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IM MPACT TS OF F CON NCRET TE CU URING G IN SU ULAIA AMNYA AREA A

E Eng.Rizg gar latif f kareem m (from m Frauk Group Holding g)


Pre esented se earch HER can lead to ma any proble ems in mix xing, placing, and curing c of HOT WEATH ncrete that can have an adverse affect on n its prope erties and service lif fe. This gu uide con has been deve eloped by Master Builders, B In nc. to assis st the entir re constru uction team m (ow wners, spec cifiers, con ntractors, and ready y mixed co oncrete pro oducers) in the design, man nufacture, delivery, placemen nt and curi ing of qua ality concrete in hot weather . Curing C is th he process s of contro olling the rate and extent e of moisture m lo oss from con ncrete durin ng cemen nt hydration. It may be either after a it has s been pla aced in pos sition (or during the e manufac cture of co oncrete pro oducts), th hereby pro oviding tim me for the hyd dration of the t cemen nt to occur r. Since the hydratio on of ceme ent does ta ake time days, and d even wee eks rather than hour rs curing g must be undertake u n for a rea asonable period p of ti ime if the concrete is i to achie eve its potential stre ength and d durability. Curing m may also o encompa ass the con ntrol of tem mperature e since this s affects th he rate at which w cem ment hyd drates.
COMP PRESSIVE STRENGTH S AT T 180 DAYS S AS % OF C CONTINUOUS SLY MOIST S SAMPLE

Contin Uously (days cured d) Moist c contin u uoisly air

Fig. F ;Eff fect of dur ration of water w curin ng on stren ngth of con ncrete


COEFFICIENT OF PERMEABIL LITY (m/s

- - - - 1
3 7 14

C Cement paste (W/C = 0.51) )

28

90 0

F : Eff Fig fect of dur ration of water w curin ng on perm meability of o cement paste EFF FECT OF DURATI ION OF CURING C O ON PROP PERTIES O OF CONC CRETE Th he strength of co oncrete is affected by b a number of facto ors, one of f which is the length h of time e for whic ch it is kep pt moist, ie e cured. Figure ill lustrates th his, compa aring the strength s (at days) of concre ete for whi ich the sur rfaces hav ve been: n ke ept moist for f da ays. n ke ept moist for f variou us periods of time an nd allowed d to dry ou ut. n al llowed to dry d out fro om the tim me it was f first made. This paper pr resents the e efficienc cy of two concrete c curing met thods com mmonly emp ployed in Sulaimany ya as a ca ase study f for evaluation of cur ring effici iency unde er seve ere hot and d dry wea ather condi itions. The e compete ence of cu uring meth hods was mea asured in terms t of co oncrete co ompressiv ve strength h at day ys. The methods m we ere wat ter terms of o concrete e compres ssive stren ngth at days. d The e methods s were wat ter spri inkling tw wo times a day for se even days, , which is designate ed as SWC C and wate er spri inkling tw wo times a day for se even days with a bur rlap cover r, which is s designate ed as SBC C. The sp pecimens were w tested d at da ays and com mpared w with standa ard cured spec cimens, which w were e designate ed as STD D. A total of cub be specime ens were coll lected from m construc ction sites s in our pr roject(shar ryjwan pro oject) duri ing the sam mpling peri iod and cu ured under r STD-, SW WC-, and SBC- con nditions. T The ratios of SWC a and SBC C to STD strengths were plott ted on nor rmal proba ability form rms. The mean m value es of thes se ratios were w . and a ., respective ely. The probability p y of these ratios bei ing less than n the ACI- gene eral require ement for concrete curing of . was and perc cent, Sulai imanyah or, for tha at matter, i in any oth her region of similar r weather con nditions are e made. Key ywords: Concrete C cu uring, hot weather concreting c g, concrete e durability y.

spec cially for SWC curi ing. Reco ommendati ions for im mproving the curing g methods in resp pectively. These hig gh probab bilities indi icate a def ficiency in n the curin ng method ds, Cur ring should d be starte ed as soon n as the co oncrete ha as set enou ugh to avoid any sur r face dam mage. Con ncrete shou uld be cur red for at l least con nsecutive days after r placing. Ensure E that t the concr rete is kep pt moist th hroughout the curing g process ( (see techn nical bullet tin on curi ing option ns).

