Prediction of early-age cracking of fiber-reinforced concrete due to restrained shrinkage

Fibers are increasingly being added to concrete mixtures enhance the cracking resistance of concrete. In this study, a method to predict cracking of fiber-reinforced concrete due to restrained drying shrinkage is proposed, and a comparison between test data and analysis results is made. In the prediction, major influencing factors on cracking, drying shrinkage based on moisture diffusion, creep, cracking resistance of concrete, and the effect of added fiber were incorporated. It is shown that the results obtained from the incorporated models can predict the cracking time and crack width varying over time of plain and fiber-reinforced concrete in a satisfactory manner