Creep of Ultra-High

Performance Concrete (UHPC)

Victor Y. Garas
CEE 8813
04/13/2007

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA, 30332

Presentation Organization
Ultra-High Performance Concrete
- Definition
- Developing
- Advantages
- Applications

Creep of Concrete
- Definitions
- Mechanisms

Creep of Ultra-High Performance Concrete

- Compressive
- Tensile (Motivation)
- Tensile (Background)
- Tensile (Test Setups)
- Tensile (Key Results)

Concluding Remarks

UHPC (Definitions)
ACI Committee 116
A concrete meeting special combinations of performance and
uniformity requirements that cannot always be achieved routinely using
conventional constituent materials and normal mixing,

placing, and

curing practices.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

HPC can be specified not only by the strength, but by also the
following: freeze-thaw durability, scaling resistance, abrasion resistance,
chloride penetration, creep, shrinkage, and modulus of elasticity.

UHPC (Definitions)
Collepardi et al. 1997
UHPC can be defined as an ultra-high strength and high ductility
concrete with advanced mechanical properties.

Shah and Weiss, 1998

Ultra-High Strength Concrete (UHSC) is defined as a mixture with
compressive strength greater than 22 ksi (150 MPa).

UHPC (Developing)
1- Decreasing Permeability

- Reducing the water-cement

ratio (typically < 0.2)
- Providing
(vibration)

proper

compaction

- Eliminating Coarse aggregates

Image from: Mehta and Monteiro, 2005

UHPC (Developing)
2- Densification with micro-fine particles
- Filling remaining void space
- Denser material
- Stronger and more durable
material

Image from: http://techalive.mtu.edu/meec/module06/Packing.htm

UHPC (Developing)
3- Macro-defect free (MDF) Materials
- Cement + Water-soluble polymer @ low w/c (typically less than
0.2).
- Increase in strength arises as a result of the cross-linking between
cement and polymer (Poyola et al. 1990).
4- Using Fibers

Image from: Shah and Weiss, 1998

5- Temperature Curing

UHPC (Developing)
6- Example
SF/MK - 0
lb/yd3

SF/MK - 33
lb/yd3

SF/MK- 100
lb/yd3

SF/MK- 300
lb/yd3

SF/MK-INF
lb/yd3

P. Cement Type I

1,200

1,200

1,200

1,200

1,200

Grace Silica Fume

90

180

270

360

Class C Fly Ash

320

320

320

320

320

Metakaolin - 235

393

295

196

98

1,590

1,590

1,590

1,590

1,590

60

60

60

60

60

Water

341

341

341

341

341

W/CM

0.18

0.18

0.18

0.18

0.18

Material

BB (150-600) Sand
Glenium (HRWR)

UHPC (Advantages)
Property

High
Performance
Concrete

UltraUltra-High
Performance
Concrete

Min. f c (psi)
psi) @ 56 days

6,000 14,000

> 22,000

Min. f t (psi)
psi)

about 10% of fc

1,350 1,750
(direct tension)

Min. E (ksi)
ksi)

4,060 7,250

7,350 7,820

Freeze/thaw durability (%)

60 - 80

98

Chloride Permeability
(coulombs)

800 3,000

18
Negligible if < 100

Specific Total Creep in

Compression @ 180 (
(/
/psi)
psi)

0.21 0.52

0.039

Total Shrinkage @ 180 of drying

()
) (in/in x 10-6)

400 - 800

750 (but nothing

after heat curing)

High strength
Reduction
in
member x-sec.
Dimensions.

High Durability
Low long-term
maintenance
cost.

High Ductility

Data from: Goodspeed et al., 1999 & Graybeal, 2005

UHPC (Advantages)

UHPC (Advantages)

1- Increase in Girder spans

2- Increasing the spacing

between girders
3- Permeability of concrete
decreased (increased
durability).

Girders

UHPC (Advantages)
4- Offsetting the Long term maintenance costs

5- Minimumizing depth girders

Steel Beam

UHPC (Advantages)
6- Further, it is predicted that an Ultra-HPC girder would
not require web shear reinforcement except for an amount
required to connect the cast-in-place deck slab to the girder.
Normal Concrete Section
(Shear Rft.)
UHPC Section
(No Shear Rft.)

