Influence of aggregate size and fraction on shrinkage induced micro-cracking of mortar and concrete

In this paper, the influence of aggregate size and volume fraction on shrinkage induced micro-cracking and permeability of concrete and mortar was investigated. Nonlinear finite element analyses of model concrete and mortar specimens were performed. The aggregate diameter was varied between 2 and 16 mm. Furthermore, a range of volume fractions between 0.1 and 0.5 was studied. The nonlinear analyses were based on a 2D lattice approach in which aggregates were simplified as monosized cylindrical inclusions. The analysis results were interpreted by means of crack width and change of permeability. The results show that increasing aggregate diameter (at equal volume fraction) and decreasing volume fraction (at equal aggregate diameter) greatly increases permeability.