The Influence of Different Curing Conditions on Compressive Strength Development of Concrete

Insufficient water or moisture supply often occurs during curing period of site-cast concrete, which leads to loss of compressive strength of concrete. In this paper, the effect of different curing conditions at different times on the strength properties of concrete was investigated by test and models. In the test, two different curing regimes after initial 28 days air-curing were applied to 24 prism specimens: one was continuous water storing, and the other was continuous air storing. It was found that the strength of the specimens stored in water developed more rapidly than those stored in air. In addition, the variation of compressive strength with time under different curing conditions was evaluated by using the Maturity method and the humidity-adjusted rate constant model (HRCAM), and two modified methods were proposed to predict the strength development of concrete cured in air/water conditions at different times.