Early-age Cracking Control on Concrete with Internal Curing

Internal curing is used mainly to reduce early-age cracking potential by maintaining a high relative humidity within the hydrating cement paste by releasing the water absorbed by internal curing materials. In this chapter, early-age cracking control on concrete through internal curing was investigated. The results showed that the addition of internal curing materials contributed to the alleviation of shrinkage of concrete. The addition of superabsorbent polymers decreased the early-age basic tensile creep, specific basic tensile creep, and the ratio of basic tensile creep to shrinkage of concrete. Concrete internally cured with lightweight aggregates with a higher water-to-cement ratio exhibited decreased steel ring strain, decreased maximum residual stress of concrete, and lowered stress rate.