Prediction of compressive strength of concrete based on accelerated strength

Moist curing of concrete is a time consuming procedure. It takes minimum 28 days of curing to obtain the characteristic strength of concrete. However, under certain situations such as shortage of time, weather conditions, on the spot changes in project and speedy construction, waiting for entire curing period becomes unaffordable. This situation demands early strength of concrete which can be met using accelerated curing methods. It becomes necessary to obtain early strength of concrete rather than waiting for entire period of curing which proves to be uneconomical. In India, accelerated curing methods are used to arrive upon the actual strength by resorting to the equations suggested by Bureau of Indian Standards' (BIS). However, it has been observed that the results obtained using above equations are exaggerated. In the present experimental investigations, the results of the accelerated compressive strength of the concrete are used to develop the regression models for predicting the short term and long term compressive strength of concrete. The proposed regression models show better agreement with the actual compressive strength than the existing model suggested by BIS specification.