TEMPERATURE

EFFECTS
IN
CONCRETE

______________________________________
SHAINEE DELLE PALMERA
 HOT
WEATHER
CONCRETING
Hot weather is a combination of some of the
following conditions that are known to impair
the quality of fresh or hardened concrete,
largely by way of accelerating the rate of
moisture loss and rate of cement hydration.

• High ambient temperature

• High concrete temperature
• Low relative humidity
• Wind speed
• Thermal
Concrete may stiffen prematurely,
cracking
preventing it from being compacted
• Plastic and finished properly, or
cracking temperature of concrete may rise
to the point that thermal cracking
• Shrinkage appear as it cools
cracks
Hot weather at the time
of mixing, placing or
the very early age
affects the concrete in
both:

• Fresh state

• Hardened state
In fresh concrete

• Increased water demand

• Increased rate of slump loss

• Increased tendency for plastic shrinkage

cracking and thermal cracking

• Increased difficulty in controlling

entrained air content
In hardened concrete:
• Lower long term strength

• Decreased durability

• Greater variations in surface

appearance

• Decreased abrasion resistance arising

out of a tendency to sprinkle water to
facilitate finishing

• Vulnerable to shrinkage cracks and

thermal cracking
 DEALING WITH
HOT WEATHER
IN CONCRETING
• Moisten concrete aggregates that are dry and
absorptive

• Dampen the subgrade and forms prior to

placing concrete

• Erect temporary windbreaks to reduce wind

velocity over the concrete surface

• Erect temporary sunshades to reduce concrete

surface temperature

• keep the concrete temperature low by cooling

aggregates and mixing water
Ambient conditions:

• The temperature of the concrete, made on site

or delivered, should be kept low, preferably not
above 16ºC ( 60ºF ).

• It is generally required that concrete when

placed should have a temperature of less than
32ºC ( 90ºF ).
Temperature of freshly mixed concrete:

0.22 𝑇𝑎 𝑊𝑎 + 𝑇𝑐 𝑊𝑐 + 𝑇𝑤 𝑊𝑤 + 𝑇𝑎 𝑊𝑤𝑎
T=
0.22 𝑊𝑎 + 𝑊𝑐 + 𝑊𝑤 + 𝑊𝑤𝑎

0.22 𝑇𝑎 𝑊𝑎 + 𝑇𝑐 𝑊𝑐 + 𝑇𝑤 𝑊𝑤 + 𝑇𝑎 𝑊𝑤𝑎 −𝐿 𝑊𝑖
T=
0.22 𝑊𝑎 + 𝑊𝑐 + 𝑊𝑤 + 𝑊𝑤𝑎 + 𝑊𝑖
Substituting ice for part of the mixing water
substantially lowers concrete temperature. A
crusher delivers finely crushed ice to a mixer
reliably and quickly.
• Use materials and mix proportions that have a
good record in hot – weather condition

• It is often recommended to have trial batches

of concrete and mock up exercise to validate
assumptions and ensure quality construction
 SUPPLEMENTARY
CEMENTITIOUS
MATERIALS
• Such materials include fly ash, ground
granulated blast furnace slag, etc. use of such
materials as partial replacements for Portland
cement lead to a slower rate of setting and of
early strength gain to the concrete which is
desirable in hot weather concreting

• In cases when rapidly setting cements are

being used. SMCs may be used to improve
performance of concrete.

• Use of fly ash may also reduce the rate of

slump loss of concrete under hot weather
conditions
• Admixtures that have both water
reducing and set retarding properties are
used widely under hot weather conditions

• They can be used to avoid strength loss

that may otherwise result from high
concrete temperatures

• Superplasticizers are used to produce

flowing concrete under hot weather
conditions and this improved property of
concrete permits a more rapid
placement and consolidation of
concrete
MASS CONCRETE
Defined by ACI as:

• Any volume of concrete with dimensions

large enough to require that measures to
be taken to cope with the generation of
heat from hydration of cement and
attendant volume change to minimize
cracking
Two categories of restraint:

• Internal restraint

• External restraint
That’s all