![]() Repairing cracks caused by design, detailing, and construction errors is beyond the scope of a simple article. Before selecting a repair option, identify the cause and consider the significance of the cracking. Cracking can be load-induced or related to intrinsic volume changes of the concrete such as drying shrinkage, thermal expansion, and contraction and may or may not be significant. These types of cracks may be structurally significant. Cracks indicating there may be a design, detailing, or construction error raise concerns about the load-carrying capacity and safety of the structure. Of course, it is important to establish the cause of cracking and to determine if the cracks are structurally significant or not. Using a needle tip mixer (14, 15 and 18 gauge), a low viscosity repair material can easily be injected into hairline cracks without routing Kelton Glewwe, Roadware, Inc. Using a rigid repair material for active cracks typically results in cracking of the repair material and/or the adjacent concrete. Active cracks require flexible repair materials and special design considerations to allow for future movements. Also, if there is sufficient reinforcing (steel rebar, steel fibers, or macro-synthetic fibers) crossing through cracks, future movements are controlled and cracks may be considered dormant.įor dormant cracks, use either rigid or flexible repair materials. Typically, cracking caused by concrete drying shrinkage will be active at the beginning but eventually stabilize and become dormant as the moisture content of the concrete stabilizes. Dormant cracks are stable and future movements are not anticipated. Examples include cracks resulting from continuing ground settlement or cracks acting as contraction/expansion joints for the concrete element or structure. Of course, the objective(s) of the crack repair is just as important as measuring crack widths and determining the potential for future crack movements.Īctive cracks are moving and growing. Briefly, the critical items needed to design a proper crack repair are average crack widths (including minimum and maximum widths) and determining if the cracks are active or dormant. This summary of crack repair options addresses the following procedures: clean and fill, rout and seal/fill, epoxy and polyurethane injection, autogenous healing, and “no repair.” Investigating CracksĪs discussed in " Part I: How to Evaluate & Troubleshoot Concrete Cracks," investigating cracks and determining the root cause of the cracking is the key to selecting the best crack repair option. After investigating the cracks and establishing the repair objectives, designing or selecting the best repair material and procedure is fairly straight forward. ![]()
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