Heat transfer analysis of pipe cooling for mass concrete

A numerical analysis was performed to investigate the effectiveness of cooling by circulating water through pipes embedded in hardening concrete to reduce the temperature increase of concrete mass due to exothermic hydration reactions of concrete compounds. A pseudo three-dimensional finite element method was proposed to analyse the transient three dimensional heat transfer between the hardening concrete and the cooling water in pipe. The effects of the cement type and content and the environment were taken into consideration by the heat generation rate and the boundary conditions, respectively. The results of analysis agreed well with experimental measurements. The results of this study have important implications for the optimal design of the pipe cooling system to achieve the desired strength at a specific age or to control the temperature differentials in the structure to eliminate thermal cracking.