Materials and Structures/Mat6riaux et Constructions,Vol.

30, April 1997, pp 167-173

Simulation of thermal stress in reinforced concrete at

early ages with a simplified model
Agnes Nagy
Department of Structural Engineering, Lund Institute of Technology, Sweden

A B S T R A C T

R I~ S U M I5:

This paper is primarily concerned with stresses and

cracking in reinforced concrete caused by restrained
thermal deformations during the hydration process.
Simulation of thermal stresses and crack occurrence is
carried out with a simplified model. By validation
against tests, it is shown that the simple, one-dimensional model gives a reasonable estimate of the thermal
stress development. The model is based on a few input
parameters like temperature history, stiffness development and tensile strength development. By means of a
parametric investigation, the age-dependent stiffness of
the concrete and the temperature history are identified
as the decisive material characteristics regarding the thermal stress level. It is also found that the reinforcement
has no effect prior to cracking but a clear crack redistributing role in the post-cracking state.

Cet article discute des contraintes et de la fissuration du

b~ton arm~ dues aux d~formations thermiques au cours de
l'hydratation. Une simulation des contraintes thermiques
et du d~veloppement des fissures a ~t~ effectu~e au moyen
d'un module simpl~'L Apr~s validation par des essais, ce
module simple et unidimensionnel fournit une estimation
raisonnable du d&eloppement de la contrainte thermique.
Ce module est bas~ sur un hombre limit~ de param~tres,
dont l'historique des temp&atures et le d&eloppement de la
rigidit~ et de la r&istance h la traction. Une investigation
param~trique a montr~ que la rigidit~ en fonction de l'dge
du b&on et l'historique de temp&atures sont les caract&istiques qui d&erminent le niveau de contrainte thermique.
II a ~qalement ~t~ montr~ que le renforcement n'a aucun
effet avant la fissuration, mais qu'il joue un r6le &ident
dans la nouvelle r~partition desfissures apr~sfissuration.

1. I N T R O D U C T I O N

which are most decisive for the development of thermal

stress and which are more easily obtainable in a practical
situation. An example of a practical approach with a simple material description can be found inJCI [5].
In this paper, a simplified constitutive model is used
to predict thermal stresses in young concrete. The input
material parameters required by the model are kept to a
minimum. The validity of the model is tested against
experimental data available in the literature. A parametric investigation is performed to identify those input
parameters which are most important for the developmeut of thermal stresses at an early age.

The occurrence of cracks in young concrete during

hydration depends mainly on two groups of factors: the
material characteristics of the young concrete, and the
restraint conditions of the concrete structure. Modelling
thermal cracking at early ages is a complex problem since
the mechanical properties of the concrete, like stiffness
and strength, and the thermal properties, like the coefficient of thermal expansion, are developing during the
hydration process. Also, the restraint conditions for a real
structure are difficult to estimate because of tl~e wide
range of possibilities between the fully-restrained and the
free cases. Several sophisticated analysis programs exist,
which take account of these factors and make it possible to
simulate the evolution of thermally-induced stress, e.g.
Emborg [1], Dahlblom [2], Haugaard et al. [3], Roelfstra et
al. [4]. Complex elements in such models, such as agedependent creep modelling, may in the absence of comprehensive experimental information lead to significant
errors in the analysis results. For this reason, it is desirable
to develop simpler models, only requiring input data
0025-5432/97 9 RILEM

167

2. C O N S T I T U T I V E

EQUATIONS

The model has been formulated assuming uniaxial

stress and restraint conditions. Concrete and reinforcement are modelled separately, and the interaction
between them is simulated by means of shear forces acting at the interface layer of the two materials. The incremental stress-strain relations are given by:

Materials and Structures/Mat6riaux et Constructions, Vol. 30, April 1997

AGc = Ec(t)[Aec - o%AT]

Ac;~= Es[ASs - o~AT]

