On the Feasibility of Using Industrial Urea to Mitigate Thermal and Shrinkage Cracking in Concrete

Industrial urea is an organic compound that is widely used for various physiological processes and for producing nitrogen fertilizers. This study hypothesized that mixing urea with concrete would decrease the temperature and expansion of the cement microstructure abruptly due to the reaction with wa...

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Main Author: Hak-Young Kim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/6/2483
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author Hak-Young Kim
author_facet Hak-Young Kim
author_sort Hak-Young Kim
collection DOAJ
description Industrial urea is an organic compound that is widely used for various physiological processes and for producing nitrogen fertilizers. This study hypothesized that mixing urea with concrete would decrease the temperature and expansion of the cement microstructure abruptly due to the reaction with water and a cement hydration product. This study tested the hypothesis by experiments. The performance of concrete was evaluated after setting the mixing ratio of industrial urea was to 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15%. The results showed that temperature decreased drastically immediately after mixing and the decrease in temperature increased with a higher mixing ratio. Consequently, condensation was delayed, and heat of hydration decreased. It was found that when considering workability and compressive strength development performance, the proper mixing ratio of urea was around 10%. This study proposed the mixing design technique of concrete mixed with urea. Additionally, this study reported better carbonation resistance and mitigated shrinkage strain of concrete mixed with urea compared to existing low-heat mixing ratios.
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spelling doaj.art-7d9bc4a6996c4b32baee49875c92bfa32023-11-21T09:58:13ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172021-03-01116248310.3390/app11062483On the Feasibility of Using Industrial Urea to Mitigate Thermal and Shrinkage Cracking in ConcreteHak-Young Kim0Department of Architectural Engineering, Dankook University, Yongin-si 16890, Gyeonggi-do, KoreaIndustrial urea is an organic compound that is widely used for various physiological processes and for producing nitrogen fertilizers. This study hypothesized that mixing urea with concrete would decrease the temperature and expansion of the cement microstructure abruptly due to the reaction with water and a cement hydration product. This study tested the hypothesis by experiments. The performance of concrete was evaluated after setting the mixing ratio of industrial urea was to 0%, 5%, 10%, and 15%. The results showed that temperature decreased drastically immediately after mixing and the decrease in temperature increased with a higher mixing ratio. Consequently, condensation was delayed, and heat of hydration decreased. It was found that when considering workability and compressive strength development performance, the proper mixing ratio of urea was around 10%. This study proposed the mixing design technique of concrete mixed with urea. Additionally, this study reported better carbonation resistance and mitigated shrinkage strain of concrete mixed with urea compared to existing low-heat mixing ratios.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/6/2483industrial ureacementhydration heat reductionshrinkage strain
spellingShingle Hak-Young Kim
On the Feasibility of Using Industrial Urea to Mitigate Thermal and Shrinkage Cracking in Concrete
Applied Sciences
industrial urea
cement
hydration heat reduction
shrinkage strain
title On the Feasibility of Using Industrial Urea to Mitigate Thermal and Shrinkage Cracking in Concrete
title_full On the Feasibility of Using Industrial Urea to Mitigate Thermal and Shrinkage Cracking in Concrete
title_fullStr On the Feasibility of Using Industrial Urea to Mitigate Thermal and Shrinkage Cracking in Concrete
title_full_unstemmed On the Feasibility of Using Industrial Urea to Mitigate Thermal and Shrinkage Cracking in Concrete
title_short On the Feasibility of Using Industrial Urea to Mitigate Thermal and Shrinkage Cracking in Concrete
title_sort on the feasibility of using industrial urea to mitigate thermal and shrinkage cracking in concrete
topic industrial urea
cement
hydration heat reduction
shrinkage strain
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/6/2483
work_keys_str_mv AT hakyoungkim onthefeasibilityofusingindustrialureatomitigatethermalandshrinkagecrackinginconcrete