Evaluation of tensile properties and cracking potential evolution of fly ash-cement mortar at early age based on digital image correlation method

Abstract

The early-age tensile properties and shrinkage behaviors of mortar are important to investigate its early-age cracking potential. This study employs the digital image correlation method to quantify the tensile properties and shrinkage behaviors of fly ash-cement mortars at early age, aiming to reveal the effect of fly ash on the mortar's cracking potential evolution. Fresh mortars with varying fly ash (FA) contents (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%) undergo comprehensive tests, encompassing tensile strength, ultimate tensile strain, plastic shrinkage, mass loss, and damage assessment within 90–180 mins after casting. The results show that FA could enhance early-age ultimate tensile strain and extend the time for the mortar to maintain plasticity while reducing early-age shrinkage strain and mass loss. The mortar's cracking risk is potentially linked to its setting time. The rheological state of mortar gradually changed from plastic to non-plastic after initial setting, and the ultimate tensile strain stabilized, but the shrinkage strain increased rapidly, which resulted in a greater risk of shrinkage-induced cracking. Furthermore, after 180 mins of curing, the damage index of the fly ash-cement mortar (10% FA) was 1.6 times that of pure Portland cement mortar, whereas the damage indexes of the fly ash-cement mortars with 20% and 30% FA contents are approximately equivalent to 82% of the pure Portland cement mortar's damage index. This indicates that incorporating more than 20% fly ash is beneficial in reducing the risk of plastic shrinkage-induced cracking in mortar.