(1)

where k(s and k~ are stress and strain increments (indexes

c and s for concrete and steel, respectively), E the material
stiffness, 0~the coefficient of thermal expansion and AT is
the temperature increment. The elastic modulus of the
concrete E Cis assumed to be age-dependent.
The behaviour of the interface between steel and
concrete is described by the linear incremental relation:
AS = k(t)[Auc - Aus]
(2)
where AS is the bond force increment (MN/m) at the
interface, Au~ and Au~ incremental displacements in concrete and steel, respectively, and k(t) the age dependent
bond stiffness. The constitutive relations (1) and (2), in
combination with standard kinematic and equilibrium
relations, describe the combined uniaxial behaviour of
the reinforced concrete. These relations were transf o r m e d i n t o finite e l e m e n t ( F E M ) relations a c c o r d i n g to

[~.~
o_.
~
0.4
(:
~
~
"

Jtff

J~ff = ]" (t. * 5h, g' )

1
[eft = - - = E (t)
Jeff

'
I
I

DO t' t

10

t.O

Age_(~oys)

5 h0ur5
Fig. 1 - Creep in young concrete. Estimation of the effective
material stiffness Neff .

standard procedures [6] and implemented as additional

subroutines into an FEM program called CAMFEM [7].

e(t, t') =J(t, t').r~(t')

(5)

3. PROPERTIESOF THE CONCRETE AT

EARLY AGES

where J(t, t') is the compliance function. By defining an

effective compliance as:

Ageing of the concrete is described by the concept of

equivalent maturity time te, defined by:
t
tr = I ~ t d t
(3)
0
where ~t is a maturity function described by the wellknown Arrhenius expression:
Uh ( 1
1_/
[~t = exPR-[293
'1')
(4)

Jeff=J(( + 5h, t')

(6)
and taking Ecfe = 1/J~ff, a certain amount of creep is
included implicitly in the effective modulus Neff , see
Fig.1. As the creep deformations decrease for increasing
age at loading, the reduction of the Ecff value also
decreases with age. In this way, a consistent definition of
the E-modulus for all ages is obtained.
The reference time trcf= 5 hours is chosen so that the
creep deformations have mostly taken place at very early
ages when creep is at maximum. The choice of reference
time as 5 hours is arbitrary, but it is evident from Fig.2
that the results are not sensitive to this choice. The sireu!ations in the figure are made for a fully-restrained plain
concrete prism with the concrete mixture $279 presented in Section 4. The results show that for the totally
elastic choice of E~ff (trr f = 0), the compressive stress
becomes somewhat higher but the tensile stresses coincide with those for tref = 5 hours.
Concrete at a very early age is characterised by plastic behaviour, see Kasai et al.

where T is the temperature in Kelvin, U h the activating

energy of hydration in J/tool, and 1L the universal gas
constant 8.314J/mol.K.
The E-modulus as an age-dependent parameter is
evaluated from creep tests performed by Emborg [1].
The total time-dependent strain e(t,t') at time t due to a
loading at time t' _<t is defined as:
3 5~re~s(Mea)
~~
~
. . . . . . . .
t
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
....
t ~ef: 5h
. t ref "0
. . . .
0 %,

j.~

/~..,/.-

~.5

LO

~ 7 i
/

25-@ (d@)~
/

-1

[8], and this effect is included in the compliance as no unloading takes place at this stage.
At the time when actual unloading takes
place in practical structures, the approximation of elastic behaviour is reasonable.
The tensile strength in this model is
related to the compressive strength ofcylinders by the CEB formula:
f~t = 0"3(fcyl)2/3

(7)

Alternatively, the tensile strength as a

function of age can be measured directly by

Fig. 2 - Simulations regarding the choice of reference time.

the splitting test.

