Early-Age Cracking Potential of Fly Ash High Performance Concrete Internally Cured with Super Absorbent Polymers

Early-age cracking is problematic for high performance concrete (HPC) made with a low water/binder ratio. The application of fly ash (FA) as a cement replacement can contribute to reduced CO2 emission and clinker factor, as well as improved durability of HPC. Super absorbent polymers (SAPs) were also applied for better curing and a higher rate of hydration to optimize the FA HPC. The current study utilized a temperature stress test machine to investigate the early-age cracking potential of FA HPC with internal curing by SAPs. Test results and the related analyses suggested that the introduction of internal curing alleviated the autogenous shrinkage, restrained stress, as well as tensile creep for HPC with 0 % and 20 % FA replacement level. The application of SAPs reduced the cracking potential of HPC with a low FA replacement level, whereas it aggravated the cracking when the FA replacement level was high.