Modification to ASTM C157 to
Measure Early Age Deformation of
Concrete Specimens
Muzai Feng, Rouzbeh Khajehdehi, James Lafikes,
Eman Ibrahim, Matthew O’Reilly, David Darwin
10/15/2017
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Outline
• Introduction
– Concrete Shrinkage and Cracking
– Existing Methods for Early-Age Deformation Measurement
• Modified ASTM C157
• Case Study: Behavior of Mixtures Containing a
Shrinkage Compensating Admixture
• Summary
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Concrete Shrinkage
• Plastic shrinkage
– Rapid loss of moisture in plastic concrete
• Drying shrinkage
– Long-term loss of moisture in hardened concrete
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Shrinkage and Cracking
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Shrinkage and Cracking
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Shrinkage and Cracking
When Stress Exceeds Strength
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Concrete Cracking
• Accelerates Deterioration
• Unaesthetic
• Expensive to repair
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Corrugated Tube (ASTM C1698)
• Mortar/Cement paste only
• Cannot measure drying shrinkage
• Can be expensive
Reference: Germann Instruments, Inc., 2017, “Auto-Shrinkage Test Page”, retrieved from http://germann.org/auto-shrink-test-page
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Specially Made Prismatic Molds
• Friction between concrete and mold bottom
• Not efficient for drying shrinkage
Reference: Zhang, J., Hou, D., & Gao, Y. (2012). Calculation of shrinkage stress in early-age concrete pavements. I: Calculation of shrinkage
strain. Journal of Transportation Engineering, 139(10), 961-970.
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ASTM C157
• Measures free shrinkage of
concrete specimens
• Demold 1 day after casting
• Shrinkage measured
in microstrain with
a comparator
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ASTM C157
Initial Length
Casting Final Set Demolding End of Curing Time
(0 hr) (~5 hr) (~24 hr.) (14 d)
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Modified ASTM C157
• Demold 51/2 ± 1/2 hr after casting
• 3 to 4 shrinkage measurements in first day of
casting, daily reading during curing period
• Easy to operate, economic, allows for
continuous measurements
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Storage Methods
• Plastic sheets
• Saturated lime tank
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Storage Methods
300
Plastic Sheet
200
Lime Tank Shrinkage
Shrinkage (microstrain)
100
-100
Expansion
-200
-300
-400
0 10 20 30
Time after casting (days)
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Compatibility with ASTM C157
• Significant amount of existing results
• How do results obtained from modified test
compare with standard test?
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Compatibility with ASTM C157
300
200 Control (Modified)
Shrinkage
Shrinkage (microstrain)
100 Control (C157)
-100
Expansion
-200
-300
-400
0 10 20 30
Time after cast (days)
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Shrinkage Compensating
Admixtures (SCA)
• Effective component: CaO/MgO
• React with mixing water and form
Ca(OH)2/Mg(OH)2
• Counteracts later shrinkage by inducing
expansion
• Not to be confused with shrinkage reducing
admixtures (SRA)
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300
SCA vs Control (C156)
200 Control (C157)
Shrinkage
Shrinkage (microstrain)
100 SCA CaO (C157)
-100
Expansion
-200
-300
-400
0 10 20 30
Time after cast (days)
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300
SCA vs Control (Modified)
Control (Modified)
200
Shrinkage
Shrinkage (microstrain)
100 SCA CaO (Modified)
-100
Expansion
-200
-300
-400
0 10 20 30
Time after cast (days)
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300
SCA Mixtures (Two Methods)
SCA CaO (C157)
200
SCA CaO (Modified) Shrinkage
Shrinkage (microstrain)
100
-100
Expansion
-200
-300
-400
0 10 20 30
Time after cast (days)
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300
CaO vs MgO Based SCA
Control (Modified)
200
SCA MgO (Modified)
Shrinkage
Shrinkage (microstrain)
100 SCA CaO (Modified)
0
-100
Expansion
-200
-300
-400
0 10 20 30
Time after cast (days)
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300
SCA vs SRA
Control (Modified)
200
SRA (Modified) Shrinkage
Shrinkage (microstrain)
100
SCA CaO (Modified)
0
-100
Expansion
-200
-300
-400
0 10 20 30
Time after cast (days)
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300
CaO vs MgO Based SCA
Control (Modified)
200
SCA MgO (Modified)
Shrinkage
Shrinkage (microstrain)
100 SCA CaO (Modified)
0
-100
Expansion
-200
-300
-400
0 10 20 30
Time after cast (days)
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Summary
• Modified ASTM C157
– Captures early-age deformation
– Easy to operate, economic
– Captures both early-age and drying deformation
– Results compatible with standard test results
• Concrete with SCA
– Different expansion behavior
– Different behavior than SRA mixes
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Thank You!
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The University of Kansas
Muzai Feng
Graduate Research Assistant
Dept. of Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering
1147D Learned Hall
Lawrence, Kansas, 66045-7609
785 312-2800
mzf@ku.edu
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