Creep and shrinkage of HPC in prebended composite structures. Part I: modelling

This paper presents a comprehensive modelling of the time-dependent deformations of high-performance concretes (HPCs) based on chemo-physical phenomena. For each component of the concrete delayed effects (autogenous shrinkage, thermal strain, desiccation shrinkage, basic creep, intrinsic desiccation creep, structural desiccation creep), a modelling based on the local evolution in time of the temperature, the degree of advancement of the hydration reaction and the water content of concrete is proposed. These variables are computed with the CESAR–LCPC finite-element code. The model is applied in this paper to predict the time-dependent strain evolution of concrete cylindrical specimens undergoing shrinkage and creep tests in laboratory conditions.