INVESTIGATION OF TEMPERATURE FIELD AND DETERMINE THE PROBABILITY OF THERMAL CRACKING OF BRIDGE PIER CONCRETE STRUCTURES DURING CONSTRUCTION TAKING INTO ACCOUNT CONSTRUCTION CONDITIONS

Abstract

This study investigates the temperature field and thermal cracking risk in bridge pier structures, as heat generated during cement hydration may reduce the safety and durability of mass concrete. The research aims to evaluate the effects of construction conditions, including formwork type, concrete pouring time, and initial concrete temperature, on thermal behavior and cracking potential. Numerical simulation was applied to analyze the maximum temperature, maximum temperature difference, and thermal cracking index under different scenarios. The results show that using wooden formwork with an insulating foam layer reduced the maximum temperature difference from 34.6°C to 17.0°C and lowered the cracking probability from 100% to 10.4%. Moreover, decreasing the initial concrete mixture temperature by about 10°C led to reductions of 5–10°C in T_max and 3–6°C in ΔT_max, which in turn improved the cracking index and markedly decreased the risk of thermal cracking during pier construction. The results show that when combining methods such as formwork and reasonable concrete pouring time, the risk of thermal cracking in large-scale concrete structures will be significantly reduced.