Mitigating the autogenous shrinkage of ultra-high performance concrete by using rice husk ash

Concrete made with Portland cement has good behaviour under compressive stress, but it is weak in tension. Cracking caused by tension is a typical problem in concrete practice. High autogenous shrinkage at early ages is one of the causes of cracking, especially in high/ultra-high performance concrete. In that stage shrinkage is strongly related...

Numerical modelling of self-desiccation of hardening cement paste

In this paper a numerical model is presented with which it is possible to predict the non-thermal hydration-induced volume changes that develop during hardening of a cement-based material. The model equilibrates the relative humidity in the pore system with the free surface energy in hardening cement past. From a certain state of equilibrium,...