Early-age Cracking Control on Concrete with Temperature Rise Inhibitor

High strength concrete suffers from early-age cracking primarily due to thermal and autogenous shrinkage, with peak temperature reaching 70–80°C. In this chapter, temperature rise inhibitor, a polymeric admixture made from corn starch, was used to address these issues, and the early-age cracking control of high strength concrete with temperature rise inhibitor was investigated. Temperature rise inhibitor effectively reduced peak temperatures and the rate of temperature rise, lowered hydration heat, and influenced C-S-H nucleation and precipitation. Results showed that temperature rise inhibitor reduced autogenous shrinkage and tensile creep while improving the early-age cracking resistance of high strength concrete under uniaxial restrained conditions. Additionally, a model was proposed for predicting autogenous shrinkage considering temperature rise inhibitor.