Simultaneous measurement of shrinkage and temperature of reactive powder concrete at early-age using fibre Bragg grating sensors

The physical properties of reactive powder concrete (RPC) at early-age, i.e., the first 24 h from casting, and up to an age of 7 days is investigated experimentally using fibre Bragg gratings (FBGs), a type of fibre-optic sensors. A number of FBG sensors are multiplexed together and embedded directly into the RPC specimens, and the shrinkage and temperature change are measured directly and simultaneously. The final setting time and specimen size effect were also investigated. Results showed that there is an interplay between the shrinkage and temperature. The overall shrinkage for 7 days is 488 με, with the early-age shrinkage contributing about 77% of this. The temperature curve exhibits a double peak behaviour, with the first peak appears at about 7 h, which is the final setting time. There is a size effect in that smaller prisms have a higher overall shrinkage and lower temperature change than larger prisms.