Improvements to the Eurocode 2 shrinkage model for concrete using a large experimental database

Shrinkage plays an important, sometimes crucial, role in the design of many types of concrete structures as well as in their behaviour after construction. However, the uncontrolled strains are often larger than the expected values. As a matter of fact, there is as yet no perfectly satisfactory physical explanation for shrinkage. In this work, a large database has been set up for shrinkage testing performed by several research centres in Europe. On the basis of the statistical analysis of this database and by observing real structural behaviour, it becomes possible to investigate the current codes of practice regarding the computation of time-dependent shrinkage strains. As comparison with experimental tests has shown that predictions are often inaccurate, a correction factor is proposed in this work to improve the European Code, Eurocode 2, and lead to more satisfactory results.