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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
In order to know the main cause of the cracking of concrete ties we tried to reproduce the deterioration process in the laboratory, using the same thermal cycle and the same materials. Model concretes were first steam cured then examined for ASR using the CSA-A-23-2-14A accelerated test. Linear expansion of concrete prisms were measured and fracture surfaces of concrete after treatment were observed under scanning electron microscope. They showed ASR gels and secondary ettringite. A simultaneous thermal mechanical computation gave the global microcracking of concrete induced by steam curing. A second computation showed the accelerating role of temperature on the local development of ASR products.