Introduction
When embarking on any construction project, understanding the behavior of materials is crucial.
Concrete, a cornerstone of modern construction, undergoes several changes from the time it is freshly mixed to the point it hardens – a process known as curing.
Among the most critical aspects to consider is the concrete drying process, which involves the evaporation of excess moisture and can significantly affect the structural integrity of the material.
Drying shrinkage is a common phenomenon associated with the curing of concrete. It is vital to discern whether concrete expands or contracts during this phase.
While it may seem counterintuitive, concrete actually experiences a reduction in volume, commonly referred to as shrinkage.
This process can lead to shrinkage cracks in concrete, which are a primary concern for engineers and builders alike.
Factors such as the mixture’s water content, the environment in which it cures, and the admixtures used, like MasterLife SRA 035 or MasterKure ER 50, can influence the extent of this shrinkage.
Moreover, during the drying process, the appearance of concrete evolves, typically going from a dark, damp-looking surface to a lighter and solid appearance as it loses moisture.
The rate and uniformity of drying can be affected by external factors, prompting the use of concrete dryers to control the process.
Understanding the intricacies of concrete shrinkage, including plastic shrinkage concrete experiences and how ASTM C157 standards guide concrete shrinkage tests, is paramount for any successful construction project.
This ensures the durability and longevity of the concrete structures, helping to prevent issues such as concrete shrinkage cracks.

Does Concrete Expand or Contract When It Dries?
Certainly, when explaining the process of concrete drying and how it leads to shrinkage, breaking it down into numbered steps and bullet points can enhance clarity:
Concrete Drying and Shrinkage Explained:
- Mixing of Components:
- Concrete is a mixture composed of water, aggregate (like sand and gravel), and cement.
- When mixed, these ingredients form a paste that gradually hardens through a chemical reaction called hydration.
- Evaporation of Water:
- As the concrete dries, water begins to evaporate from the mixture.
- This evaporation of water reduces the overall volume of the concrete since water makes up a significant portion of the mixture when it’s wet.
- Contraction of Material (Shrinkage):
- The loss of water leads to a decrease in volume, a process commonly termed as shrinkage.
- Shrinkage is a natural occurrence and is expected in the curing process of concrete.
Factors Influencing Shrinkage:
- Water-Cement Ratio: The more water in the mix, the greater the shrinkage.
- Environmental Conditions: High temperatures and low humidity can increase the rate of evaporation, leading to more shrinkage.
- Concrete Composition: Additives and admixtures, like MasterLife SRA 035 or MasterKure ER 50, can influence shrinkage rates.
Preventing Shrinkage Cracks:
- Control Joints: Planned points of weakness that allow concrete to crack in a controlled manner.
- Proper Curing: Maintaining the right conditions for concrete to dry slowly and evenly.
- Curing Compounds: Chemicals like MasterKure ER 50 help regulate the evaporation of water.
Standards and Testing:
- ASTM C157: A standard that outlines the procedure for measuring the length changes of hardened concrete.
- Concrete Shrinkage Test: Assesses the potential for concrete to shrink and helps in predicting and mitigating crack development.
By understanding these points, one can grasp why and how concrete contracts during the drying process and why managing this shrinkage is essential for the structural integrity of concrete installations.
Factors Affecting Expansion or Contraction of Concrete During Drying
- Mixing of Components:
- Concrete is a mixture composed of water, aggregate (like sand and gravel), and cement.
- When mixed, these ingredients form a paste that gradually hardens through a chemical reaction called hydration.
- Evaporation of Water:
- As the concrete dries, water begins to evaporate from the mixture.
- This evaporation of water reduces the overall volume of the concrete since water makes up a significant portion of the mixture when it’s wet.
- Contraction of Material (Shrinkage):
- The loss of water leads to a decrease in volume, a process commonly termed as shrinkage.
- Shrinkage is a natural occurrence and is expected in the curing process of concrete.
Factors Influencing Shrinkage:
- Water-Cement Ratio: The more water in the mix, the greater the shrinkage.
- Environmental Conditions: High temperatures and low humidity can increase the rate of evaporation, leading to more shrinkage.
- Concrete Composition: Additives and admixtures, like MasterLife SRA 035 or MasterKure ER 50, can influence shrinkage rates.
Preventing Shrinkage Cracks:
- Control Joints: Planned points of weakness that allow concrete to crack in a controlled manner.
- Proper Curing: Maintaining the right conditions for concrete to dry slowly and evenly.
- Curing Compounds: Chemicals like MasterKure ER 50 help regulate the evaporation of water.
Standards and Testing:
- ASTM C157: A standard that outlines the procedure for measuring the length changes of hardened concrete.
