Effect of expansive agent and internal curing agent on crack resistance of C50 silica fume wet-mix shotcrete

High-strength shotcrete is always needed to strengthen rock support. However, it will reversely increase the crack risk. Crack normally goes against the durability and shortens the service life of shotcrete. The objective of this article was to improve the crack resistance of shotcrete with expansive agent and internal curing agent. C50 shotcrete with 10% of silica fume was taken as reference mix composition. Ring test and thermal stress test simulating actual temperature, relative humidity, and constraint were carried out to directly assess crack resistance. Restrained deformation, autogenous volume deformation, and pore structure were measured to study how expansive agent and internal curing agent resisted crack. The results indicated that 4% of expansive agent was enough to improve crack resistance of C50 shotcrete. It could fill internal pores and produce compressive pre-stress at earlier age which could be used to compensate shrinkage at later age. Furthermore, the crack resistance of C50 shotcrete could be further promoted when internal curing agent was employed together with expansive agent. The internal curing agent was able to reduce auto-shrinkage by decreasing the loss of internal relative humidity. In addition, it could also enhance the hydration degree of expansive agent, which would strengthen the role of expansive agent on resisting crack.