Examination of Methods for Determining Curing Periods for Some Kinds of Cement
摘要
Curing carried out before the concrete is exposed to external environmental conditions and is intended to be growing the concrete. If wet curing is neglected, it is assumed that the hydration reaction will be inhibited, and it will be difficult to achieve the enough strength and durability. Therefore, standards for the wet curing period have been established in many countries. The wet curing period is determined by the type of cement and the ambient temperature or the service life of the structure. Currently, it is established for the most common cement types, such as ordinary Portland cement, early strength Portland cement and blended cement Type B. However, the wet curing period for low-heat Portland cement and high volume of replacement admixtures cement such as reducing environment impacts have not yet been established. In this study, the use of blast-furnace cement is expected to increase in order to reduce environmental impact and promote carbon neutrality in the future, and an attempt was made to establish the required wet curing period for these cements including low-heat Portland cement. Specifically, we measured the binding water ratio at the wet curing periods of cement pastes in various temperature environments. The binding water content increased with increasing curing periods. It was also observed that the curing temperature was highly dependent on the curing temperature due to the inclusion of ground granulated blast furnace slag. And in order to examine the range of curing influence in concrete, vacuum water absorption tests were attempted on specimens with different curing periods. The results confirmed that the effect of curing is significant in concrete with low heat Portland cement and high volume blast furnace cement.