Early-age Cracking Control on High Strength Concrete with Shrinkage Reducing Admixture

High strength concrete suffers high shrinkage caused by the high self-desiccation due to the low water-to-cement ratio. Shrinkage reducing admixture has been used to reduce the shrinkage of high strength concrete by reducing the surface tension of the capillary solution. In this chapter, the early-age cracking control of high strength concrete with shrinkage reducing admixture was investigated. The results showed that the addition of shrinkage reducing admixture reduced the maximum residual stress, stress rate, and the maximum relaxed stress of high strength concrete. The early-age autogenous shrinkage and basic tensile creep decreased with the increase of shrinkage reducing admixture dosages. The incorporation of shrinkage reducing admixture delayed the cracking age of high strength concrete, and the cracking resistance of high strength concrete increased as the shrinkage reducing admixture dosages increased.