168

Nagy

Since the calculation model is implemented in an FEM

environment, the stiffness is gradually reduced in those
elements where cracking occurs. This reduction is
described with the post-cracking behaviour by means of
fracture mechanics concepts like tension softening stiffness
and characteristic length. According to Hillerborg et al. [9]:
ET (8)

E(t)

(8)

1 21r
L
where E T is the tension softening stiffness of the cracked
element, E(t) the stiffness of the uncracked concrete, lch
the age dependent characteristic length of the concrete,
and L the length of the finite element. The length of the
finite elements in the calculations is chosen to be less
than twice the characteristic length; hence, the value of
the stiffness of a cracked element will always be a negative number. Thus, the model is based on a bilinear
characteristic curve described by the age-dependent
effective modulus E(t) up to the point where the tensile
strength has been reached in an element and a crack
arises, and by the tension softening stiffness E r during
the post-cracking state.
The coefficient of thermal expansion for concrete
was assumed to be independent of age but with different
values 0~ceand (xcc during expansion (AT > 0) and contraction (AT < 0), respectively. Important contributions
on this matter in the literature have been made by
L6fquist [10], Byfors [11], Emborg [1].
The interaction between concrete and reinforcement
is described with the bond-slip theory, where slip is
defined as concrete displacement relative to the reinforcement. The bond forces are related to the slip
through the bond stiffness k which is given by:
k = K 4aS
(9)
d
where k is the bond stiffness in MN/m 2, K a material parameter depending on the anchorage characteristics and the
diameter of the reinforcement in MN/m 3, A s the area of
reinforcement bars, and d the diameter of the reinforcement bars. The bond stiffness k is an age-dependent parameter and in the absence of reliable experimental data, this

is taken into account by connecting the parameter k to the

E-modulus development as follows:
k
k(t) = E ( t ) - -

(10)

E28

where E(t) is the E-modulus in development of the concrete, k the value of bond stiffness according to equation
(9), E28 the stiffness of a 28-day old concrete. For further
details on the simplified model, see Nagy and
Thelandersson [12, 13].

4. CALIBRATION OF THE MODEL

Most of the tests found in the literature regarding the
concrete stress state due to restrained temperature deformations are performed on plain concrete. For this reason,
the present model is validated against such test results. The
simulation of plain concrete is managed by choosing a very
small amount of reinforcement and by setting the stiffness
of the interface layer very low. The results of the simulations were validated against experimental data obtained by
Emborg [1, 14]. Two types of concrete are analysed, one
based on OPC from Slite ($279) and the other based on
OPC from Degerhamn (A300). The $279 and A300 types
correspond to concrete with normal and slow hardening
rates, respectively. Characteristics of the two concrete types
are presented in Table 1.
Table 1 - Concrete characteristics
Concrete
cement W/C
cont.
[kg/m 3]

Coefficient of thermal 28-days

fcc trestraint
expansion [106/~
E-modulus
C~ce
~cc
[GPa]
[MPa] [days]

$279

0.61

9.5

7.5

36.0

46.2

0.23

A300

0.54

11.5

7.5

35.2

56.7

0.35

$279 - Ordinary Portland Cement type I (Slite, Sweden)

A300 - Ordinary Portland Cement type II (Degerhamn, Sweden)

Directly after pouring (t = 0 is defined as the pouring time), the ends of the specimen are free until time
t = t r e s t r a i n t when the specimen is fully restrained
(in the tests, restraint could not be applied
before the concrete had developed a certain
3oooo - r {it (MPQ) 7
I
I
I
r
I
amount of strength). The evaluated material
stiffness as a function of equivalent age is shown
in Fig. 3. The temperature histories for the two
types of concrete were recorded by Emborg [1,
14] during relaxation tests performed on cylindrical specimens stored under water. The specimens were heated by the surrounding water in
....
.... I I I
the tank to give a hydration curve representative for a concrete wall with a thickness of 0.7
m. The two temperature curves are presented
in Fig. 4. Also, a rapid E-modulus development
and an increased temperature development for
I~
0.5
19
.5
Z,[~ ~.g 3.~ 3.5 ~,0 4.5
5.0 5.5 611
$279 are presented in the figures used later in
Fig. 3 - E f f e c t i v e stiffness evaluated from creep tests performed at 20~
the parametric investigation.
169

