Experimental study on the effects of different curing methods on the mechanical properties of small-scale concrete cylinders /
John Exequiel D. Visitacion, Gian Kerby T. Villanueva, Ethan Louise M. Breta, and Avelino T. Dulay Jr..
- x, 100 pages ; 28 cm.
True experiment research
Includes bibliographical references
Curing conditions used in the hydration process have effects on concrete properties. In this paper, we seek to examine the effects of different types of curing on compressive, flexural, and split tensile strength of concrete cylinders. There are four curing processes used namely; plastic-wrapped curing, wet burlap curing, water curing, and air curing. Water curing is used as the reference point in the experiments since it is widely accepted as the standard curing condition for testing concrete. Samples are prepared using same mix proportions and size and later tested after the set curing period according to standard testing techniques. According to results of this research, there are clear differences in concrete performance caused by the type of curing process used. Plastic-wrapped curing gives the highest average value of compressive strength and split tensile strength while wet burlap curing gave the highest value of flexural strength. Specimens cured with water showed satisfactory values of compressive and split tensile strength while air curing gave the lowest strength in almost all tests due to rapid evaporation of moisture. From the statistical analysis of variance, there is significance of the curing process on both compressive and flexural strength but no significance on split tensile strength. From these results, it can be concluded that moisture retention curing processes improve the strength performance of concrete more than air curing processes.