In recent years more and more attention has been given to autogenous shrinkage due to the increasing use of high-performance concrete, which always contains supplementary materials. With the addition of supplementary materials-e.g., fly ash and blast furnace slag-internal relative humidity, chemical shrinkage and mechanical properties of cement paste will be affected. These properties significantly influence the autogenous shrinkage of cement paste. In this study, three supplementary materials-i.e., silica fume, fly ash and blast furnace slag-are investigated. Measurements of final setting time, internal relative humidity, chemical shrinkage, compressive strength and autogenous deformation of the cement pastes with and without supplementary materials are presented. Two water-binder ratios, 0.3 and 0.4, are considered. The effects of different supplementary materials on autogenous shrinkage of cement paste are discussed.
Keywords: autogenous shrinkage; blast furnace slag; cement paste; fly ash; silica fume.