Efficiency of lightweight aggregates for internal curing of high strength concrete to eliminate autogenous shrinkage

摘要

High Strength Concretes (HSC) with extremely low water to binder (w/b) ratios are characterized by high cracking sensitivity which is a consequence of increased autogenous shrinkage. The major reason for autogenous shrinkage-self-desiccation-cannot be eliminated by tra- ditional curing methods. The application of the concept of internal curing by means of saturated lightweight aggregate was applied and shown to be effective in elimi- nating autogenous shrinkage. The present paper describes an approach to optimize the size and porosity of the light- weight aggregate to obtain effective internal curing with a minimum content of such aggregate.