The paper presents the comparative characteristics of the most common modes of heat and moisture treatment (HMT), their advantages and disadvantages, as well as proposals for optimizing the HMT stages to obtain the maximum effect of accelerating concrete hardening through the use of thermal energy. Heat and moisture treatment of concrete is one of the most difficult stages in the technology of prefabricated and monolithic concrete. The basis for the durability of structures, their uninterrupted service during the design period of operation is a properly selected HMT mode, which improves the quality of products and reduces material costs in the form of a reduction in energy costs. Therefore, the still practiced simplified methods for selecting the HMT mode are unacceptable. Only under the condition of strict and scientifically substantiated consideration of a complex of factors influencing the ongoing processes of formation of the structure of cement stone and concrete, and the interaction between them, it is possible to obtain concrete with the required characteristics. Depending on the requirements for the finished material, based on knowledge of the mechanism of heat and mass transfer, rational methods and modes of heat treatment of concrete and reinforced concrete products can be calculated. A variety of HMT modes is due to the desire to reduce the possibility of defects in the concrete structure (for example, modes with a stepped or curvilinear temperature increase, which reduces the temperature gradient across the product section), to reduce energy costs (modes with the exclusion of the isothermal holding stage), etc. In the process of HMT of concrete and reinforced concrete products, a number of chemical and physical transformations of the concrete mixture (concrete) occur, as a result of which various defects in the structure of the material may appear, which worsen its properties (strength, permeability, shrinkage, creep and, in general, durability of concrete). Modern technology for the production of concrete and reinforced concrete products and structures provides for the introduction of various chemical additives, their effect on the hardening of concrete at elevated temperatures, unfortunately, is not sufficiently reflected in the specialized literature. For example, the duration of the total cycle of concrete HMT when using chemical additives – hardening accelerators can be reduced by reducing the periods of preliminary exposure, temperature rise and the duration of isothermal exposure; and the use of plasticizers, depending on their type and content, can lead to a lengthening of the cycle. It is necessary to have analytical dependencies for calculating HMT modes and a computer model of the concrete hardening process at elevated temperatures.
The paper describes a technique for assessing the thermally stressed state of a concrete massif of a foundation slab made of a self-compacting concrete mixture. The proposed method consists in a preliminary calculation of temperature fields in hardening concrete. The objects of research have been self-compacting concrete mix and structural concrete in the structure mass. The choice of materials for the preparation of a concrete mixture is given and substantiated. The composition of self-compacting concrete has been used to assess the thermally stressed state. A binder with a reduced exotherm has been used in order to reduce the self-heating of concrete. Studies have been carried out to assess the specific heat release of the recommended cement depending on the initial water-cement ratio. The effect of a chemical additive on the rate and magnitude of the specific heat release of cement has been studied. The paper presents the main theoretical provisions and an algorithm for calculating the thermal stress state of a concrete massif. The finite difference method has been used to calculate the expected temperatures and their distribution in the structure mass, and the temperature stresses in the sections of the concrete mass have been calculated to assess the thermally stressed state. The performed calculations of the temperature fields have made it possible to estimate the maximum possible temperatures and temperature differences over the sections of the concrete massif depending on the initial temperature of the concrete mixture and the average daily temperature of the outside air. Analysis of the temperature distribution has revealed the most dangerous sections of the concrete mass. An assessment of the thermal stress state of the concrete mass has been made on the basis of the results pertaining to calculation of temperature fields. The calculation of temperature stresses in the most dangerous sections of the concrete massif has been performed. It is shown that the calculated value of the temperature stress can serve as a characteristic of the thermally stressed state of the concrete mass. The formation of temperature cracks in a concrete mass is possible when the calculated value of the temperature stress exceeds the actual tensile strength of concrete. Comparison of the calculated and actual values of temperatures in the sections of the foundation slab has made it possible to conclude that the calculations of the temperature fields and, as a consequence, possible temperature deformations are correct.
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