• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.29-37
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• 2007

The experiments have been conducted on Kaolinite in laboratory to investigate the development of shrinkage cracking and propose a simple model. Image analysis method consisting of control point selection(CPS) technique is used to process and analyze images of soil cracking captured by a digital camera. The distributions of crack length increment and crack area increment vary as a three-step process. These steps are regarded as stages of soil cracking. They are in turn primary crack, secondary crack and shrinkage crack stages. In case of crack area, the primary and secondary stages end at normalized gravimetric water content(NGWC) of 0.92 and 0.70 for different specimen thicknesses respectively. In addition, the primary stage in case of crack length also ends at NGWC of 0.92 while the secondary stage stops at NGWC of 0.79, 0.82, and 0.85 for the sample thicknesses of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 cm respectively Based on the experimental results, the distributions of crack length increment and crack area increment appear to be linear with a decrease of NGWC. Therefore, the development of shrinkage cracking is proposed typically by a simple model functioned by a combination of three linear expressions.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.41-48
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• 2008

The aim of this study is to present a graphical method in order to evaluate stages in shrinkage cracking. Firstly, the distribution of crack openings is established by sorting the openings of individual cracks in the soil cracking system. Secondly, it is normalized in a range of 0 to 1 to obtain the normalized crack opening distribution. Thirdly, three S-shape curve models introduced by Brooks and Corey(1964), Fredlund and Xing(1994) and van Genuchten(1980) are chosen to fit the normalized crack opening distribution using a curve fitting method. The accuracy of fitting which is described through fitting parameters by the van Genuchten equation is much higher than that by the Brooks and Corey equation and slightly higher than that by the Fredlund and Xing equation; thus the van Genuchten model is used. Finally, the stages of shrinkage cracking are graphically evaluated by drawing three separate straight lines corresponding to three linear parts of the fitted normalized crack opening distribution. The proposed method is tested with different sample thicknesses. The measured data are fitted by the selected model with the fairly high regression coefficient and small root mean square error. The results show graphically that shrinkage cracking comprises three stages; namely, primary, secondary and residual stages. Subsequently, the ranges of evaluated crack opening for each of these stages are presented.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.25 no.B
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• pp.73-80
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• 2005

Durability of concrete structures is seriously compromised by cracking at early-age concretes, particularly in high-strength or high-performance concrete structures. Since early-age cracking is influenced by various factors that affect the hydration process, early-age shrinkage and stress/strain development, the behavior at early-age is highly complex and no rational methodologies for its control have yet been established. Concrete structures often present volumetrical changes particularly due to thermal and moisture related shrinkages. Volumetric instability is detrimental to the performance and durability of concrete structures because structural elements are usually restrained. These restrained shrinkages develope tensile stresses which often results in cracking in combination with the low fracture resistance of concrete. Early-age defects in high-performance concrete due to thermal and autogenous deformation shorten the life cycle of concrete structures. Thus, it is necessary to examine the behavior of early-age concrete at the stages of design and construction. The purpose of this study was to propose a shrinkage models of VES-LMC (very-early strength latex-modified concrete) at early-age considering thermal deformation and autogenous shrinkage.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.19-26
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• 2014

Concrete guide rail and median barrier are an attached RC member, however they are vulnerable to cracking due to slip form construction and large surface of member. In this study, causes and pattern of cracking are analyzed through assessment and NDT (Non-Destructive Technique) evaluation for concrete guide rail and median barrier on highway structure. For this work, analysis on drying shrinkage and hydration heat are performed considering installation period, and plastic shrinkage is also analyzed considering their environmental conditions. From the evaluation, plastic settlement around steel location, drying/ plastic shrinkage, and aggregate segregation are inferred to be the main causes of cracking in the structures. The crack causes and patterns are schematized and techniques of crack-control are suggested. Furthermore concrete guide rail/ median barrier in the bridge on the sea are vulnerable to cracking at early age so that special attentions should be paid at the stages of material selection and construction.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.781-784
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• 2005

Concrete structures often present volumetrical changes particularly due to thermal and moisture related shrinkages. Volumetric instability is detrimental to the performance and durability of concrete structures because structural elements are usually restrained. These restrained shrinkages develope tensile stresses which often results in cracking in combination with the low fracture resistance of concrete. Early-age defects in high-performance concrete due to thermal and autogenous deformation shorten the life cycle of concrete structures. Thus, it is necessary to examine the behavior .of early-age concrete at the stages of design and construction. The purpose of this study was to propose a shrinkage models of VES-LMC (very-early strength latex-modified concrete) at early-age considering thermal deformation and autogenous shrinkage.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.69-76
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• 2006

Premature cracking of the epoxy coatings applied on ship's ballast tanks(BT) can lead to damage of ship's hulls. To avoid this, it's important to have clear understanding of the underlying mechanism and primary factors of the coating crack. In this study, the efforts were made to clarify the integrated effects of main factors, i.e., initial coating shrinkage, thermally induced strain, steel-structural strain and the intrinsic coating flexibility at the initial and after aging, to the early cracking phenomena of epoxy coating in the ship's ballast tank. The coating crack is caused by combination of thermal stress, structural stress, and internal stresses which is closely related to chemical structures of the coatings. On the other hand, thermal stresses and dimensional stabilities would rarely play a major role in coating crack for ballast tank coatings with rather large flexibility. Crack resistance of the coatings at early stages can be estimated roughly by measuring internal stress, FT-IR and $T_g$ value of the coatings. A new screening test method was also proposed in this study, which can be possibly related to the long-term resistance of epoxy-based paints to cracking.