Finite element analysis of concrete shrinkage cracks

Shrinkage cracking of concrete has been causing serviceability and durability problems and therefore needs to be carefully analyzed. However, the existing methods of shrinkage crack analysis tend to be rather empirical and often do not agree with each other. For accurate prediction of shrinkage cracks in reinforced concrete structures, a finite element method should be more suitable. Herein, a newly developed finite element method, incorporating a crack queuing algorithm of allowing only one concrete element to crack at a time so as to cater for immediate tension relief upon cracking and enable formation of discrete cracks, is extended for application to shrinkage crack analysis. It is applied to analyze the shrinkage cracks of concrete specimens reported in the literature to assess its applicability and accuracy. Overall, the finite element analysis, which also allowed for the creep effect, produced discrete crack patterns and analytical crack widths in good agreement with the observed cracks patterns and the measured crack widths