Early-age Cracking Control on Concrete with Silica Fume

High strength concrete with a low water-to-binder ratio, benefits significantly from the addition of silica fume. The addition of silica fume enhances compressive strength, elastic modulus, and durability through pozzolanic activity. However, addition of silica fume can lead to great autogenous shrinkage, reduced workability, and high early-age cracking potential under restrained conditions. In this chapter, the effects of silica fume dosages on temperature processes, mechanical properties, and early-age cracking resistance were investigated. The results showed that while silica fume improved early mechanical properties, it also increased autogenous shrinkage and tensile creep under uniaxial restrained condition, thereby decreasing early-age cracking resistance as increase of silica fume dosages.