Shrinkage and strength of self-compacting concrete with different kinds of filler

This article outlines an experimental and numerical study on shrinkage and strength development of Self-Compacting Concrete, SCC, with different kinds of filler subjected to either air or sealed curing. For this purpose a large number of cylinders were cast including concrete mixes with glass filler, limestone powder or quartzite filler. Properties of normal concrete were studied in parallel. In order to obtain a comparison between normal and SCC special studies of plastic shrinkage were carried out on day I. Other parameters such as strength and internal relative humidity were also followed in parallel on normal-compacting concretes, NC, and SCC. The results indicate high plastic shrinkage of SCC in comparison with normal concrete, which may be prevented by proper treatment, such as sealing by water glass. At constant strength shrinkage seems to be of the same order in SCC and NC. However, since the strength at constant w/c was found to be about 20% higher in SCC than in normal, the use of SCC is beneficial if durability is essential. Finally, the age at the start of the shrinkage and the creep studies affected the result substantially.