Thermal Crack Risk Estimations of Concrete Walls : Temperature and Strain Measurements Correlated to the Equivalent Restraint Method

Self-induced non-elastic deformations in hardening concrete, caused by restrained volume changes due to thermal dilatation and moisture deformations, often leads to cracking. In crack risk analyses, determination of the degree of restraint is vital. One model to estimate the restraint and calculate the thermal crack risk is the Equivalent Restraint Method, ERM. The method has previously been analyzed but needs to be further examined and validated. Recordings of tunnel sections were performed and compared to calculated values by ERM. Satisfying correlation between theoretically estimated and observed temperatures, strains and time of through cracking was achieve which is promising for future implementation and testing of the method