Study of the Influence of Curing Processes on Mechanical Resistance Properties of Concretes

Abstract

The curing process is one of the main steps after concrete molding, playing a direct role in maintenance of ideal conditions related to temperature decrease of exothermal reactions and severe environmental conditions, thus avoiding possible losses of water mass from the material to the environment. Overall the curing process must act from the initial period of microstructure formation and development, a period in which the material has low resistance properties towards tensions created from high rates of water loss leading to retraction, and micro fissures formation and development. In this work we investigated the influence of different curing processes in mechanical resistance properties of concretes aged 7, 14, 28, and 56 days. It was observed experimentally that the curing process by immersion was more efficient compared to humid and chemical curing processes, with mechanical resistance to compression values of 39.56 MPa (± 2,23), that is, 24% greater. For samples not subjected to the curing process, we observed losses of 29.27% in mechanical resistance to compression. These results highlight the importance of appropriate curing processes in cement-based materials.