ENHANCING DURABILITY OF HEAT CURED CONCRETE WITH NOVEL SUPERPLASTICIZERS
Heat curing is very commonly used in the production of precast concrete elements to allow for a rapid demolding and frequent reuse of the casting beds. Curing temperatures up to 70 degrees Centigrade are often used to obtain high early strengths from 30 to 55 MPa at ages ranging from 6 to 16 hours. Heat curing may influence negatively the durability of the precast concrete elements in several ways - such as strength loss, formation of microcracks which are preferential paths for ingress of aggressive agents and delayed ettringite formation and subsequent cracking. This paper examines the use of novel polycarboxylic ether base superplasticizers which allow for a high water reduction (up to 40%) in the concrete mix, in order to obtain high early strengths at curing temperatures considerably lower than those utilized at present and in some cases, eliminating the heat curing. Several case histories of applications in Europe are presented where the benefits of the low water-cement ratio of the concrete mixes, combined with a very high workability, contribute to enhance the durability of precast concrete structures.
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Corporate Authors:
American Concrete Institute (ACI)
38800 Country Club Drive
Farmington Hills, MI United States 48331 -
Authors:
- Khurana, R
- Schmid, A G
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Conference:
- Fifth CANMET/ACI International Conference on Durability of Concrete
- Location: Barcelona, Spain
- Date: 2000-6-4 to 2000-6-9
- Publication Date: 2000
Language
- English
Media Info
- Features: Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: p. 339-351
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Concrete curing; Durability; Ettringite; Heat; High early strength cement; Microcracking; Precast concrete; Superplasticizers; Temperature; Water cement ratio
- Subject Areas: Highways; Materials; I32: Concrete;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00793947
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: SP 192-21
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Jun 28 2000 12:00AM