{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]],"date-time":"2026-09-14T11:06:20Z","timestamp":1789383980072,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]],"date-time":"2026-09-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789344000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Materials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>PE sheeting produced the most consistent crack-free final observations under the investigated conditions. This study investigated the combined effects of mixture composition, water-reducing admixture system, environmental exposure, surface finishing, reinforcement configuration, and curing method on the early-age cracking and mechanical performance of concrete under full-scale production conditions. Seven concrete mixtures were investigated, and 28 full-scale reinforced concrete slabs were produced and monitored for plastic shrinkage cracking. Fresh-concrete workability, slump retention, 28-day compressive strength, environmental conditions, and surface evaporation rates were evaluated. The actual water-to-cement ratio ranged from 0.58 to 0.85, and increasing water demand following the reduction or elimination of water-reducing admixtures resulted in a decrease in 28-day compressive strength (150 mm cube specimens) from 41.4 to 24.6 MPa. Under the investigated full-scale field-production scenarios, visible plastic shrinkage cracking varied with the combined material, environmental, construction, and curing conditions. The unprotected W4-P1 slab, cast during severe hot and dry exposure, developed 19 visible cracks, whereas 4 cracks were recorded for W5-P1 under more moderate conditions. Because these slabs also differed in mixture composition and reinforcement configuration, this comparison is interpreted as an association rather than a single-factor environmental effect. The estimated evaporation rate was 0.71 kg\/m2\/h for the initial W4 conditions and 0.22 kg\/m2\/h for W5. Surface-finishing and reinforcement comparisons were based on individual slabs and are therefore reported only as case-specific observations. PE sheeting showed the most consistent performance under the investigated conditions: all nine PE-protected slabs were free of visible cracks at final inspection, while the two water-cured slabs developed zero or one crack. These findings show that visible plastic shrinkage cracking in full-scale production cannot be interpreted from mixture composition or w\/c ratio alone and should be assessed in the context of the complete field-production scenario.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ma19183899","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]],"date-time":"2026-09-14T10:19:41Z","timestamp":1789381181000},"page":"3899","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Plastic Shrinkage Cracking of Full-Scale Concrete Slabs Under Field-Production Conditions: Observations on Mix Design, Environmental Exposure and Curing"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1047-6195","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gabriela","family":"Rutkowska","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Civil Engineering, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 166 Street, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9525-5468","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Barbara","family":"Francke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Civil Engineering, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 166 Street, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Mariusz","family":"\u017b\u00f3\u0142towski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Civil Engineering, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 166 Street, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"visualization","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Eryk","family":"Ostrzy\u017cek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Civil Engineering, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 166 Street, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"365","article-title":"Plastic shrinkage cracking and evaporation formulas","volume":"95","author":"Uno","year":"1998","journal-title":"ACI Mater. J."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"207","DOI":"10.1080\/13287982.2010.11465045","article-title":"Plastic shrinkage cracking of concrete","volume":"10","author":"Dao","year":"2010","journal-title":"Aust. J. Struct. Eng."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"886","DOI":"10.1016\/j.conbuildmat.2019.07.197","article-title":"State-of-the-art review on plastic cracking of concrete","volume":"225","author":"Kayondo","year":"2019","journal-title":"Constr. Build. Mater."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Safiuddin, M., Kaish, A.B.M.A., Woon, C.