2029EXQ STRUCTURAL DESIGN

TIME-DEPENDENT BEHAVIOUR:
SHRINKAGE AND THERMAL MOVEMENT IN CONCRETE

Alfred Gand
Email: aa1623@coventry.ac.uk
Room: JL143
SHRINKAGE AND THERMAL MOVEMENT IN
CONCRETE
General Overview

 Concrete undergoes three main typed of

volumetric change, causing stresses, cracking, or
deflections.
 In-service behaviour of reinforced concrete
structures is affected.
 The changes are: shrinkage, creep and thermal
expansion.
SHRINKAGE

 Decrease in volume of concrete during hardening

and drying under constant temperature
 Amount of shrinkage increases with time
Primary form
 drying shrinkage (simply shrinkage) due to loss of a
layer of adsorbed water (electrically bound water
molecules) from the surface of the gel particles
 develops more slowly with large members,
because of more moist concrete available to restrain
the shrinkage.
 related to the composition of the concrete – water
cement ration, aggregate cement type
SHRINKAGE

Primary form
Drying shrinkage occurs as the moisture diffuses out
of the concrete:
 the results is that the exterior shrinks more quickly
relative to the interior.
 tensile stresses are developed in the outer skin of
the concrete and compressive stresses in the
interior.
SHRINKAGE

Secondary form – carbonation shrinkage

 occurs in carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere, such as
those found in parking garages.
 amount can equal drying shrinkage at approx. 50%
relative humidity, doubling the total amount of
shrinkage
 carbonation decreases at higher and lower
humidities.
SHRINKAGE

For a unit volume of concrete, the shrinkage strain

will tend to be less for the following reasons:
 ratio of volume to surface area
 staged construction – some shrinkage dissipated
before adjacent phase is completed
 restraints provided by reinforcement
TIME-DEPENDENT BEHAVIOUR

The long-term behaviour is illustrated by considering an

unloaded cylinder and an identical
loaded cylinder as shown in Fig. 1.
Unloaded cylinder
Time-dependent shortening of the unloaded cylinder due to
the concrete dries out. The deformation is referred to as
shrinkage εsh (t), defined as the time dependent strain in the
absence of stress.

Fig. 1a.
TIME-DEPENDENT BEHAVIOUR
Loaded cylinder
During the loading, an instantaneous elastic strain εel
develops, followed by a time dependent component, greater
than that caused by shrinkage in an identical cylinder. A time-
dependent deformation, referred to as creep, is therefore
caused by the sustained load. Creep εcr (t) is defined as
the time dependent component of the concrete strain over
and above the elastic and shrinkage strain.

Fig. 1b.
TIME-DEPENDENT BEHAVIOUR

The total long-term concrete strain is given by

TIME-DEPENDENT BEHAVIOUR
As the coefficient of thermal expansion of steel and concrete
are similar, differential movement between the steel and
concrete will only be very small and is unlikely to cause
cracking.

The differential thermal strain εth(t) due to temperature change

T may be calculated and should be added to the shrinkage
strain if significant;
TIME-DEPENDENT BEHAVIOUR
Table 1. Typical values for final shrinkage εsh,∞
CASE PROJECT – ASSESSMENT OF
MOVEMENT JOINT REQUIREMENTS

Structures are designed for anticipated movement from

thermal expansion, shrinkage and creep by the introduction of
a movement joint throughout the building. At locations of
movement joints, either column pairs or Ancon shear load
connector are utilised.
CASE PROJECT – ASSESSMENT OF
MOVEMENT JOINT REQUIREMENTS

Figure 2: Building Layout

Sidney Stringer Academy, Coventry, Courtesy WSP Buildings
CASE PROJECT – ASSESSMENT OF
MOVEMENT JOINT REQUIREMENTS

Figure 3: Typical Movement Joint Incorporating

Ancon Shear Load Connector
CASE PROJECT – ASSESSMENT OF
MOVEMENT JOINT REQUIREMENTS

Thermal Movement

Assuming the building is well ventilated and heated,

temperature should be reasonably constant. For a typical
range of 20°C temperature variation, the expansion over
the slab is given as 75000 x 12 x 10-6 x 20 / 2 = 9.0mm. The
minimum gap is therefore 18.0 mm.
CASE PROJECT – ASSESSMENT OF
MOVEMENT JOINT REQUIREMENTS

Early Shrinkage Movement

Assuming that the slab is unrestrained and columns are free
to move. The maximum length between joints is up to
45m and 75m in each direction of the movement joint
location. The shrinkage strain is given as Ɛsh = 100 x 10-6,
total contraction is 100 x 10-6 x 75000 / 2 = 3.75mm and 100
x 10-6 x 45000 / 2 = 2.25mm, resulting in a total contraction
of 6mm. The total movement across the joint will therefore be
6.0 mm due to early thermal shrinkage.
CASE PROJECT – ASSESSMENT OF
MOVEMENT JOINT REQUIREMENTS

Long Term Shrinkage Movement

Assuming the slab provides only nominal restraint, the
shrinkage can be considered as symmetrical about the
construction joint. Give the 75m and 45m split sections
(see Fig. 2), the shrinkage strain from the 75m and 45m
sections are given as Ɛsh = 300 x 10-6, hence movement
per section will be 300 x 10-6 x 75000 / 2 = 11.25 mm per
end and 300 x 10-6 x 45000 / 2 = 6.75 mm per end,
respectively. The total movement across the joint is
therefore 18.0 mm
due to long term shrinkage.
CASE PROJECT – ASSESSMENT OF
MOVEMENT JOINT REQUIREMENTS
The total movement due to shrinkage across the joint:
Early thermal shrinkage 6.00mm
Long term shrinkage 18.00mm
Total 24.00mm

The total movement if both joints start at zero will be 24mm.

By accounting for sway movement of the structure, a

movement joint of 25 mm is provided at the interface
between the two sections of the building. This allows for the
frame expansion and sway together with a nominal tolerance
to avoid the two sections coming into contact. A similar
separation joint can be found on Sir John Laing building.
 CASE PROJECT – MOVEMENT JOINTS

Movement joint in a suspended slab with shear transfer

www.ancon.co.uk (shear connectors)

Movement joint at column location Movement joint suitable for traffic

Source: Concrete Building Scheme Design Guide to EC2, Courtesy Concrete Society
Alfred Gand
Email: aa1623@coventry.ac.uk
Room: JL141