Title:
Whither Expansive Cement?
Author(s):
Adam Neville
Publication:
Concrete International
Volume:
16
Issue:
9
Appears on pages(s):
34-35
Keywords:
cracking; drying shrinkage; expansive cements; shrinkage; shrinkage-compensating concrete; Materials Research
DOI:
Date:
9/1/1994
Abstract:
Shrinkage is probably one of the least desirable properties of concrete. When shrinkage is restrained, it may lead to shrinkage cracking, which mars the appearance of concrete and makes it more vulnerable to attack by external agents, thus adversely affecting durability. But even unrestrained shrinkage is harmful; adjacent concrete elements shrink away from one another, thus opening external cracks. Shrinkage is also responsible for a part of the loss of the initial stress in the tendons in prestressed concrete.