To T use this cha ar t: . Enter with w air tempera ature, move up to o relative humid dity. . Move ri ight to concrete e temperature e. . Move dow wn to wind velo ocity. . Move l left; read appro ox. rate of e vaporat tion.

Introducti I ion

The e temperat ture of the concrete is affected d by the su urrounding g air, abso orption of solar heat t, heat of hydration n of cemen nt and ini itial temp perature of material ls. An und desirable re eduction in i moistur re content of the cem ment paste e at this sta age tends to redu uce hydrat tion and re esults in drying d shri inkage and d developm ment of cr racks in th he past te. In the parlance p o concrete of e technolo ogy, hot weather w is defined d as any

combination of high air temperature, low relative humidity, and wind velocity []. The effects of hot weather are most critical during periods of rising temperature or falling relative humidity, or both. Undesirable hot weather effects on concrete in the plastic state may include: (a) increased water demand, (b) increased rate of slump loss, (c) increased rate of setting and (d) increased tendency for plastic cracking []. Thus, a continuous curing, particularly during the first few hours, is acutely needed. ACI [] and ACI [] recommend that concrete be maintained in a moist condition for at least the first days after placement. Alternate cycles of wetting and drying promote the development of pattern cracking and should be avoided. ACI [] specifies that the procedure for curing concrete shall be improved when the strength ratio of field cured specimens to the companion laboratory cured specimens is less than . unless the field-cured strength exceeds the specified strength by more than . MPa. Spears [] indicated that proper curing maintains relative humidity above percent and, thereby, advances hydration to the maximum attainable limit. Proper curing decreases concrete permeability, surface dusting, thermal-shock effects, scaling tendency and cracking. It increases strength development, abrasion resistance, durability, pozzolanic activity and weatherability. Haque [] investigated the strength development of concrete under the conditions of fog, temperate dry, warm-wet and warm-dry weather conditions. He found that the lack of any moist curing adversely affects the compressive strength of plain concrete at all ages. Martin [] demonstrated that rising placing temperatures do not, as a rule, lead to lower strengths. With favorable combinations of cementitious materials and admixtures, the strength performance of concrete can remain unaffected by higher placing temperatures, or it can even improve over that at lower temperatures.Malvin and Odd [] conducted a large-scale field investigation of high-strength light-weight concrete and concluded that maximum curing temperatures of up to C (F) did not adversely affect the mechanical properties of the concrete. On the contrary, they observed a slight increase in compressive strength. Khan [] quantified the effect of interrupted curing. He found that the losses in strength of concrete due to an interruption in moist curing can be regained significantly by recuring the concrete. Carrier [] indicated that a short period of drying early in the curing life of concrete specimens prevents water molecules from reaching unhydrated cement particles and prevents concrete from gaining full strength. He also indicated that much of the concrete deterioration that takes place each year should be blamed on inadequate curing. Early and rapid drying can lead to failure such as shrinkage cracks, crazing, wear, dusting, scaling, and spalling. Once a surface has cracked, dusted, scaled or spalled, the entire member is more susceptible to other types of deterioration.

Research significance Twice a day sprinkling of water with or without burlap cover for seven days are the curing practices used . The average annual maximum temperature of o C and the average annual minimum humidity of . % in summer in the our region and the prevalent methods of curing which are below the required standard practice call for studying their effects on the strength of concrete.

Objective and scope This paper presents results of an experimental program designed to investigate the influence of the prevalent curing practice on the strength of concrete cast during ten month period in an arid area.

Experimental program The experimental program was designed to evaluate the influence of the prevalent curing practices on the compressive strength of the concrete. The Three curing methods which were employed are described and designated as in Table . Concrete samples were collected from randomly selected construction sites in Sulaimanyah . The sampling was done during ten Table . Curing methods used and their designation Designation SWC SBC STD Curing method Twice a day sprinkling without cover for seven days Twice a day sprinkling with burlap cover for seven days. Twenty eight day immersion in water, considered standard curing.