UHPC (Applications)
1- Sherbrooke Footbridge - (1999)

Length
Deck area

197 ft
2175 ft2

Volume of RPC

55 yd3

Thickness of the slab

1.18 in

Prestressing

2.84x10-5 ksi

UHPC (Applications)
2- Seonyu Footbridge Seoul South Korea (2002)

Length
Height at mid-span (ft)

393.60 ft
48.75 ft

Thickness of the slab

1.20 in

Height of the transverse section

4.27 ft

Conventional reinforcement

None

Prestressing

26.46 kips

120 m
(393 ft)

15 m
(49 ft)

Images from: Lafarge

UHPC (Applications)
2- Seonyu Footbridge Seoul South Korea (2002) (cont.)

Images from: Lafarge

Creep of Concrete (Definitions)

Creep: time-dependent increase in strain under constant load taking place
after the initial strain at loading.
Basic creep: time-dependent
increase
in
strain
under
sustained constant load of a
concrete
sealed
specimen
(Independent
of
specimen
shape and size).
Drying creep: it is the creep
occurring
in
a
specimen
exposed to the environment
and allowed to dry (Depends on
specimen shape and size).

Image and Definitions from ACI 209-1R-05

Creep of Concrete (Definitions)

Creep coefficient: it
is the ratio of the creep
strain to the initial strain
(dimensionless).
Specific creep: it is
the creep strain per unit
load (strain/stress).

Image and Definitions from ACI 209-1R-05

Creep of Concrete (Mechanisms)

Viscous flow of the

cement matrix
Consolidation due to
seepage of water in the
microstructure
Permanent deformation
- microcracking
- formation of new physical
bonds.

Interlayer
water

Capillary
water

C-S-H
layer

Physically
adsorbed
water

Creep of UHPC
Compressive

Data from: Graybeal, 2005 (Compression creep test of UHPC)

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Creep of UHPC
Compressive
Curing regime

Control
Strength
(ksi)

Stress/
Strain

Initial Elastic
Strain
(
)

Final Creep
Strain
(
)

Creep
Coefficient

Specific
Creep
(
/psi)

Steam curing
(90oC & 95% RH)
for 48 h after casting

27.27

0.41

1500

440

0.29

0.0390

Air
(Ambient Conditions)

16.53

0.67

2057

1600

0.78

0.146

Tempered Steam
(60oC & 95% RH)
for 48 h after casting

25.65

0.43

1670

110

0.66

0.0980

Delayed Steam
(90oC & 95% RH)
for 48 h starting after
15 days

24.42

0.46

1580

485

0.31

0.0440

Data from: Graybeal, 2005 (Compression creep test of UHPC)

Creep of UHPC
Tensile (Motivation)
There is a specific interest in using UHPC for
prestressed highway bridge girders. With the UHPC
manufacturers recommendation not to use transverse
reinforcement, the long-term tensile performance of the
material should be characterized before specifying it.

Images from: Lafarge and Nawy, 2006

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Creep of UHPC
Tensile (background)
Pickett effect (1942)

tot = fs+ bc+ dc

- Due to the nonuniformity
of the moisture distribution
in a drying specimen.
- drying creep component
was explained by many
models by the so called
microcracking effect.
- Study of the microcraking
problem in tension will be
more effective.

Creep of UHPC
Tensile (background)
Kovler (1995)
Total Creep

- Nature of total creep is

different than basic creep.
Basic Creep

- At the beginning, total creep

was less than basic creep.
Total Creep

- Drying creep component had

a negative value initially,
shrinkage, which decreases
gradually and transforms to
positive later.

Basic Creep

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Creep of UHPC
Tensile (background)
Kovler (1995)
Total Creep

dc = sc+ cs
Basic Creep

Where:
cs is creep-induced shrinkage
dominating at the
beginning (always ve),

Total Creep

Basic Creep

sc is shrinkage-induced creep,
dominating at the later
stage (same as basic
creep).

Creep of UHPC
Tensile (background)
Abnormal behavior [Kovler,
1999]
-

It was found difficult to apply the

previous approach to experimental
data.

Tensile loading and drying produce

strains of different directions.

Basic creep

Total strain

Free shrinkage

Total strain

These two components will change

with time.

Basic creep

13

Creep of UHPC
Tensile (background)
Abnormal behavior [Kovler,
1999]
-

The excess basic creep

strain over total creep was
attributed to swelling of the
sealed specimens.

(a)

a- evaporation of water in the

capillaries under 100% RH
(no shrinkage).
b- evaporation continues and R
reduces to r (shrinkage).

(c)

(b)

c- swelling starts with sealing as

the minsucs becomes flatter.

