TENSILE CREEP AT EARLY AGES OF ORDINARY, SILICA FUME AND FIBER-REINFORCED CONCRETES

The deformability of concrete in tension has never received much attention, although the capacity of concrete to deform in tension, especially its creep potential, could help to prevent shrinkage induced cracking, and thus improve the durability of thin repairs. This paper presents the results of an investigation aimed at understanding and characterizing the tensile creep of concrete. The influence of different parameters was studied: the water to cement ratio, the type of cement, the age at loading and the use of fibre reinforcement. The results indicate that, unlike drying shrinkage, tensile creep is significantly influenced by the water to cement ratio, the age of concrete at loading and the fibre reinforcement. Silica fume seems to enhance creep as well as drying shrinkage, but the effect is relatively small.