A preliminary numerical investigation on the influence of material variability in the early-age cracking behavior of restrained concrete

The restraint of drying, autogenous, or thermal shrinkage can result in the development of tensile residual stresses. If the residual stresses that develop are large enough, they may cause cracking in the concrete. Substantial research has focused on the development of test methods to assess stress development and the corresponding potential for cracking. These test methods frequently focus on the determination of material properties that can be used in deterministic computer programs to simulate stress development and cracking. While these models are a great step forward, variability is inherent in the material properties, the construction processes, and the environmental conditions (i.e., temperature and relative humidity). This paper presents results of considering variability in a model for predicting the time of shrinkage cracking. A Monte Carlo simulation procedure has been adopted to account for variability in material properties. It has been found that a log-logistic function can accurately describe variability that can be expected in the time of cracking.