SHRINKAGE AND CRACKING OF CEMENTIVE MATERIALS

Abstract

THE symposium organised by the Roads and Building Materials Group of the Society of Chemical Industry and held at the Royal Institution on May 8 was it first result of a suggestion made by Prof. J. D. Bernal, chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Works, that there was need for more discussion of the fundamental problems associated with building. The subject chosen, the shrinkage and cracking of cementive materials, is not only one of major importance to all building technologists, but it also throws up many problems which, it is hoped, may engage the attention of the worker in pure science. The symposium was organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Works, and, in opening it, Sir Reginald Stradling, chief scientific adviser to the Ministry, pointed out that the problem of the dimensional stability of materials is a most important subject, and one which has engaged the attention of workers in this field over the last twenty years. Nevertheless, much still remains to be done, and he hoped that the contributions made to the symposium would lead to a clearer understanding of the nature of the problems.