Materials and Structures/Mat6riaux et Constructions, Vol. 30, April 1997

F~'Nx

z
Fig. 4 -

T e m p e r a t u r e curves

Time(c

The results of the calibration are

shown in Figs. 5 and 6 for the two concrete types. The model shows rather
good conformity with the test results,
especially during the period when the
concrete is compressed. The differences
on the tensile side, i.e. the low levels at
failure in the tests compared to the tensile strength, could be due to the presence of tertiary creep. Another reason
could be the undesired eccentricity in
the test set-up. The results of the calibration reveal that the simplified model can
predict the thermal stresses in a satisfactory manner.

for $279 and A300.

5. PARAMETRIC
INVESTIGATION
~.~

, J l I u - ~ D L Iu

[.0

U,I

IOD

Model

Test
r

LIrestroint0.5=O.Z3doy~1.1]

-I.O

1.5

Z.0

Z.5

Time(day
3.5
4.D

3.0

Fig. 5 - Stress development in $279 concrete.

[0

'I

..,FoilurIe

I,,~

Time(do415)

t re51vaint = 0.35doy~

Fig. 6 - Stress development in A300concrete.

170

To get an idea about the sensitivity of

the simulation results, a parametric investigation was conducted. One of the factors studied in the investigation is the
temperature variation during hydration.
A simulation with increased temperature
variation for concrete $279 was carried
out according to Fig. 4. All the other
input parameters were kept unchanged.
The results of the simulation are presented in Fig. 7. With the increased temperature, the maximum compressive
stress is about the same as for normal
$279, but the tensile stress increases much
faster. This is in accordance with the idea
that a faster temperature increase during
the initial stage does not create high compressive stresses since the concrete stiffness has not yet developed.
The influence of stiffuess development is studied by assuming a rapid stiffness development applied to the $279
concrete, see Fig. 3. A rapid development of E(t) results in a significant
increase in compressive stress, and the
tensile stresses become significantly
smaller than in the reference case, see
Fig. 8.
If both the temperature and the stiffness values are increased simultaneously,
the compressive stress becomes much
higher, but in addition the tensile stresses
increase more rapidly than in the reference case. The results of the simulation
are presented in Fig. 9.
The positive influence of early stiffness development in the young concrete
is obvious as well as the negative influence of increased temperature in reaching the tensile strength earlier. The

Nagy

31rs

t~rtJ]

Increased l~m9

l~ormal

-\j

./

0.5

1.0

I,'5

t,O

Tim~ ({
30

t,5

Fig. 7 - Simulation w i t h increased temperature for $279.

3.0 - 3 ~ r e s s

u~ro)

1g . . . .

/ i__

/ ~

-"

~ ' [

/"

_f _

Fig. 8 - Influence of rapid development of material stiffness on $279.

ZO,--I . t 3 ----- - -

5 ZTg

Normal

i/.//f

5 ZT~

In~r~ose_d

~emp, rapid

-1.0

-Z0,
Time{d ~9~/

-300

0!5

1.0

15

z.0

z.5

3.0

Fig. 9 - Simulation with increased temperature and rapid stiffness development for
$279.