-O., and Raman, S.N. (2018). Early-age cracking in concrete: Causes, consequences, remedial measures, and recommendations. Appl. Sci., 8.","DOI":"10.3390\/app8101730"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Alshammari, T.O., Pilakoutas, K., and Guadagnini, M. (2023). Performance of manufactured and recycled steel fibres in restraining concrete plastic shrinkage cracks. Materials, 16.","DOI":"10.3390\/ma16020713"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"132407","DOI":"10.1016\/j.conbuildmat.2023.132407","article-title":"Implementing capillary pressure control measures to prevent plastic shrinkage cracking in concrete","volume":"397","author":"Deysel","year":"2023","journal-title":"Constr. Build. Mater."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"557","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cemconcomp.2008.03.002","article-title":"Capillary pressure in fresh cement-based materials and identification of the air entry value","volume":"30","author":"Slowik","year":"2008","journal-title":"Cem. Concr. Compos."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Alshammari, T.O., Guadagnini, M., and Pilakoutas, K. (2022). The effect of harsh environmental conditions on concrete plastic shrinkage cracks: Case study Saudi Arabia. Materials, 15.","DOI":"10.3390\/ma15238622"},{"key":"ref_9","first-page":"243","article-title":"Experimental study of the effect of curing mode on concreting in hot weather","volume":"31","author":"Bakir","year":"2021","journal-title":"Rev. Compos. Mater. Av."},{"key":"ref_10","first-page":"e03780","article-title":"A simplified but improved numerical approach to determine moisture balance for plastic shrinkage cracking in concrete","volume":"21","author":"Kim","year":"2024","journal-title":"Case Stud. Constr. Mater."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2596","DOI":"10.1080\/01694243.2016.1189869","article-title":"The influence of bleeding extra water and superplasticizer on plastic shrinkage cracking of concrete in hot weather","volume":"30","author":"Yakoubi","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Adhes. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.3846\/jcem.2024.20145","article-title":"Effect of dose and types of the water reducing admixtures and superplasticizers on concrete strength and durability behaviour: A review","volume":"30","author":"Wang","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Civ. Eng. Manag."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"159","DOI":"10.1080\/19648189.2022.2032834","article-title":"Plastic shrinkage cracking properties of high-performance shotcrete with supplementary cementitious materials","volume":"27","author":"Yun","year":"2023","journal-title":"Eur. J. Environ. Civ. Eng."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yun, K.-K., Panov, V., and Han, S. (2023). Prediction of plastic shrinkage cracking of supplementary cementitious material-modified shotcrete using rheological and mechanical indicators. Materials, 16.","DOI":"10.3390\/ma16247645"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1553","DOI":"10.1080\/01932691.2023.2222799","article-title":"Effect of the structure of macromonomer in polycarboxylate superplasticizer on slump-retention of concrete","volume":"45","author":"Pang","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Dispers. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"Krishna, V., and Kumar, A. (2016, January 7\u201311). Water to cement ratio: A simple and effective approach to control plastic and drying shrinkage in concrete. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies (SCMT4), Las Vegas, NV, USA."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"127794","DOI":"10.1016\/j.conbuildmat.2022.127794","article-title":"Experimental validation of a novel method for estimating the severity of plastic shrinkage cracking in concrete","volume":"339","author":"Sayahi","year":"2022","journal-title":"Constr. Build. Mater."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"125895","DOI":"10.1016\/j.conbuildmat.2021.125895","article-title":"Utilising microCT scanning technology as a method for testing and analysing plastic shrinkage cracks in concrete","volume":"317","author":"Meyer","year":"2022","journal-title":"Constr. Build. Mater."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Roghani, H., Nanni, A., and Bolander, J.E. (2023). Early-age cracking behavior of concrete slabs with GFRP reinforcement. Materials, 16.","DOI":"10.3390\/ma16155489"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chyli\u0144ski, F., Michalik, A., and Kozicki, M. (2022). Effectiveness of curing compounds for concrete. Materials, 15.","DOI":"10.3390\/ma15072699"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"244","DOI":"10.3390\/constrmater3020016","article-title":"Effect of curing methods on plastic shrinkage cracking","volume":"3","author":"Alshammari","year":"2023","journal-title":"Constr. Mater."