EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF THE TOTAL SHRINKAGE STRAIN OF REINFORCED CONCRETE

The article proposes a method for measuring the total shrinkage strain of a reinforced concrete prism in such a way that it is possible to measure the total shrinkage strain on an open surface of the prism no later than three hours after concreting. Furthermore, a monitoring of the strain increase on remaining surfaces of the prism after removing a formwork for concreting is followed. The object of this study is the shrinkage strain of expanded clay concrete and the strain of longitudinal reinforcement. Based on results of the conducted research, a new method for experimentally determining the total shrinkage strain of reinforced concrete was proposed. The suggested method makes it possible to ensure that the shrinkage strain of concrete begin to be recorded from the first day of concreting and the possibility of implementing the proposed method was experimentally confirmed. Prospects for further research are presented in the article.