Abstract
For a long time, temperature control and crack prevention of mass concrete is a difficult job in engineering. For temperature control and crack prevention, the most effective and common-used method is to embed cooling pipe in mass concrete. At present, there still exists some challenges in the precise simulation of pipe cooling in mass concrete, which is a complex heat-flow coupling problem. Numerical simulation is faced with the problem of over-simplification and inaccuracy. In this study, precise simulation of heat-flow coupling of pipe cooling in mass concrete is carried out based on finite element software COMSOL Multiphysics 5.4. Simulation results are comprehensively verified with results from theoretical solutions and equivalent algorithms, which prove the correctness and feasibility of precise simulation. Compared with an equivalent algorithm, precise simulation of pipe cooling in mass concrete can characterize the sharp temperature gradient around cooling pipe and the temperature rise of cooling water along pipeline more realistically. In addition, the cooling effects and local temperature gradient under different water flow (0.60 m3/h, 1.20 m3/h, and 1.80 m3/h) and water temperature (5 °C, 10 °C, and 15 °C) are comprehensively studied and related engineering suggestions are given.
Highlights
During the casting of mass concrete, the hydration of cement releases a lot of heat, and the internal temperature of concrete rises immediately, followed by a temperature drop under the effect of boundary heat dissipation
Focused on the complex heat-flow coupling problem of pipe cooling in concrete, this paper systematically reviews the development of a calculation method for the thermal field of concrete containing cooling pipe and provides the detailed implementation method of precise simulation
The correctness and feasibility of precise simulation are verified by theoretical solution and equivalent algorithm
Summary
During the casting of mass concrete, the hydration of cement releases a lot of heat, and the internal temperature of concrete rises immediately, followed by a temperature drop under the effect of boundary heat dissipation. Over the past thirty years, scholars have carried out a lot of research on calculation methods for the thermal field of concrete with cooling pipe embedded. Pipe cooling is equivalent to a “negative heat source” to reduce heat releasing during hydration [10,11] This method does not need to model cooling pipes and has the advantages of simple pre-treatment and high calculation efficiency. The equivalent approach cannot describe the sharp temperature gradient around the cooling pipe and the temperature rise of water flow along the pipeline. In order to give full play to the effect of pipe cooling in temperature control and crack prevention, a precise simulation for heat-flow coupling of pipe cooling in concrete is constructed based on finite element software COMSOL Multiphysics 5.4. Simulation results are comprehensively verified and analyzed with results from theoretical solutions and equivalent algorithms, which prove the correctness and feasibility of precise simulation
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