Effects of Type and Content of Fibers, Water-to-Cement Ratio, and Cementitious Materials on the Shrinkage and Creep of Ultra-High Performance Concrete

Abstract

The effects of the type and content of fibers, water to cement ratio (W/C), and content of cementitious materials on the shrinkage and creep of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) were investigated. The relationships between curing age, shrinkage, and unit creep of the UHPC were also discussed. The results showed that the shrinkage of the UHPC decreased with the increase in W/C, where there existed a quadratic function between shrinkage and W/C. However, the unit creep of the UHPC increased with W/C. The shrinkage and unit creep of the UHPC increased with the increase in the content of the cementitious materials. The type and content of fibers had different effects on the shrinkage and unit creep of the UHPC, that is, the shrinkage of the UHPC first increased and then decreased with the increase in the content of steel fibers, where there existed a quadratic function between them. There was a linear function between the shrinkage of the UHPC and the content of carbon fibers, but the shrinkage of the UHCP first increased and then decreased with the increase in PVA content. The shrinkage and unit creep of the UHPC at the initial curing age were significant, which tended to be constant with the increase in curing age. Although the steel fibers had a significant inhibiting effect on the unit creep of the UHPC, the carbon fibers and PVA had positive and negative effects on the unit creep of the UHPC. The effects of the type and content of fibers on the shrinkage and unit creep of the UHPC were caused by the slenderness ratio, shape, surface roughness, and elasticity modulus of the fibers. The shrinkage and creep of the UHPC were caused by the chemical autogenous shrinkage and free water evaporation of the UHPC.