Early age behaviour and cracking risk of concretes containing GGBS

To satisfy this objective, the combined effects of temperature, time and GGBS content on the heat of hydration, mechanical and thermal properties as well as on the cracking risk of concrete were experimentally investigated. It appeared that although the autogenous shrinkage of GGBS mixes is increased at high curing temperatures, the tensile strength enhancement emerging from such temperatures results in GGBS mixes being capable of withstanding restraint stresses more effectively than PC concrete.

Additionally, the maturity method was reviewed and improved accordingly in order to be also applicable for GGBS concretes, also for properties other than compressive strength and by its combination with numerical simulation of the thermal-shrinkage stresses, a design approach for early age cracking mitigation was proposed.<br><br>This research study provides a comprehensive investigation on the effects of temperature on the early age behaviour and cracking risk of concretes containing GGBS using experimental and numerical techniques.

It could be used as a guide in order to determine appropriate curing regimes and mix proportions of GGBS concretes in applications where early age compressive strength and/or cracking risk minimisation is required.<br>