Creep and Shrinkage Behavior of High-Performance Concrete

High-performance concrete (HPC) exhibits reduced water–cement ratio and supplementary cementitious materials that confer superior strength and durability compared with ordinary mixes. However, its dense matrix heightens susceptibility to time-dependent deformations under sustained load (creep) and volume reductions driven by moisture loss and self-desiccation (shrinkage). Creep in HPC arises from the gradual reorganisation of the hydrated cement gel under stress, influenced by factors such as age, temperature and stress level. Shrinkage comprises autogenous shrinkage—from internal chemical changes—and drying shrinkage, in which capillary tension induced by moisture gradients leads to volume contraction. Interactions between creep and shrinkage play a decisive role in early-age cracking, long-term deflections and prestress losses in structural elements. Advances in mix design—incorporating silica fume, fly ash or slag—modify pore structure and internal humidity, thereby altering creep compliance and shrinkage rate. Numerical models increasingly account for the coupling between moisture migration, microstructural evolution and viscoelastic response to predict stress development in restrained conditions. Practical implications range from the design of high-rise cores and long-span bridges to mass concrete foundations, where control of deformation is critical to serviceability and durability.

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Creep and Shrinkage Behavior of High-Performance Concrete publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in creep and shrinkage behavior of high-performance concrete across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Creep: Time-dependent deformation of concrete under sustained load due to viscous flow and microstructural reorganisation.

Shrinkage: Volume reduction of concrete caused by moisture loss (drying) or internal chemical reactions (autogenous).

Autogenous deformation: Intrinsic shrinkage resulting from chemical hydration processes without moisture exchange with the environment.

Viscoelasticity: Material behaviour combining elastic and viscous responses, leading to time-dependent strain under stress.

High-performance concrete (HPC): Concrete with enhanced strength and durability achieved through low water–cement ratio and supplementary cementitious materials.

References

1. Experimentally informed modeling of the early‐age stress evolution in cementitious materials using exponential conversion from creep to relaxation. Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering (2024).
2. Autogenous deformation-induced stress evolution in cementitious materials considering viscoelastic properties: A review of experiments and models. Developments in the Built Environment (2024).
3. Evaluation of early-age thermal cracking resistance of high w/b, high volume fly ash (HVFA) concrete using temperature stress testing machine. Case Studies in Construction Materials (2022).