- Concrete Shrinkage Test: Assesses the potential for concrete to shrink and helps in predicting and mitigating crack development.
By understanding these points, one can grasp why and how concrete contracts during the drying process and why managing this shrinkage is essential for the structural integrity of concrete installations.
Understanding the Role of Water in Concrete Drying
Understanding the role of water in the concrete is crucial as it serves two primary purposes: it is part of the chemical reaction that hardens the concrete, and it also affects the rate at which the concrete cures.
- Chemical Reaction:
- Hydration: When water is added to cement, a chemical reaction is started called hydration. This reaction is what turns the wet concrete mixture into a solid mass.
- Curing: The term ‘curing’ refers to the process of maintaining adequate moisture, temperature, and time to allow the concrete to achieve its potential strength and durability.
- Curing Process:
- Middle of the Concrete: The center or middle of a concrete slab dries and hardens slower than the edges and surface because the surrounding material insulates it.
- Moisture Retention: By keeping the surface moist, we are slowing down the evaporation rate. This is beneficial because it allows the hydration process to continue longer, which is necessary for the concrete to reach its full strength.
- Benefits of Proper Curing:
- Strength Gain: Continued hydration over time contributes to increasing the strength of the concrete.
- Durability: Properly cured concrete is more resistant to freezing and thawing cycles, abrasion, and surface scaling.
- Watering the Surface: Adding water to the surface of concrete (wet curing) helps to:
- Maintain a consistent moisture level across the concrete.
- Prevent premature drying and the associated risks like cracking and weak spots.
- Methods to Ensure Adequate Curing:
- Covering Concrete: Using wet burlap, plastic sheeting, or curing blankets to keep the concrete surface moist.
- Curing Compounds: Spraying a liquid, such as MasterKure, that forms a moisture-retaining film over the surface of the concrete.
- Ponding: Maintaining standing water on horizontal surfaces to ensure a constant water supply for the curing process.
By ensuring that the surface remains moist, the water continues to react with the cement throughout the mix, promoting a more uniform cure and helping the middle of the concrete slab to hydrate properly.
This is essential for the development of the desired physical properties of the concrete, ensuring structural integrity and longevity.
Common Misconceptions About Concrete Expansion or Contraction During Drying
The drying process of concrete often comes with misconceptions that can lead to misunderstandings about how the material behaves and what to expect in terms of expansion and contraction. Here are some common misconceptions clarified:
- Misconception: Concrete expands as it dries.
- Reality: Concrete does not expand; it contracts or shrinks. As water evaporates from the concrete mix during the drying process, the volume decreases, which is why we observe shrinkage.
- Misconception: Adding more water to the concrete mix will prevent shrinkage.
- Reality: While it’s true that concrete needs enough water for the chemical reaction, too much water can actually increase shrinkage. Excess water will leave larger voids as it evaporates, leading to a more significant contraction.
- Misconception: Shrinkage only affects the surface of the concrete.
- Reality: Shrinkage affects the entire mass of the concrete. However, surface indicators such as shrinkage cracks are often the most visible signs.
- Misconception: Shrinkage cracks mean the concrete is failing.
- Reality: Some amount of shrinkage is normal, and it does not necessarily mean that the concrete is failing. Proper design and construction techniques, like using control joints, can manage where and how concrete cracks.
- Misconception: Once concrete looks dry on the surface, it is fully cured.
- Reality: The surface appearance of concrete can be deceptive. Concrete typically requires a minimum of 28 days to cure to its full strength, even if the surface appears dry.
- Misconception: Shrinkage stops once the concrete is hard.
- Reality: Shrinkage can continue at a slower rate for years. The majority of shrinkage occurs early in the curing process, but some residual shrinkage can happen over time as the concrete continues to dry out slowly.
- Misconception: Curing compounds are not necessary if there’sit’s no hot weather.
- Reality: Curing compounds like MasterKure are important regardless of the weather because they help maintain adequate moisture levels for hydration, which is critical for strength development and minimizing shrinkage.
By dispelling these myths, we can better understand the concrete drying process and take appropriate measures to ensure the material’s longevity and structural integrity.
How to Prevent Excessive Expansion or Contraction in Concrete
Preventing excessive expansion or contraction in concrete is essential for maintaining its structural integrity and longevity. Here’s how you can mitigate these issues:
- Proper Mix Design:
- Use the correct water-to-cement ratio: Too much water can lead to excessive shrinkage as it evaporates, while too little can prevent the concrete from curing properly.
- Incorporate additives: Admixtures like MasterLife SRA 035 or water-reducing agents can help reduce the water content without compromising the workability of the concrete.
