(8) Creep and thermal shrinkage at fire temperatures. Concrete is a viscoelastic material (creep), and has
dimensional changes with changes in moisture levels (shrinkage). Fire temperatures induce large amounts
of water removal from concrete, with correspondingly high amounts of induced shrinkage. Thermal stresses
and pore pressure-caused stresses can be partially relieved by creep, although the amount of relief will be
determined by the relative time scales of relaxation processes versus water loss, since the viscoelastic
properties of concrete are dependent on water content.