Relationship between Internal Relative Humidity and Autogenous Shrinkage of Cement Paste with Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCM)

The influence of water to binder (W/B), types and dosage of supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) on the internal relative humidity (IRH) and autogenous shrinkage (AS) of cement pastes caused by self-desiccation were investigated, and their relationship was discussed. The results show that, W/B is a main factor that affects IRH change and AS of cement pastes with SCM. With the decrease of W/B, IRH of cement pastes decreases, but AS of cement pastes increases. Different types and dosages of SCM affect the IRH differently; fly ash (FA) reduces AS, silica fume (SF) increases AS, and the effect of GBFS on AS is between FA and GBFS. The linear correlation between the change of IRH and AS of cement pastes with SCM is established.