Effects of temperature on expansion of concrete due to the alkali-silica reaction: A simplified numerical approach

Abstract

The effects of temperature on the expansion behavior of concrete due to the alkali-silica reaction (ASR) were assessed through a simplified numerical analysis. Numerical models were constructed based on findings from a literature review. A simplified damage model was implemented to capture interactions between the viscoelasticity of the ASR gel and microstructural damage of the aggregate and paste. The parameters of the damage model were identified by fitting the simulated results to the experimental data. The results indicate that for a given reaction ratio, expansion ability is reduced at higher temperatures during the early and late stages of expansion. The results demonstrate that explicit modeling of chemo-mechanical interactions is important to achieve accurate numerical predictions of expansion behavior.

Keywords

• Temperature
• Alkali-silica reaction
• Expansion
• Numerical simulation
• Concrete prism test