Calculation of Moisture Distribution in Early-Age Concrete

The moisture content in concrete pores is a critical parameter for most of the degradation processes suffered by concrete, such as concrete shrinkage and related cracking. The objective of this paper is to present the formulation of a general moisture distribution model for young-age concrete. In the modeling, both cement hydration and moisture diffusion resulted humidity variations are taken into account synchronously. The effect of initial water distribution (after concrete casting) on the development of moisture distribution is considered by introducing a critical time parameter. The simulation of humidity reduction produced from self-desiccation is based on cement hydration degree that taking the effect of temperature into account by using the equilibrant age concept. During modeling the moisture diffusion, a multilinear model was adopted to simulate the moisture dependent diffusivity. The developed model and finite deferential method can well predict the moisture distribution as well as its variations with time. Good agreement between model predictions and experimental results is found. These results can subsequently be used in shrinkage induced stress field analyses, and further be used for cracking control of concrete structures.