COST TU1404 benchmark on macroscopic modelling of concrete and concrete structures at early age: Proof-of-concept stage

Modelling of early-age behaviour of cement-based materials is still a challenging task. The challenge is implied by the extent of the knowledge on the subject which results in a variety of different models used for simulation of cement-based materials. That is why a numerical benchmark program has been launched within the COST Action TU1404 aiming at improvement and harmonisation of computational prediction of early-age behaviour of cement-based materials as well as its behaviour on structural level.
This paper presents the result of the proof-of-concept stage of the benchmark.
The goal of this stage of benchmark was to compare the performance of currently used models for simulation of early-age behaviour of concrete. The participants were requested to simulate thermo-chemomechanical behaviour of simple concrete elements covering adiabatic and real evolution of temperature, shrinkage, stiffness and stresses accounting for early-age creep. The tasks were formulated based on the experimental measurements. This stage of benchmark allowed to evaluate the influence of different phenomena occurring in early-age concrete on the behaviour of early-age concrete structures, define the discrepancies between experimental results and numerical simulations, as well as to indicate the weak points in the models.