171

model clearly shows the sensitivity of

young concrete to increased temperature
at early ages. A concrete mixture which
gives an early stiffness development and a
delayed temperature development during hydration would be most advantageous with regard to thermal cracking.
The amount of reinforcement is an
input parameter of the simplified model
connected to the bond stiffness and its
development through Equations (9) and
(10). Thus, an investigation of the role of
reinforcement means implicitly an investigation of the influence of bond stiffness. Simulation has been performed with
two reinforcement percentages: 0.075%
and 0.75%, respectively for a reinforced
concrete prism totally restrained at its
ends. Assuming a K value of 200,000
MN/m 3 for 25-mm diameter plain bars in
the absence of experimental data for
deformed bars, Equations (9) and (10)
give the value of 0.66 and 6.6, respectively for the ratio k/E28 for concrete
$279. K decreases with increasing diameter size and for deformed bars has significantly higher values, see Granholm [15].
The simulations include the initiation
process of a crack in a 'weak' section by
reducing the tensile strength of the concrete in the middle of the prism. The
results in Fig. 10 show that the presence
of reinforcement has almost no effect on
the stress development in the concrete in
comparison with simulations for the plain
concrete prism shown in Fig. 5. After
cracking in the midsection of the prism,
the concrete is unloaded. In the second
case, Fig. 11, there is more reinforcement
in the prism, but the effects prior to
cracking are also negligible in this case.
The differences appear in the post-cracking state when the concrete is only partially unloaded, which means that a second crack would probably appear. This is
in full accordance with the crack redistributing role of the reinforcement which
makes the cracks occuring more numerous and narrower than in the plain concrete.
Another factor of major importance
is the accuracy of the input parameters.
Simulations with the simplified model
for a practical case show that a relatively
small difference in the temperature history radically changes the thermal stress
state. Two temperature histories are
used in the simulations, presented in
Fig. 12, one being measured during the

Materials and Structures/Mat6riaux et Constructions, Vol. 30, April 1997

51re55 (MPo)

'f

L-

=[

Fig. I0 - Stress in concrete with reinforcement percentage 0.075%

and k/E28 = 0.66. F-first element in the prism; M-midsection in the prism.

(MPol

5tre55

construction process and the other generated

with a 2D program for the same construction. The results of stress simulation show
that with the measured temperature data,
the concrete would obviously crack in comparison to the case with generated temperature data showing no tendency to crack, see
Fig. 13.
The simulated temperature in Fig. 12 displays a somewhat retarded development and a
slower cooling process, probably due to simplifications introduced in the calculations.
For a more detailed description of the practical case and the temperature calculations, see
Nagy [13]. Comparison of the simulations in
Fig. 13 shows a radical change in the stress
state in the concrete corresponding to the
'error' in the temperature input data. It is reasonable to believe that even 2D models are
very sensitive to such an 'error'.

6. CONCLUSIONS

,:s

-I

Fig. 11 - Stress in concrete with reinforcement percentage 0.75 %

and k/E28 = 6.6. F-first element in the prism; M-midsection in the prism.

G0

Tempe.rolure (%)

t,0

5imulaled

Z0
Time (daus)
t

113

17-

14

1B

15

2_0

Fig. 12 - Comparison of measured and generated temperature.

MPo}

wilh measured /

,.--I" TiPtoe(dQ.~5

o
-1
-Z
-3

X
/

~0i~h6imul0ttd
~_~emperalure

-4
-5

Fig. 13 - Simulation based on measured and generated temperature data.

172

Thermal stresses in concrete occur at an

early age as a consequence of restrained thermal deformations. At this age, the material
characteristics of the concrete are in development and the restraint conditions in a real
structure are difficult to assess. In this study,
an attempt has been made to predict the thermal stresses with a linear one-dimensional
constitutive model. According to the calibration of the model to tests, the simple material
description of the concrete with a minimal set
of required input parameters has a good capability to predict thermal stresses. The results
indicate that the proposed model is sufficiently accurate for thermal stress analysis in
practical applications where the information
needed for a more complex analysis is not
available.
The age-dependent material stiffness, in
combination with the temperature variation,
has been found to have the greatest influence
on the thermally-induced stresses. An early
growth in stiffness and a delayed temperature
development would clearly reduce the risk of
thermal cracking in young concrete.
The role of reinforcement has been found
to be minor prior to cracking but with a clear
crack redistribution effect in the post-cracking state. This effect depends on the amount
of reinforcement, and it is distinctly clear for a
rcinforcement percentage of 0.75 calculated
according to the classical theory that sufficient tension must be transferred from the
steel to the concrete in order to crack the
concrete without yielding the steel. Thus,

