A modeling framework based on a microscale hydration approach for predicting the temperature rise of concrete

Accurate prediction of concrete temperature evolution is essential for mitigating thermal cracking in mass concrete structures. While microscale hydration models excel at describing microstructural development, their application in predicting macroscopic temperature rise is often hindered by extensive experimental requirements and limited adaptability to varying mixture proportions. To bridge this gap, this study proposes an integrated modeling framework coupling a hydration-degree-based rate formulation with a microscale kinetic model. The primary innovation lies in its high adaptability across various mixture proportions: by leveraging kinetics identified from only two reference adiabatic tests, the framework can reliably predict temperature rise across diverse water-to-cement ( w / c ) ratios and arbitrary thermal histories without additional empirical parameters. Methodologically, the heat evolution rate is reformulated as a function of the hydration degree, and adiabatic data are converted into equivalent isothermal curves via inverse analysis to identify key kinetic parameters. Validation results demonstrate that the framework maintains high predictive accuracy under both isothermal and adiabatic conditions, aligning well with experimental observations. By significantly reducing the experimental workload while ensuring precision, this approach provides a highly efficient and practical tool for the thermal analysis and temperature-control design of mass concrete.