Effect of the water saturation of aggregates on the shrinkage induced cracking risk of concrete at early age

This work consists in studying the effect of the water saturation of aggregates on the development of shrinkage and the potential cracking risk of early age ordinary concrete. Different concretes were obtained from a given concrete mixture by changing only the initial degree of saturation of limestone aggregates. Three degrees of saturation were studied, namely: 0% (dry aggregates), 50% (partially saturated aggregates) and 100% (saturated...