Experimental investigation on internally cured concrete

Abstract

As water is becoming a scarce material day-by-day, there is an urgent need to do research work pertaining to saving of water in making concrete and in constructions. Curing of concrete is maintaining satisfactory moisture content in concrete during its early stages in order to develop the desired properties. However, good curing is not always practical in many cases. Curing of concrete plays a major role in developing the concrete microstructure and pore structure and hence improves its durability and performance. Keeping importance to this, an attempt has been made to develop internal-curing concrete by using Poly Ethylene Glycol (PEG-400). In this experimental investigation the strength characteristics of Normal Strength Concrete and high strength concrete, cast with the self-curing agent PEG-400 have been studied and compared with the corresponding conventionally cured concrete. IS method of mix design was adopted, for the normal strength internal curing concrete of grade M20 and for M50 grade of concrete is design on trial and error basis. For producing internal-curing concrete trial dosage of 1%, 2% and 3% of PEG-400 by weight of cement was used and tested. It was observed that after implementation of new technique the water consumption for curing was significantly reduced by 100%.