Analysis of semi-adiabiatic tests for the prediction of early-age behavior of massive concrete structures

In this paper, experimental and numerical results on two types of semi-adiabatic tests have been compared. The semi-adiabatic tests are of particular interest since they are simple and easy to perform. However, their analysis may be still difficult since they are based on several assumptions that need to be addressed. In this paper, a numerical study has been undertaken for validating and rejecting some of these assumptions which may lead to misleading results. Moreover, the effect of apparent activation energy, which is a key role parameter for the prediction of hydration, has been studied. It shows that a dual study is required for both the identification and the prediction of early-age behavior of massive concrete structures.