Accelerated electric curing of steel-fibre reinforced concrete

Abstract

This paper evaluates the effect of electric curing on the mechanical properties and microstructure of steel fibre reinforced concrete. Specimens subjected to electric curing, steam curing and without curing were tested for compressive and residual flexural tensile strengths at different ages. The fibre-matrix contact area after pull-out was characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy. Although electric cured specimens had consistently smaller residual flexural strengths than steam cured specimens, differences were not statistically significant. Results derived from this study confirm the feasibility of applying electric curing for the production of elements made with steel-fibre reinforced concrete.