Nagy
this simple analysis proves the well-known fact that due
to the redistribution role of the reinforcement, several
cracks can appear instead of a few, wider ones.
The scope of this paper is to investigate and model
thermally-induced stresses and the factors influencing
this process in concrete at early ages. The investigation is
focused on the early age E-modulus among several factors influencing the stress level. However, this discussion
cannot be concluded without remarking the importance
of other factors like the coefficient of thermal expansion
of the concrete or the restraint conditions of the structure regarding thermal stress development.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was financially supported by Elforsk AB the Swedish Power G e n e r a t i o n - Research and
Development Co.

REFERENCES
[1] Emborg, M., 'Thermal Stresses in Concrete Structures at Early
Age', Doctoral Thesis 1989:73D, Division of Structural
Engineering, Lule~ University of Technology, 1989.
[2] Dahlblom, O., 'Hacon-S-A Program for Simulation of Stress in
Hardening Concrete', Report from Vattenfall Hydro Power
Generation, 1992.
[3] Haugaard, M., Berrig, A. and Fredriksen, J., 'Curing technology:
A 2-dimensional simulation program', in 'Proceedings of the
Nordic Concrete Research Meeting', Gothenburg, 1993.
[4] Roelfstra, P.E., Salet, T.A.M. and Kuiks, J.E., 'Definition and

application of stress-analysis-based temperature difference limits

to prevent early-age cracking in concrete structures', in
'Proceedings of the Int. Symp. RILEM 119 TCE Avoidance of
Thermal Cracking at Early Ages' (E&FN Spon, 1995).
[5] Japanese Concrete Institute Committee on Thermal Stress of
Massive Concrete Structures, 'A Proposal of a Method of
Calculating Crack Width Due to Thermal Stresses', (Japanese
Concrete Institute, Sept. 1992).
[6] Ottosen, N. and Petersson, H., 'Introduction to the Finite
Element Method' (University of Lund, Prentice Hall
International Ltd, 1992).
[7] Dahlblom, O. and Peterson, A., 'Camfem - Computer Aided
Modelling Based on the Finite Element Method', Report
TVSM-3001, Lund Institute of Technology, 1982.
[8] Kasai, Y. et al., 'Tensile properties of early-age concrete (The
plastic and elastic strain and the extensibility)', in 'Proceedings of
the 1974 Symposia on Mechanical Behaviour of Material',
Kyoto, August 21-24 1974, 433-441.
[9] Hillerborg, A., Modeer, M. and Peterson, P-E., 'Analysis of crack
formation and crack growth in concrete by means of fracture
mechanics and finite elements', Cement and Concrete Research 6
(1976) 773-782.
[10] L6fquist, B., 'Temperatureffekter i h~rdnande betong' Tekniska
meddelanden fr~n Kungliga Vattenfallsstyrelse (in Swedish), Serie
B, Nr 22,July 1946.
[11] Byfors, J., 'Plain Concrete at Early" Ages', CBI Research 3:80,
1980.
[12] Nagy, A. and Thelandersson, S., 'Modelling Thermal Effects in
Young Concrete', Nordic Concrete Research, March 1992.
[13] Nagy, A., 'Cracking in Concrete Structures Due to Early
Thermal Deformations', Report TVBK-1009, Department of
Structural Engineering, Lund Institute of Technology, Sweden,
1994.
[14] Emborg, M., Johansson, H., 'Relaxation Tests on Young
Concrete' (in Swedish), Division of Structural Engineering,
Lule5 University of Technology, 1988:01T, 1988.
[15] Granholm, H., 'Cracking in Reinforced Concrete' (in Swedish),
Chahners Technical University, Gothenburg, 1958.

173