A total of concrete samples were collected at construction sites in Sulaimanyah during the sampling period and cast into standard cubes of xx mm. Each sample consisted of three pairs of cubes and each cube in a pair was collected from a separate truck(norsoy ready mix ). The cubes were left at the site for about hours and then transferred to the laboratory. A pair in a sample was cured by SWC, the second by SBC and thethird by STD method. The cubes were tested for strength at age of days. Results, analysis and discussion The ratios R and R of the compressive strength of the SWC and SBC cured cubes,

resp pectively, to the ST TD cured cubes c were e subjecte ed to analy ysis by ord der statistics. e results ar re presente ed in Tabl le and pl lotted on a normal p probability y paper alo ong The with h the best fit by line ear regress sion in Fig g. . The mean m valu ues of R and a R are e . and d ., resp pectively. This clea arly indicates the ben neficial ef ffect of cu uring with burl lap cover in dry-hot t weather. The maxi imum valu ues of the two ratios s are . and ., respect tively, and d their min nima are . and .. Tab ble . Bas sic statistic cs of the st trength rat tios R and R in the e Sulaima anyah Are ea.
Ri R R Min . . percentile p . . mean . . max m . . COV V% . . P P(R< ) . .

R d Inverse of standard normal distribution - - - . . . . . . . R

ld to standar rd cured stre ength , R Ratio of fiel uence of cur ring methods s on concret te strength in n the central province Fig. Influ

It is int teresting to o note that t the varia ability in compressiv c ve strength h and curi ing proc cess can cause c these e ratios to be higher r than unit ty. The fiv ve percent tiles (the values v with h probabil lity of pe ercent of being b not exceeded) ) of the tw wo ratios ar re . an nd . , respecti ively.

ACI [] specifies that procedures for protecting and curing concrete shall be improved when strength of field cured cylinders at test age designated for determination of fc is less than percent of that of companion laboratory cured cylinders. In the presence of strength variability, there is a possibility of having this ratio less than . which is very small with good curing practices, however, this probability will increase when poor practices are employed. Results indicate that the mean values of R are less than those for R while the coefficients of variation of R are higher than that of R . As a result, the probability of being R less than . is %, which is very high. This indicates that the SWC curing method does not meet the ACI- requirement in arid areas. The probability of having R less than . in sulaimanyah area is about %, which is also relatively high. The authors suggest that the efficiency of curing methods should be based on the percentile of the distribution function of the ratio R which is affected by both its mean and COV. The results indicate that the percentiles are . and ., respectively. The curing methods should be improved to bring these values to . . The ACI- recommends that concrete be maintained in a moist condition for at least the first days after placement. In arid areas, it is impossible to meet this recommendation using SWC where the available water for concrete curing is very limited. The SBC curing method is more efficient; however, the frequency of water sprinkling per day should be increased so that the percentile of the distribution of is at least equal to .. The efficiency of water sprinkling three times a day with a burlap cover is under investigation.

. Conclusion The effect of curing practice was evaluated by statistical analysis of strength ratio, R, of field cured to standard cured cubes. The field curing methods used were sprinkling without cover and with burlap cover. The results in the sulaimanyah area showed that the mean value of R & R are . and . , respectively. The higher value of R indicates the effectiveness of burlap cover in improving the curing process. The probability of having R less than ., specified by ACI-, is percent, indicating that curing by water sprinkling without cover twice a day for days will not satisfy the ACI- requirement. The SBC curing method is more efficient; however, the frequency of water sprinkling per day should be increased so that the percentile of the distribution of R is at least equal to .. The efficiency of water sprinkling three times a day with a burlap cover is under investigation.

References

@ . ACI Committee . () Hot Weather Concreting . ACI-, American Concrete Institute, Detroit. . ACI Committee . () Building Code Requirements for Reinforced Concrete . ACI-, American Concrete Institute, Detroit. . ACI Committee . () Recommended practice for curing concrete ACI-, American Concrete Institute, Detroit. . Spears, R. E. () The Percent Solution to Inadequate Curing Problems Concrete International. pp.-. . Haque, M.N. () Some Concretes Need Days Initial Curing . Concrete International. Vol. , No. , pp. -. . Mittelaeher, M. ()Compressive Strength and the Rising Temperature of Field Concrete. Concrete International. pp. -. . Sandvik, M. and Gjorv, O. E. ()High Curing Temperatures in Light Weight High-Strength Concrete . Concrete International. pp. -. . Khan, M., S. and Ayers, M., E., () Interrupted Concrete Curing. Concrete International. pp. -. . Carrier, R. E. () Concrete Curing Tests concrete international pp- . .

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