Is long-term autogenous shrinkage a creep phenomenon induced by capillary effects due to self-desiccation?

Long-term shrinkage and creep of concrete can impact the lifetime of concrete structures. Basic creep of cementitious materials is now known to be non-asymptotic and evolve logarithmically with time at large times. However, the long-term kinetics of autogenous shrinkage is not systematically analyzed. Here we first aim at finding out how autogenous shrinkage evolves with time at long term. We analyze all experimental data available in the literature and find that autogenous shrinkage evolves logarithmically with respect to time at long term, like basic creep. Then, by considering concrete as a multiscale material, we obtain the bulk creep modulus of the calcium silicate hydrate gel. In the end, we show that the kinetics of long-term autogenous shrinkage can be a viscoelastic response to self-desiccation by comparing the mechanical stress that should be applied to explain this long-term kinetics of autogenous shrinkage with the capillary force due to self-desiccation.