Heat curing and post-heat curing regimes of high-performance concrete: Influence on microstructure and C-S-H composition

The present work reports a study on the effect of heat curing and post-heat curing conditions on the microstructure and C-S-H composition of a highperformance concrete, In addition, some previously studied cement paste specimens of ordinary w/c ratio hydrated at various temperatures have been reanalyzed. Heat cured high-performance concrete showed a higher hollow shell porosity at later ages than a normally cured companion. Apparently the distribution of C-S-H throughout the cement paste matrix of the high-performance concretes was not significantly influenced by heat curing. However, the composition of the C-S-H phases was influenced by the curing regimes. The effect of heat curing on the microstructure appears to differ between highperformance and ordinary concretes.