Shrinkage and Creep Caused by Dissolution

It has long been understood that creep and desiccation-driven shrinkage of concrete are coupled phenomena. Many mechanisms have been proposed over the past six decades by which creep and shrinkage are intertwined. Here, we propose that dissolution of solid, microscale constituents while under a state of stress leads to time-dependent deformation. As the state of stress may be incurred via external tractions on the microstructure, such time-dependent deformation may yield creep. As the state of stress may also be incurred through internal pore pressures, such time-dependent deformation may likewise generate shrinkage. By integrating the THAMES microstructural evolution model with a time-stepping finite element routine, simulations were performed to assess the magnitude of shrinkage deformations that may result from time-dependent dissolution. The simulation results indicate that the dissolution mechanism is significant, and may help explain the source of the irreversible component of desiccation shrinkage.