Paste and mortar studies on the influence of mix design parameters on autogenous shrinkage of self-compacting concrete

By means of the concrete equivalent mortar (CEM) principle, concrete properties can be experimentally studied at mortar level. Based on this principle, the objective of this paper is to study the influence of mix design parameters on autogenous shrinkage of self-compacting concrete by means of tests at mortar level. Furthermore, autogenous shrinkage tests have been performed at paste level, enabling to study the correlation between shrinkage of paste and mortar. For limestone filler based self-compacting concrete, the obtained experimental results indicate that autogenous shrinkage is increasing with decreasing fines/cement ratio (A/C), although the influence of A/C is not as important as the influence of water/cement ratio (W/C). Furthermore, based on mortar and paste results, it is shown that the model developed by Le Roy, describing the influence of aggregate properties and contents on shrinkage of cementitious materials, is also valid for the autogenous shrinkage of limestone filler based self-compacting cementitious materials.