Self-desiccation effect of high performance concrete

Abstract

Effects of water to binder ratio (mW/mB), types and addition content of mineral admixtures on the autogenous relative humidity (ARH) change of concrete resulting from self-desiccation were studied. The parameters of coefficient of mineral self-desiccation-effect k and efficient water to binder ratio re were proposed, and experimental results were fitted non-linearly and analyzed using these proposed parameters. The experimental results indicate that ARH reduction of concrete at different ages increases with the decrease of mW/mB. The ARH change laws of concrete with mW/mB lower than 0.4 can be expressed with a non-linear equation. The extent of the effect of types and addition content of mineral admixtures on ARH reduction of concrete resulting from self-desiccation can be reflected by the non-linear equation with the parameter of efficient water to binder ratio re effectively.