Evaluation of the Effect of Initial Curing Temperatures on the Uniaxial Compression Strength in Hydraulic Concrete

Abstract

The initial curing of hydraulic concrete is a topic of discussion worldwide, mainly because current standards establish conditions that are difficult to reach in practice. Therefore, the objective of this research is to evaluate the impact of room temperature on the initial curing in hydraulic concrete less than 40 MPa, and its effect on the resulting uniaxial compression resistance. To achieve this, the analysis was carried out by varying the temperature during the initial curing and evaluating its impact on the simple compression resistance of the specimens. From the results, a comparative framework was presented for the three initial curing temperature conditions proposed, and the respective analysis of compression resistance curves for the different temperatures was developed.

The results show that, under conditions of temperatures higher than those established in the standard for initial curing, there is a reduction of 6,4% in the compressive strength after currying for 28 days, compared to samples cured under standard temperature conditions. However, despite this decrease in the compressive strength results, the data obtained meet the expected minimum strength of 27,5 MPa. For the curing condition under temperatures lower than 16 ºC, there was an increase of 6.2% in the compressive strength after 28 days of currying, compared to the samples cured under standard temperature conditions. It is concluded that the ambient temperature influences the behavior of the mechanical properties of concrete, in addition, the results are consistent with the literature.