Drying shrinkage is a critical durability issue in concrete structures, particularly in high-strength concrete (HSC), which is more susceptible to early-age cracking due to its low water–cement ratio and dense microstructure. This study experimentally evaluates the restrained drying shrinkage behavior of fiber-reinforced concretes with compressive strengths ranging from 23 to 84 MPa, employing a total of 84 ASTM C1581 ring specimens exposed to three exposure conditions: outdoor climate, indoor laboratory conditions (25 °C, 50% RH), and a controlled chamber (50 °C, 30% RH). Plain concretes exhibited increasing shrinkage with both strength and environmental severity. Under indoor exposure, 90-day shrinkage reached approximately 660 × 10−6 (23 MPa), 291 × 10−6 (40 MPa), 753 × 10−6 (60 MPa), and 338 × 10−6 (84 MPa), with high-strength mixes showing greater cracking susceptibility. Fiber incorporation significantly mitigated both strain and cracking in a dosage-dependent manner. Steel fibers at 1.0–1.5% reduced shrinkage by up to 75% in 40–60 MPa concretes, while polypropylene fibers at 0.25–0.5% achieved reductions up to 66% and eliminated cracking in several cases. Results demonstrate that concrete strength, exposure condition, fiber type, and dosage collectively govern shrinkage and cracking resistance.
Samman et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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