Simultaneous effect of temperature, shrinkage, and self-weight creep on RC beams: A case study

This study presents the results of long-term field measurement of two RC beams under the simultaneous effect of medium to high temperature, shrinkage, and self-weight creep. In industrial complexes such as steel making plants, these members may, in addition to creep and shrinkage, be exposed to high temperature. However, less attention has been paid to the simultaneous effect of creep, shrinkage, and temperature in a case study framework. In this regard, two RC beams with the same geometric properties in a pelletizing plant located in Kerman, Iran, were studied. In addition, in order to establish a powerful numerical method for these effects, numerical results were compared with the field measurement data. The results showed that an average increase by 50% in temperature would increase the maximum deflection of RC beam by 37%. In the case of the environment temperature, grate machine temperature increased the maximum deflection of RC beam by 61%. Moreover, field measurements showed that for self-weight creep level, shrinkage, temperature, and cracking strains covered more than 80% of the total strain. Similarly, such as this case study, simultaneous effects of these triple factors can change the long-term serviceability of structural elements exposed to harsh environmental conditions.