Tareq Salih Al-Attar
Abstract
Concrete is a composite material, consisting, mainly, of three phases: coarseaggregate, cement mortar, and the interface zone between them. The characteristicsof the interface zone ...
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Concrete is a composite material, consisting, mainly, of three phases: coarseaggregate, cement mortar, and the interface zone between them. The characteristicsof the interface zone largely govern the bond between cement paste or mortar andaggregate. The restraining effect of aggregate to drying shrinkage strain dependsmuch on the bond between aggregate and cement paste.In this paper, it is aimed to investigate the effect of coarse aggregatecharacteristics, that affect bond strength, such as; type, shape, surface texture, andmoisture content, on drying shrinkage. Four types of coarse aggregate were used.Three of them were normal-weight, while the fourth was a light-weight one. Eachtype of coarse aggregate was used in two moisture conditions, dry and saturated.The testing program extended to 150-days age and comprised; length change,modulus of elasticity, compressive and splitting tensile strength of concrete.It is concluded that using saturated coarse aggregate always yields highershrinkage strain than dry aggregate. The percentage increase seems to be affectedby the aggregate water absorption. At early ages, After 28 days, there is largedifferences in relative shrinkage for different mixes. Later than 28 days, thevariation in ratios settled to approximately fixed values
