Influence of Preliminary Electric Curing Parameters on Physical and Mechanical Properties of Concrete
摘要
Cast-in-place construction implies many difficulties for housebuilders, such as unpredictable and highly variable weather conditions, thermal protection of buildings, seasonal variability of concreting. The latter is explained by the concrete mix freezing at temperature below –25°С, when concrete placing becomes impossible. The temperature range of cast-in-place construction shifting towards –40°С, allows minimizing these difficulties and takes this technology to a new level. The only solution here is preliminary electric curing of concrete. This work evaluates the influence of preliminary electric curing of the concrete mix В22.5 with mobility P5 on its mobility and physical and mechanical properties of matured concrete. This is achieved through the reproduction of the main in-process stages at different temperatures and the constant composition and curing time of the concrete mix. Three temperatures 50, 55 and 60°С are used as variables reached after 8 min heating each. After compression strength tests of samples, their fragments are investigated by scanning electron microscopy to assess the influence of different temperatures on the structure formation of hydrated cement. It is found that the heating temperature of 50 and 60°С has no significant effect on the concrete strength after 28-day curing. The strength gain is on average 43.8% higher than that in samples cured in natural conditions. The concrete mobility lowers with increasing heating temperature at the average rate of 0.5 cm/°C. At higher temperatures, the structure of hydrated cement is observed to be more homogeneous and has the lower number of defects and pores.