"A tribute to Causes and Prevention of Crack Development in Plastic Concrete"""""

Abstract

The author of this paper begins with a clear mission “… cracking can be practically eliminated if appropriate measures to minimize the causes are taken at the right time.” This paper discusses many of the factors that can cause cracking at early ages before focusing on the cracking that occurs before the concrete sets (that is, when it is in the plastic state). The paper describes how plastic shrinkage cracking is greatly dependent on the relationship between the rate of evaporation and the rate of bleed water reaching the surface. If the volume of bleed water reaching the surface is greater than that which evaporates, water stays on the surface of the concrete and it is protected from cracking. However, when evaporation causes a greater volume of water to evaporate than has bled to surface the potential for plastic shrinkage is high.