Drying Shrinkage of Cement-Based Materials Under Conditions of Constant Temperature and Varying Humidity

Currently, deformations along the central axis of specimens were usually measured under fixed environmental conditions. Seldom were the effects of environmental factors on the drying-shrinkage deformation of cement-based material considered. For this paper, the drying-shrinkage deformation at different w/b ratios and different additions to mortars was investigated under different environments at a temperature of 20 °C and humidity ranging from 100% to 50%. The specimens were cured in water for 28 days before measurement. The results illustrate that mortar shows much less shrinkage under various drying conditions when a lower w/b ratio is adopted. With a decrease in relative humidity the speed of drying-shrinkage becomes gradually lower. The addition of silica fume reduces the drying-shrinkage of mortar under higher relative humidity, because the pore structure of mortar with silica fume becomes more refined. The addition of fly ash increases the total porosity and the volume of coarse pores in the mortar. The drying-shrinkage of mortar under different conditions increases with the addition of more of fly ash.