CAUSES, EVALUATION AND REPAIR OF CRACKS （原因,评估和修复裂缝）.pdf

CAUSES, EVALUATION AND REPAIR OF CRACKS IN CONCRETE 3.0 Causes and control of cracking: 3.1 Plastic Shrinkage Cracking: It occurs within 1 to 8 hours after placing, when subjected to a very rapid loss of moisture caused by a combination of factors, which include air and concrete temperatures, relative humidity and wind velocity at the surface of the concrete. These factors can combine to cause high rates of surface evaporation in either hot or cold weather. Fig.3a, Plastic Shrinkage Crack Pattern Fig. 3b, Plastic Shrinkage Cracks When moisture evaporates from the surface of freshly placed concrete faster than it is replaced by bleed water, the surface concrete shrinks. A zero bleed concrete will shrink due to the restraint provided by the concrete below the drying surface layer, tensile stresses develop in the weak, stiffening plastic concrete, resulting in shallow cracks of varying depth which may form a random, polygonal pattern, or may appear as essentially parallel to one another as shown in fig. 3 a b. These cracks are often fairly wide at the surface. They range from 5 cm to a few m in length and are spaced from 5 cm to as much as 3m apart. Plastic shrinkage cracks begin as shallow cracks but can become full depth cracks. Preventive measure: Dampening sub grade, early start of curing, sunshade, windbreaker, fog nozzle, plastic sheet to cover, evaporation retardant (e.g. aliphatic alcohol within one hour of concrete placement). Repairs: If closely spaced – chipping the area and repairing as per para 10.1. If farther apart, sealing and grouting. 3.2 Plastic Settlement Cracking: After initial placement, v ibration