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bacharz, M., Bacharz, K., and Tr\u0105mpczy\u0144ski, W. (2025). Impact of early-age curing and environmental conditions on shrinkage and microcracking in concrete. Materials, 18.","DOI":"10.3390\/ma18133185"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107784","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cemconres.2025.107784","article-title":"Plastic shrinkage of concrete made with calcined clay-limestone cement","volume":"189","author":"Wyrzykowski","year":"2025","journal-title":"Cem. Concr. Res."},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"(2012). Cement\u2014Part 1: Composition, Specifications and Conformity Criteria for Common Cements (Standard No. EN 197-1:2012)."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"(2012). Fly Ash for Concrete\u2014Part 1: Definition, Specifications and Conformity Criteria (Standard No. EN 450-1:2012)."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"(2010). Aggregates for Concrete (Standard No. EN 12620+A1:2010)."},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"(2012). Admixtures for Concrete, Mortar and Grout\u2014Part 2: Concrete Admixtures\u2014Definitions, Requirements, Conformity, Marking and Labelling (Standard No. EN 934-2+A1:2012)."},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"(2012). Tests for Geometrical Properties of Aggregates\u2014Part 1: Determination of Particle Size Distribution\u2014Sieving Method (Standard No. EN 933-1:2012)."},{"key":"ref_29","unstructured":"(2019). Testing Fresh Concrete\u2014Part 2: Slump Test (Standard No. EN 12350-2:2019)."},{"key":"ref_30","unstructured":"(2019). Testing Hardened Concrete\u2014Part 3: Compressive Strength of Test Specimens (Standard No. EN 12390-3:2019)."},{"key":"ref_31","unstructured":"(2021). Testing Hardened Concrete\u2014Part 1: Shape, Dimensions and Other Requirements for Specimens and Moulds (Standard No. EN 12390-1:2021)."},{"key":"ref_32","unstructured":"(2019). Testing Hardened Concrete\u2014Part 2: Making and Curing Specimens for Strength Tests (Standard No. EN 12390-2:2019)."},{"key":"ref_33","unstructured":"American Concrete Institute (ACI) (1997). ACI 302.1R-96: Guide for Concrete Floor and Slab Construction, American Concrete Institute."},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"(2021). Standard Test Method for Evaluating Plastic Shrinkage Cracking of Restrained Fiber Reinforced Concrete (Using a Steel Form Insert) (Standard No. ASTM C1579-21)."},{"key":"ref_35","unstructured":"(2021). Concrete\u2014Specification, Performance, Production and Conformity (Standard No. EN 206+A2:2021-08)."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106826","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cemconres.2022.106826","article-title":"40 years of PCE superplasticizers\u2014History, current state-of-the-art and an outlook","volume":"157","author":"Lei","year":"2022","journal-title":"Cem. Concr. Res."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105838","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mtcomm.2023.105838","article-title":"Progress in the polycarboxylate superplasticizer and their structure\u2013activity relationship\u2014A review","volume":"35","author":"Ma","year":"2023","journal-title":"Mater. Today Commun."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6919","DOI":"10.1002\/cjce.25017","article-title":"Effect of chain transfer agents in polycarboxylate superplasticizer on slump-retention of concrete","volume":"101","author":"Pang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Can. J. Chem. Eng."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100252","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dibe.2023.100252","article-title":"Behavior of drying and plastic shrinkage of Portland cement concrete prepared and cured under harsh field","volume":"16","author":"Nasir","year":"2023","journal-title":"Dev. Built Environ."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"452","DOI":"10.1139\/cjce-2016-0499","article-title":"Application of curing compounds on concrete pavements","volume":"44","author":"Tiznobaik","year":"2017","journal-title":"Can. J. Civ. Eng."}],"container-title":["Materials"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1996-1944\/19\/18\/3899\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]],"date-time":"2026-09-14T10:35:39Z","timestamp":1789382139000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1996-1944\/19\/18\/3899"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]]},"references-count":40,"journal-issue":{"issue":"18","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9]]}},"alternative-id":["ma19183899"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ma19183899","relation":{},"ISSN":["1996-1944"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1996-1944","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]]}}}