Thermal stresses caused by hydration heat of cement in massive concrete structures

Two effects neglected in classical design methods have to be considered: 1. The fact, that concrete properties are time-dependent, because the maximum thermal stresses occur in the early stages of concrete maturing, when material properties are changing very quickly, 2. the fact, that concrete properties are heterogeneous, because the concrete maturing rate depends on the temperature, which develops in each point in a different way. The fact that concrete maturing rate depends on temperature, makes the whole process a coupled one - hydration heat generation causes the temperature to rise which in turn causes (usually) the rate of heat generation to increase. This causes the necessity of simultaneous calculations of mechanical (displacements, strains and stresses) and thermal (temperature and heat generation) parameters. (orig./HP)