Thermal and Mechanical Behaviors of Concrete with Incorporation of Strontium-Based Phase Change Material (PCM)

In this study, phase change material (PCM) was used to control the heat of hydration of mass concrete, and the study aimed to evaluate the resulting fundamental and thermal properties of mass concrete with PCM. To evaluate the feasibility of adding PCM to concrete with various binder conditions for mitigating the hydration heat of mass concrete, mechanical and adiabatic temperature rise tests were conducted. The test results showed that the use of PCM did not significantly influence air content, while it slightly reduced flowability. For initial setting properties of concrete, it was found that the initial and final time were delayed when PCM was added. Even though compressive strength was slightly reduced when PCM was added into concrete, the strength development properties of concrete were more closely associated with the strength development properties of the binder. The adiabatic temperature rise test results showed that the addition of PCM resulted in an approximately 15–21% decrease in temperature rise of concrete. From the thermal analysis results, it is noted that thermal cracking probability could be decreased by adding PCM into concrete mix.