Effect of Coarse Aggregate on the Tensile Strength of Expansive Concrete in Early Age

Abstract

Expansive concrete is often employed for prevention of cracks in early age. The present study focused on the tensile properties of the expansive concrete in early age. Especially, the influence of coarse aggregate on tensile strength was investigated in order to obtain an optimized mix-design for expansive concrete. The experimental results showed that expansive concrete in early age has higher tensile strength as the volume of the coarse aggregate increases. The present paper indicates such results are due to the confinement effect of the coarse aggregate in the expansive concrete. In addition, expansive strains of various kinds of concrete were investigated to confirm the confinement effect by the coarse aggregate.