AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON SELF CURING CONCRETE USING LIQUID PARAFFIN WAX

Abstract

The most regularly and abundantly used construction material is concrete because of its superior compressive strength and stability. Curing is one of the major parameter which helps in improving water retention capacity of concrete which in turn helps in developing the microstructure of the concrete. The curing involves in retaining adequate moisture content from the time of placing the concrete until final stage, at that point of time the concrete develops the satisfied properties by promoting optimum cement hydration immediately after placement. Properly cured concrete has improved durability and surface hardness, and is less permeable. Prevention of loss of moisture is important not only for strength development but also to prevent plastic shrinkage, for decreased permeability and to improve resistance to abrasion. Good and complete curing is not always possible for several reasons such as human errors, vertical members and places where there is scarcity of water. In such cases using self-curing concrete is very adaptable and helps in mitigating this problem. The basic notion of self curing concrete is to make sure that the concrete is free from water evaporation, and hence improve its water withholding capacity when compared to usual curing. Several hydrophilic materials, including polymeric glycol and paraffin wax, can act as self-curing compounds. This study investigates the role of liquid paraffin wax as a self curing agent and compares this with the effect of different curing regimes simulating traditional methods of curing. The dosage of liquid paraffin wax compound taken is 0.1%. The parameters include grade of concrete, dosage of paraffin wax, curing conditions and age of curing. The strength parameters namely compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength are determined as a performance benchmark for the investigated curing compounds.