A critical review on drying shrinkage mitigation strategies in cement-based materials

By Nghia P. Tran, Chamila Gunasekara, D. Law, S. Houshyar, Sujeeva Setunge, A. Ćwirzeń. 2021

266 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Drying shrinkage deformation due to moisture migration is a major concern in cementitious materials and can lead to a high probability of cracking, resulting in a deterioration in long-term performance and serviceability. In this paper, the primary mechanisms of drying shrinkage, mitigation strategies and the research gaps are elucidated to provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing drying shrinkage and identify research strategies to assist in the development of novel shrinkage-resistant concrete. The use of shrinkage-reducing admixture is identified as the high-efficiency methodology. This reduces the surface tension of the liquid in the capillary pore, resulting in a 20–50% drying shrinkage reduction when applied with a dosage up to 3%. It can achieve even greater efficiency by combining the admixture with expansive agents to provide synergistic effects, giving mitigation of drying shrinkage of up to 80%. Replacing cement with supplementary cementitious materials, up to 35%, is also an effective approach to mitigate drying shrinkage, giving a reduction between 5–42%. The reinforcing effect of novel carbon-nanotubes, albeit at a small dosage (0.1% w.t), can effectively strengthen the C–S–H gel matrix, resulting in a drying shrinkage reduction of 15–21%. Introducing internal restraints using fibres or aggregate also demonstrates high effectiveness for drying shrinkage mitigation. Furthermore, coupled CO2-water curing or coating the concrete surface to prevent moisture loss provides an innovative approach to drying shrinkage reduction at an early age (50–70%). Finally, to avert time-dependent deformation, the use of superplasticizer (less than 1%) based on the polycarboxylate polymer is suggested.

Subfields: Civil and Structural Engineering

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/d64dc29b6c42b5d65ad671542a4f7da0aefa65e3