Concrete Spalling Reframed: A New Theory Built on Known Mechanisms (IWCF RILEM 2025)

Concrete Spalling Reframed: A New Theory Built on Known Mechanisms (IWCF RILEM 2025) | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Concrete Spalling Reframed: A New Theory Built on Known Mechanisms (IWCF RILEM 2025) Benedikt Weber This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8612866/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 8 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Concrete spalling under high-temperature exposure remains an incompletely understood phenomenon. Despite extensive experimental research identifying numerous influencing parameters, a unified theory rooted in the underlying physical mechanisms has yet to be established. This paper revisits hydraulic fracture induced by the thermal expansion of pore liquid as the primary mechanism for crack initiation and extends this concept by incorporating flash vaporization to explain the explosive character of spalling. Within this framework, the spalling criterion reduces to the attainment of full saturation at the drying front resulting from thermal expansion of the liquid phase. Based on this criterion, several representative problems with prototype geometries are analyzed using a simplified approach that combines analytical heat-conduction solutions with an ordinary differential equation governing the evolution of the drying-front position. The results demonstrate how temperature history, initial degree of saturation, and permeability jointly control the location of the drying front and, consequently, the temperature and thermal expansion of the pore liquid. Overall, the proposed theory reframes concrete spalling as a predominantly hygro-thermal process rather than one governed solely by mechanical stress, offering new insight into the interdependence of key parameters. This perspective provides guidance for the design of more meaningful experiments and enhances the potential for predicting full-scale structural behavior from small-scale test results. Concrete spalling hydraulic fracture thermally induced saturation drying front Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 09 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 03 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 03 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 26 Jan, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 17 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 15 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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