Shrinkage effect on short-term deformation behavior of reinforced concrete – When it should not be neglected

Traditionally, concrete shrinkage along with cracking provides one of the major concerns to the designers because of the inaccuracies and unknowns that surround them. Although shrinkage is mainly associated with long-term effects, even at first loading, restrained shrinkage may cause cracking of concrete. The essential point of present study is to specify the cases of short-term deformation analysis of reinforced concrete (RC) structures when the shrinkage effect should not be neglected. The study combines the knowledge on material and structural aspects of shrinkage phenomenon. The manuscript considers physical nature of shrinkage pointing out the major means of reducing shrinkage deformations. The article also discusses peculiarities of constitutive modeling of shrunk reinforced concrete members and gives recommendations for improving adequacy of the design. Furthermore, the paper discusses application of steel fibers as an efficient additive to reduce adverse effects of restrained shrinkage.