Continuous retardation spectrum for basic creep of concrete

Abstract

Continuous retardation spectrum is a more generalized representation of viscoelastic behavior of linear viscoelastic materials. In this study, an attempt is made to develop continuous retardation spectrum corresponding to different models for predicting basic creep of concrete, namely, the adaptive link mechanism-based model,B3 model and B4 model. The continuous retardation spectrum is approximated using the Post-Widder formula for inverse Laplace transform. The continuous retardation spectra is developed for two concrete mixes, for which basic creep test results are reported in the literature.The compliance values at different times obtained from the continuous retardation spectra are compared with the experimental values. The satisfactory agreement suggests that the continuous retardation spectrum can be used for representing basic creep of concrete.