Influence of Distinct Curing Environments on the Compressive Strength of Concrete

Abstract

This paper discusses the influence of different curing conditions on the compressive strength of concrete test specimens monitored for 365 days. Five cures were analyzed. Statistical tests were applied (variance analysis and Fisher's) in order to evaluate the data. According to results, different curing conditions influence the compressive strength of concrete. The main novelty of this article is that the curing conditions affect the concrete compressive strength significantly only for ages over 28 days. Furthermore, this study shows that concrete specimens saturated with water have superior strength to concrete cured in a standard environment (moist chamber). The compressive strength of concrete decreases, respectively, with the following types of curing investigated: water tank, moist chamber, tank with water and lime, laboratory internal environment and external environment. The compressive strength gain over time also varies for each condition. The lower values found for the external environment confirm the greater difficulty of controlling the water loss on this environment, resulting in decrease of compressive strength.