Advances in autogenous shrinkage and its regulation of modern concrete

Concrete is the most widely-used construction materials, and modern concrete is produced with a low water to binder ratio and high binder materials content to obtain high performances, leading to a significant increase in autogenous shrinkage (AS), thus triggering a large tensile stress under restraint and further a serious early-age cracking, which deteriorates the concrete durability, shortens the service life and causes an incalculable loss, especially in hydraulic mass concrete and thin-walled concrete structures. This paper reviews the literatures on the latest achievements and progress at home and abroad for AS and relevant regulations in recent years, summarizing and comparatively analyzing the latest achievements and progress in methods and devices for AS “time-zero” and deformation measurement, AS prediction models and AS regulation techniques, pointing out the flaws in the current research and giving further research direction on some key problems, and setting a reference for practical engineering and further AS studies.