- Controlled Curing Process:
- Wet curing: Keep the concrete surface moist with water sprays, wet burlap, or by ponding to ensure gradual drying.
- Use curing compounds: Products like MasterKure ER 50 can form a film over the concrete to regulate the evaporation of water.
- Environmental Management:
- Shield the concrete from extreme temperatures: Use insulating blankets or sunshades to protect the concrete from rapid temperature changes that can cause uneven expansion or contraction.
- Schedule pours during mild weather: If possible, plan concrete work for times of the day with moderate temperatures and low wind to reduce the rate of evaporation.
- Structural Techniques:
- Install control joints: These are planned cracks that allow concrete to expand and contract without causing random cracks.
- Implement post-tensioning: This method applies tension to the concrete after it has hardened to keep it compressed and less likely to crack.
- Monitoring and Testing:
- Follow ASTM C157: Adhere to standardized procedures for measuring the change in concrete length to monitor shrinkage.
- Perform shrinkage tests: Conduct tests to understand how your specific concrete mix behaves and adjust the mix design or curing process accordingly.
- Quality Construction Practices:
- Ensure uniform compaction: Avoid voids within the concrete that can lead to differential drying and shrinkage.
- Gradual cooling for mass concrete: For large pours, use cooling pipes or other methods to control the temperature and prevent thermal cracks.
By carefully designing the concrete mix, managing the curing environment, and implementing structural design techniques, you can significantly reduce the risk of damage due to excessive expansion or contraction in concrete.
Tools and Techniques for Measuring Concrete Expansion or Contraction During Drying
Measuring concrete expansion or contraction during drying is crucial for ensuring quality control and structural integrity.
Both manual and electric tools can be used for this purpose beyond basic slump tests, which measure workability rather than dimensional changes. Here are some tools and techniques used in the industry:
- Manual Tools:
- Strain Gauges: These are devices that can be attached to the concrete surface to measure changes in length as the concrete dries and cures.
- Comparators: Manual devices that measure the linear change of a concrete specimen against a reference length.
- Linear Variable Differential Transformers (LVDTs): Though often electric, these can also be used manually. They measure minute changes in length with high accuracy.
- Electric Tools:
- Digital Calipers: Used to measure the distance between two opposite sides of an object, providing precise measurements of expansion or contraction.
- Electronic Distance Meters (EDMs): These use lasers to measure the distance between two points with high precision.
- Automated Deformation Monitoring Systems: Systems equipped with sensors to monitor changes in concrete structures over time continuously.
- Techniques:
- ASTM C157/C157M: This is a standard test method for length change of hardened hydraulic-cement mortar and concrete, which can use both manual and automated tools.
- Coring and Diameter Measurement: Taking concrete cores from the structure and measuring their diameters at different times to detect changes.
- Environmental Monitoring: Recording temperature and humidity data to correlate environmental conditions with concrete behavior.
- Prevention and Control Techniques:
- Control Joints: Implementing pre-planned cracks in the concrete to allow for expansion and contraction without damaging the structure.
- Reinforcement: Using steel rebar or fibers within the concrete to distribute stress and control cracking due to shrinkage.
- Non-Destructive Testing (NDT):
- Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity: This technique uses ultrasonic waves to detect changes in the concrete internal structure that may indicate expansion or contraction.
- Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR): GPR can be used to monitor internal changes and detect voids and cracks within concrete.
These tools and techniques, when used properly, can give you a clear understanding of how a concrete structure behaves over time, allowing for the necessary adjustments in the design or curing process to prevent excessive expansion or contraction.

Real-Life Examples of Concrete Expansion or Contraction During Drying
Real-life examples of concrete expansion or contraction during drying are often seen in everyday construction projects and can have significant implications if not properly managed. Here are some scenarios:
- Sidewalks and Pavements:
- In many cities, you might notice periodic gaps or “expansion joints” in sidewalks. These are specifically designed to allow for the natural contraction and expansion of concrete due to temperature changes and drying. Without these joints, sidewalks could crack unpredictably and require more frequent repairs.
- Residential Foundations:
- Homeowners sometimes encounter cracks in their basement walls or floors as the concrete cures and dries. If the foundation was not properly designed with control joints or if the concrete was not adequately cured, these cracks can be the result of shrinkage as the concrete dries.
- Bridges:
- Bridge structures are designed with expansion joints to cope with the contraction and expansion of concrete. The daily and seasonal temperature fluctuations cause the concrete to shrink and expand, and these joints prevent the development of stress that could lead to structural damage.
- Large Concrete Slabs:
- Warehouse floors or industrial slabs are often large, continuous concrete surfaces. Contractors must carefully plan the placement of control joints to manage shrinkage cracking as the concrete dries. Failures in this planning can lead to extensive cracking and surface defects.
