Infrastructure Deterioration Modelling: Concrete Cracking Solutions

This homework assignment analyzes the causes and prevention of cracks in concrete structures. The assignment addresses two key questions. The first part involves identifying a real-world concrete crack, photographing it, and suggesting its potential causes based on observations and research. It also requires proposing methods to prevent similar cracks in the future. The second part delves into the specific case of a cracked water tank, exploring potential reasons for the cracking, such as overloading, temperature changes, moisture movement, and poor construction practices. The solution then outlines several preventative measures, including reducing water content, proper concrete mix design, use of quality materials, provision of control joints, and appropriate concrete curing techniques. The assignment draws on various research papers and industry standards to support its conclusions and recommendations.

CAUSES OF CRACKS IN CONCRETE STRUCTURES
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Question one
Photograph showing the crack on a concrete pavement.
Fig 1: showing a cracked concrete pavement
Possible causes of cracks in concrete buildings of the cracks in concrete buildings include;
Too much water in the mix
In order to make concrete to be installed easily, some builders may pour excess water on the
concrete. This water will have great effects in reducing the concrete’s strength (Delatte, 2016).
As the concrete hardens, it dries up and shrinks as a result of evaporation of extra water. The
shrinkage leads to cracks on the concrete.
Rapid drying of concrete
Too fast drying of concrete increases the possibility of concrete cracking.
Winter poured foundations
During cold months, foundations that are poured or those ones which are not heated are likely to
have many cracks. A foundation which is poured on the base that is not properly compacted is
also likely to have cracks (El-Reedy, 2014).

Other causes of cracks in concrete buildings include;
 Inappropriate concrete strength poured on the concrete
 Unavailability of control joints
The figure below shows one of the images which has a crack on a concrete.
Fig 2: showing a crack on a concrete
Possible ways of avoiding cracks in concrete buildings include;
 Reducing content of water in concrete
 Appropriate concrete mix design and applying materials of good quality
 Finishing the surface of concrete
 Avoid risky temperature changes
Question two
Possible types of reasons that caused cracks on the water tank include;
Overloading

The overload was higher than what was to be applied on the concrete of the water tank, hence
damaging the structure of the tank and finally creating the cracks. The shear, tension and flexure
resulted to this overloading cause (Shi, 2017). This led to various types of cracks that trended on
the water tank.
Cracking due to temperature changes
Changes in temperature and heat loss on the water tank at different rates may have led to varied
temperatures and later into thermal movement. Thermal movement could be as a result of
varying temperatures, thermal expansion coefficient, measurements and physical properties of
building materials (ACI Committee 224--Cracking, American Concrete Institute, 2013).
Movement of moisture
Materials of building with openings in their structure expand once they absorb moisture and as
they dry, they shrink. Shrinkage of these materials can be either dry or plastic in nature. Main
causes of shrinkage in the building materials include too much water and high quantities of
cement (Whittle, 2015).
Poor practices of construction
These could be as a result of ignorance, carelessness or negligence. The main causes of this type
include;
Inappropriate material selection
Use of cheap or materials of poor quality
Insufficient proportioning on the constituents of building materials

Addition of too much water in the concrete mix
How to avoid cracks in construction
The following measures should be applied in order to prevent the occurrence of the cracks in a
building;
Reducing the water contents in concrete
The concrete quality can be affected by the low or reduced water cement ratio. This ratio is the
weight of water and weight of cement applied in construction. Lower ratio ensures high concrete
strength and reduced cracks (Gu & Jin, 2018).
The ratio is not supposed not to go beyond 0.5 because it will reduce concrete’s concrete
workability.
Concrete shrinks and expand. Shrinking is one of the common causes of cracks. Once it hardens,
it evaporated the extra water hence shrinks (Euro-International Committee for Concrete,, 2015).
Proper Concrete Mix Design and use of Quality Materials
Properly proportioned and mixed concrete must be used. Too little cement can lead to cracks. A
lot of water can weaken the concrete, hence leading to cracks. Therefore, good aggregates
produce reduced shrinkage concrete (Barre & Bisch, 2016).
The shrinkage of the concrete can also be reduced through applying a hard and dense aggregate
using a top size aggregate and maximizing the gradation of the aggregate.
Provision of control joints

Control joints can be located at fixed intervals in order to regulate the concrete shrinkage.
Therefore, the crack of a concrete can happen at the control joints than cracking in any other
place of the construction (Springenschmid, 2017).
Appropriate concrete curing
It is advisable to severally cure the slab. This ensures stoppage of rapid water loss from the
surface which may cause the drying of the slab.
The concrete is not supposed to be subjected to any load on the curing period.
Appropriate curing is crucial for durability. Curing process is applied after completing placing a
concrete. The process can be sustained by maintaining the condition of moist of a newly placed
concrete through moist curing. Usually, moist curing duration is one week, but it can take more
than that.
The most common method applied in moist curing is continuous spraying and wet covering.
Spraying is achieved when there is good coverage and no water runoff. Soil soaker can also help
in curing.

References
ACI Committee 224--Cracking, American Concrete Institute, 2013. Causes, Evaluation, and Repair of
Cracks in Concrete Structures. 2nd ed. New Zealand: American Concrete Institute.
Barre, r. & Bisch, P., 2016. Control of Cracking in Reinforced Concrete Structures. 2nd ed. Texas: John
Wiley & Sons.
Delatte, N., 2016. Failure, Distress and Repair of Concrete Structures. 3rd ed. Paris: Elsevier.
El-Reedy, M., 2014. Steel-Reinforced Concrete Structures: Assessment and Repair of Corrosion. 4th ed.
London: CRC Press.

Euro-International Committee for Concrete,, 2015. Durable Concrete Structures: Design Guide. 4th ed.
Sydney: Thomas Telford.
Gu, X. & Jin, X., 2018. Basic Principles of Concrete Structures. 4th ed. Chicago: Springer.
Shi, Z., 2017. Crack Analysis in Structural Concrete: Theory and Applications. 5th ed. Texas: Butterworth-
Heinemann.
Springenschmid, R., 2017. Prevention of Thermal Cracking in Concrete at Early Ages. 5th ed. London: CRC
Press,.
Whittle, R., 2015. Failures in Concrete Structures: Case Studies in Reinforced and Prestressed Concrete.
3rd ed. Chicago: CRC Press.