Temperature field evolution of mass concrete: From hydration dynamics, finite element models to real concrete structure

Due to the hydration of cement is especially obvious in mass concrete, it is challenging to accurately predict the temperature field and prevent the formation of temperature cracks. In this study, the parameters of the kinetic model of cement hydration applicable to this composite cementitious system were first obtained by the back propagation (BP) neural network algorithm, and then the three-dimensional temperature field time evolution under different heat source functions was obtained from the kinetic model of cement hydration, isothermal and adiabatic conditions of cumulative hydration exotherm by developing a finite element calculation model for the mass slab concrete, respectively. The calculation results show that the kinetic model of cement hydration as a new heat source function is suitable for the calculation of the temperature field of mass concrete, and the hydration heat of isothermal calorimetry yields low results. In addition, in the temperature field calculation of mass concrete, it is more accurate to consider the effect of temperature on cement hydration than not to consider temperature.