Abstract
Modeling the structural behavior of concrete at early ages is one of the most challenging, yet fundamental, tasks for civil engineers working on mass concrete. To obtain a reasonably accurate model, a number of factors should be taken into account. Considerations should include both external influences as well as the changes occurring in the complex structure itself. The modeling of an early-age concrete massive slab requires the proper assignment of initial conditions, including the initial temperature of the analyzed element and the adjacent structures. The temperature distribution in the subsoil is the factor analyzed in this paper. The aim of the study is the determination of the temperature distribution in the ground, which is useful in the process related to the acquisition of the most accurate model of the analyzed structure and reflects the actual conditions in the numerical model. For this purpose, the analytical method described in the literature was applied and subsequently evaluated on the basis of the numerical calculation. The performed calculations allow the estimation of the depth representing the range of the influence of the temperature in the ground and the values of the temperatures corresponding to the successive layers of the subsoil. Moreover, aiming the optimization of the numerical analysis of the massive foundation slab, the legitimacy of such detailed consideration of the temperature development in the underlying subsoil was evaluated by the comparison with the temperature distribution in the slab obtained with simplified consideration of the constant soil temperature.
Highlights
The complex geometrical/support constraints of massive concrete structures, which are subjected to the changes related to the cement hydration process as well as the number of the external factors caused by the successively rising challenges for the realistic/accurate early age modeling [1]– [5]
The aim of the study is the determination of the temperature distribution in the ground, which is useful in the process related to the acquisition of the most accurate model of the analyzed structure and reflects the actual conditions in the numerical model
Aiming the optimization of the numerical analysis of the massive foundation slab, the legitimacy of such detailed consideration of the temperature development in the underlying subsoil was evaluated by the comparison with the temperature distribution in the slab obtained with simplified consideration of the constant soil temperature
Summary
The complex geometrical/support constraints of massive concrete structures, which are subjected to the changes related to the cement hydration process as well as the number of the external factors caused by the successively rising challenges for the realistic/accurate early age modeling [1]– [5]. The analytical method described in [6], [7] was applied to calculate the initial temperature profile of the soil below the analyzed slab Following, this analytically determined temperature profile was compared and verified with the results of the numerical computation. Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd this verification, the relevance of such a detailed consideration of the initial temperature profile of the soil on the thermal behavior of the analyzed slab was questioned. A comparative numerical analysis was performed in which the temperature distribution in the foundation slab was determined with different initial temperature profiles in the soil, namely the detailed one and a simplified one with constant soil temperature at the beginning. The time of casting of the structure corresponded to the summer season (August), the conditions of soil before casting were assumed as for excavation relatively long before
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