- Dams and Water Retaining Structures:
- Dams are massive concrete structures that experience hydration heat during curing. The interior of the dam can remain hot for a very long time, causing the core to expand. As the dam cools over time, it can contract, necessitating the design to accommodate these movements with water stops and joint systems.
- Concrete Block Walls:
- Concrete masonry units (blocks) can also shrink as they dry, pulling away from each other and the mortar holding them together. This can cause cracking in the walls if the blocks are not properly cured or if expansion joints are not installed.
In all these examples, the principles of concrete expansion and contraction during drying have to be taken into account during the design and construction phases to ensure the durability and safety of the structures.
The use of various control systems and construction techniques helps mitigate the negative effects of these natural processes.
Importance of Proper Curing in Minimizing Concrete Expansion or Contraction
Proper curing is critical in minimizing concrete expansion or contraction and ensuring the long-term durability and structural integrity of concrete. The significance of this process can be outlined in several key aspects:
- Hydration Process:
- Curing facilitates the continuation of the hydration process, which is the chemical reaction between cement and water that causes concrete to harden and gain strength.
- Adequate moisture is essential for the hydration process to occur; if the concrete dries too quickly due to water loss, hydration halts prematurely, weakening the concrete.
- Temperature Control:
- Proper curing helps to control the temperature within the concrete, preventing extreme temperature differentials that can cause thermal expansion or contraction.
- In large concrete pours, such as slabs or walls, thermal gradients can lead to cracking; thus, maintaining a consistent temperature helps to mitigate this risk.
- Strength and Durability:
- The ultimate strength of concrete is significantly dependent on effective curing. Insufficient curing can lead to a concrete surface that is much weaker than the interior and prone to surface cracks and wear.
- A well-cured concrete surface resists abrasion and surface scaling, reducing permeability and enhancing its resistance to freeze-thaw cycles and chemical attacks.
- Minimizing Shrinkage and Cracking:
- Maintaining adequate moisture levels during curing reduces the risk of drying shrinkage cracks as the concrete is allowed to contract slowly and evenly.
- Properly cured concrete undergoes less volume change, which is a primary cause of cracks and structural defects.
- Economic Efficiency:
- By reducing the likelihood of early-age cracking and other defects, proper curing minimizes repair costs and extends the service life of the structure.
- It also ensures that the structure can withstand the loads and stresses it was designed for, preventing costly renovations or even reconstructions.
- Compliance with Standards:
- Building codes and industry standards, such as ASTM standards for concrete construction often mandate proper curing practices.
- Compliance with these standards ensures that the concrete performs as expected for its intended use, avoiding legal and safety issues.
- Aesthetic Quality:
- A well-cured concrete has a more uniform appearance and surface texture, which is especially important for exposed concrete where the finish contributes to the aesthetic appeal of the structure.
To achieve proper curing, a variety of methods are used, including maintaining the presence of moisture through wet curing, using curing blankets or plastic sheeting and applying curing compounds that form a moisture-retaining film.
All these techniques aim to create conditions that allow concrete to develop its properties optimally, reducing the chance of excessive expansion or contraction that can lead to structural failures.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the intricacies of concrete expansion and contraction during the drying and curing processes highlight the critical importance of understanding and applying proper construction and curing techniques.
The phenomenon of concrete shrinkage, characterized by a decrease in volume as concrete loses moisture, underscores the necessity of employing effective strategies such as controlled curing methods and the use of admixtures like MasterLife SRA 035 or MasterKure ER 50 to mitigate potential issues.
These practices not only help in managing shrinkage but also play a pivotal role in enhancing the durability and structural integrity of concrete, ensuring it meets the desired standards and specifications, including those outlined by ASTM C157.
Moreover, addressing common misconceptions about concrete behavior, such as the belief that concrete expands when it dries, is essential for both professionals and laypersons involved in construction projects.
By leveraging a mix of traditional and innovative tools and techniques, from manual strain gauges to electronic distance meters, stakeholders can accurately measure concrete shrinkage and expansion, enabling informed decisions that prevent structural defects and extend the lifespan of concrete structures.
This approach not only ensures compliance with industry standards but also contributes to the economic efficiency and aesthetic quality of construction projects.
Ultimately, the key to minimizing unwanted concrete expansion or contraction lies in the meticulous planning and execution of concrete mixing, curing, and monitoring processes.
By embracing a comprehensive understanding of the concrete drying process, including the factors that influence shrinkage and the methods available to control it, construction professionals can guarantee the longevity and safety of their projects.
The commitment to proper curing and attention to detail during the concrete preparation and drying phases are indispensable in overcoming the concrete problem, leading to resilient and enduring structures.