Shrinkage of self-compacting concrete. A comparative analysis

- Laboratory tests results on the shrinkage of tree scc strength classes are presented.
- A study comparing experimental concrete shrinkage results with the values estimated by the EC2 model is presented.
- The measured mean values of autogenous shrinkage were higher than the mean values estimated using the EC2 equations.
- The measured differences between total and autogenous shrinkage (using different specimens), which may be defined as approximations of the actual drying shrinkage, are smaller than the EC2 estimations.
- In general, at long term the EC2 estimations for total shrinkage were in the safe side, i.e., providing higher values than the measured ones.

Self-compacting concrete (SCC) is a concrete type that does not require vibration for placing and compacting. SCC possesses special technical features and properties that recommend its application in many jobs. Nevertheless, in some situations, it has been observed an inadequate behaviour of the material at early ages due to shrinkage. The existing shrinkage prediction models were developed for standard concrete. In this paper three SCC mixtures, with different compressive strength, are studied in terms of autogenous and total shrinkage. The results are compared with the Eurocode 2 model. For the studied mixtures it was found that this model underestimates the autogenous shrinkage, while the total shrinkage is generally overestimated.