Creep of UHPC
Tensile (background)
Abnormal behavior [Kovler, 1999]

w/cm = 0.7

w/cm = 0.7
Total strain

Basic creep

c = tot - fs

bc,corr = bc - sw

Drying creep of concrete under tension actually represents creep strain not
shrinkage

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Creep of UHPC
Tensile (Background)
Due to the significant difference in the water-to-cement
ratios between both the cases (0.7 in the case of this
study vs. < 0.2 in case of UHPC, results that could be
obtained

from

similar

tests

on

UHPC

might

be

significantly different than what was obtained in the

previous study.

Creep of UHPC
Tensile (Test Setups)
1- Kovler (1994)
Advantages:
1-high resolution (512 reading/sec).
2-completely automated setup.
Disadvantages:
1-compensation cycles may cause
premature failure if the
load/strength is high.
2-limited number of specimens.
3- possible load eccentricity.

15

Creep of UHPC
Tensile (Test Setups)
2- Bissonnette and Pigeon (1995)
Advantages:
1- Relatively simpler.
2- Constant, centric loading is
guaranteed throughout the test.
Disadvantages:
1- Top and bottom specimen
connections design especially for
high strength concrete
applications.
2- Manual loading may cause
disturbance.
3-limited number of specimens.

Creep of UHPC
Tensile (Test Setups)
3- Bissonnette and Pigeon (1996)
Advantages:
1- Steady load application.

System of
pulleys
(amplification
8: 1)

2-ability to test 3 replicates

simultaneously.
Disadvantages:
1- 50% of the applied load is lost
by friction in the system of pulleys.

Water tank
(capacity of
75 L)

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Creep of UHPC
Tensile (Test Setups)
4- Bissonnette and Pigeon (1996)
Advantages:
1- Steady load application.
2-ability to test 3 replicates /
frame.
Disadvantages:
1- the strain gage electrical
properties change with time
and thus make it unsuitable for
long term testing.
2- loading is not
constant allover
the test

Creep of UHPC
Tensile (Test Setups)
Detail II
Detail I

Detail III

17

Creep of UHPC
Tensile (Test Setups)
Test Setup Features
Loading:
Axial and constant loading throughout the test. Load capacity
of 16,000 lb (1,780 psi on a 3x3 in specimens).
Strain measurements:
using mechanical dial gages (accuracy of 0.0001 inch).
Specimens:
6 frames will be built (total of 18 3x3x15 in specimens can be
tested at the same time).
Challenge:
Designing the specimen-end plates connection

Creep of UHPC
Tensile (Key Results)
1- Use of Silica fume as SCM

Portland cement

Cement /silica fume

concrete

concrete

Data from: Bissonnette and Pigeon, 1995 (tensile creep)

18

Creep of UHPC
Tensile (Key Results)
2- Use of steel fibers

fibers

M fibers

control

Data from: Bissonnette and Pigeon, 1995 (tensile creep)

Creep of UHPC
Tensile (Key Results)
3- Stress/strength ratio
stress/strain = 0.09

stress/strain = 0.04

Image from: Bissonnette and Pigeon, 1995 (tensile creep)

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Creep of UHPC
Tensile (Key Results)
Results (Altoubat and Lange, 2001)
Effect of fibers
The incorporation of fibers in the wet condition decreased the initial
basic creep as they controlled microcracking.
Under drying conditions, these previously effects of using fibers are not
evident likely because under these conditions, more surface microcracking
occurs.
Effect of w/cm
The tensile basic creep increased upon decreasing the w/cm. This may
suggest that the tensile creep behavior at early age is governed by
different factors than in mature concrete.

Concluding Remarks
1. There is a need to improve the fundamental
understanding of the tensile creep behavior of
steel-fiber reinforced ultra-high cementitious
matrices.

2. Characterizing the the long-term tensile behavior

of UHPC reinforced with steel fibers and will assess
the efficiency of specifying it for use in highway
bridge
girders
without
transverse
bar
reinforcement.

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THANK YOU

Questions ?

21

Appendix

a/d > 5.5 conc. Load

a/d > 16 dist. load
Non-prestressed

a/d = 2.5 - 5.5 conc.

Load
a/d = 5.0 16 dist.
laod

3
1
2
V
3

a/d < 2.5 conc. Load

a/d <

Prestressed
2

Failure patterns as a function of beam slenderness. (a) Flexural failure, (b) Diagonal tension failure
(flexure shear), and (c) Shear compression failure (web shear) (a/d < 2.5) (Nawy 2006)).

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