Recent experiences have shown that thermal–shrinkage cracks in reinforced concrete
walls are a common phenomenon. The cracks appear above the joint between the
wall and the foundation at the construction phase of these structural members. This problem affects, among the others, bridge abutments, retaining
walls, tank
walls and radiation protection shields, in which cracking is highly undesirable due to tightness requirements. Prediction of the early-age thermal and shrinkage effects is not an easy task because of the complexity of the issue and a large number of contributing technological and material factors deciding about the magnitude and character of early-age volume changes.
This paper presents a complete analytical model for determination of hardening temperature, shrinkage deformations and thermal–shrinkage stresses in early stages of hardening of reinforced concrete walls cast against previously executed foundation. As a basis for the model development, numerical analysis of 39 walls was performed in which the analysed walls had various dimensions and were made of concretes with different types of cements and aggregates. A calculation method for determination of stresses proposed by Eurocode 2 is also referred.
