Effectiveness of concrete curing compounds in extreme windy and dry conditions

Department of Civil Engineering, University of Pretoria, South Africa

^* Corresponding author: billy.boshoff@up.ac.za

Abstract

Curing is one of the most crucial phases of concrete conditioning as it determines not only the long-term strength, but also influences the durability. Curing compounds are useful for reducing the evaporation rate of water from the concrete surface. They are typically sprayed on concrete as soon as possible after consolidation, especially for concrete members that have large areas exposed to the environment. These compounds have been proven to work well, however, how effective are different curing compounds in a variety of high wind and high temperature with low relative humidity conditions? The focus of this work is the effectiveness of different types of curing compounds at windy and dry conditions. The tests were done in a state-of-the-art Mobile Climate Chamber (MCC) where the weight of all samples was measured constantly to determine the water loss. It was concluded that the resin-emulsion based curing compound performed best at all environmentally tested conditions. The acrylic-based curing compound performed worse than the control, where nothing was applied to the top surface.