A numerical simulation of the temperature cracking propagation process when pouring mass concrete

Mass concrete temperature cracking is an important problem for concrete foundation safety in civil engineering projects; this issue extends from the construction process of a concrete foundation to the operation period. This paper introduces a simulation method for the mass concrete temperature cracking propagation process using the Finite Element Method (FEM). To illustrate the concrete heat conduction problem, an example is simulated with FEM to study concrete surface cracks caused by temperature changes during the entire process of pouring concrete, and the example is discussed to demonstrate how the concrete cracking process results from temperature decreases. The results show that the finite element method can effectively simulate the development of concrete block cracks under temperature stress. The calculation results attribute the crack distribution law of mass concrete blocks to the uniform temperature drop on the basis of strong constraints.