Mechanisms to reduce cracking in interior plasters attached to cement bonded permanent shuttering panels

The investigations deal with the clarification of the mechanisms of crack formation of interior plasters applied on permanent shuttering panels which are used for the erection of concrete inwalls. For this purpose various finite element simulations of the mechanical failure have been performed. Prior to these calculations material investigations have been necessary to provide the material properties. The failure mechanisms are elucidated and countermeasures detected. Especially three alternative methods to restrict the crack width follow from the investigations. The selection of interior plasters with reduced brittleness as shown by a relatively high value of the characteristic length ℓ ch is one of them. The increase of the layer thickness of the interior plaster to a value where a change of the failure mechanism occurs is another possibility. Moreover an improvement of the bond between the shuttering panels and the concrete helps to avoid too large crack widths.