Abstract—Architectural concrete takes a prominent place in the design of not only the exteriors of modern buildings but also various additional interior and exterior elements that have an aesthetic function. The individual and own needs of the construction and its integration into the landscape are essential aspects that need to be taken into consideration when designing. Achieving a unique aesthetic appearance can be accomplished in several different ways, by using both special forms and changes in the composition of the concrete mixture itself. High-strength concrete is used very often in the manufacture of architectural parts and it is necessary to use cement composites with special properties for the manufacture of architectural elements, such as decorative linings, garden architecture or interior elements. Because of the high aesthetic requirements, the formation of micro cracks, which result primarily from the hydration of the cement and degrade the architectural aspect of the product, are very undesirable for these structural elements. The effort of many research groups or manufacturers of architectural concrete is to optimise production in such a way as to achieve the most significant reduction in this negative feature.
The objective of the experiment was to achieve a targeted reduction in the occurrence of these defects, which are mainly associated with volume changes during the hydration of the cement composite. In order to eliminate the negative shrinkage effect of concrete, special chemical additives will be examined in this document and their impact on the final physical and mechanical parameters of the composite will be verified. The most important observed property will be the shrinkage of concrete during maturation, which is the period immediately after mixing up to 28 days. Additional properties that point to the course and influence the hydration process itself will be also analyzed.
Index Terms—Architectural concrete elements, shrinkage of concrete, cement hydration, concrete curing, shrinkage cracks.
The authors are with the Brno University of Technology department of Civil Engineering, Institute of technology of Buildings Materials and Components, Veveri 331/95, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic (e-mail: osuska.l@fce.vutbr.cz, tazky.m@fce.vutbr.cz, hela.r@fce.vutbr.cz).
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Cite: Lucia Osuská, Martin Ťažký, and Rudolf Hela, "High-Performance Cement Composite for Architectural Elements with Elimination of Elements with Elimination of Micro Crack," International Journal of Engineering and Technology vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 101-104, 2019.
