Minimising risk of early-age thermal cracking and delayed ettringite formation in concrete – A hybrid numerical simulation and genetic algorithm mix optimisation approach

Abstract

Early-age thermal cracking and delayed ettringite formation (DEF) are major durability risks associated with mass concrete casting with high cement content. Among various strategies to mitigate the risk of early-age thermal cracking and DEF, concrete mix optimisation is favoured by the industry due to its minimal required operational adjustments and insignificant implementation cost. The existing concrete mix design optimization methods are, however, incapable of accounting for the risk of early-age thermal cracking and DEF; and have been designed solely to meet the mechanical performance targets. Mitigating the risk of DEF could be challenging mainly because limiting the temperature rise in..