Effect of the curing temperature on the creep of a hardened cement paste

Uniaxial creep tests have been performed at ambient temperature on a saturated hardened class G cement paste hydrated at 60 °C and 90 °C. The results have shown that creep is enhanced at higher curing temperature. The visco-damage model of Challamel et al. (2005) has been extended and used to analyze the experimental results. The model parameters have been calibrated on the results of the creep tests performed at different stress levels for both curing temperatures. The model correctly reproduces the effect of the curing temperature on time dependent properties of the material. The enhanced creep at higher curing temperature is attributed to the development of more damage in cement paste and to significant weakening of the mechanical properties.