the results leading to a proposed design process that a practicing engineer can implement to take this effect into account for mild reinforced UHPC members.

Keywords: restrained shrinkage, autogenous shrinkage, drying shrinkage

How to Cite:

Tahat, M., Binard, J. P., Davis, R. & Maguire, M., (2023) “Restrained Shrinkage in Mild Reinforced UHPC Members”, International Interactive Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Concrete 3(1): 114. doi: https://doi.org/10.21838/uhpc.16720

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