Why Curing of concrete is Important.

 

The curing process is keeping the concrete moist awaiting the safe  hydration of concrete is complete and strength is accomplished. Curing of concrete should start on soon after initial setting time of concrete and should be continued up to 28 days to attain maximum strength of concrete.

Good Curing of concrete results in the following strength.

Comparative Strength of Ordinary (Portable) Cement concrete at various ages
Curing Time	Compressive Strength
3-Days	40%
7-Days	65%
14-Days	90%
28-Days	99%
3-Months	115%
6-Months	120%
1-Year	130%

Why Curing is Important.

1-Curing is required to avoid dryness of concrete during setting and hardening of cement that is only possible with effective hydration of cement, Now how hydration of cement will be effective, it's only possible when mixing water will remain in concrete during setting time period of concrete which is 28-days.

If curing is not started after placing the concrete it will produce only 50% of the total designed compressive strength in concrete.

2-Curing ensures the safe processing for the attainment of strength in concrete structures and also helps in speedy construction practices.

For Example, Concrete Structure avails 90 % strength in 14-Days and mostly engineers remove formworks after 14-days because structures can afford to hold their self loads after 14-days. The self-load of structures remains around 50% of the total designed load so when concrete avails its 90 % strength it provides easy and safe decision to remove the formwork without any hesitation.

3-Curing can raise the strength of concrete up to 130% which is the guarantee of long life and durability of concrete in less budgeting, so it is easy to design the structures for 100 years with effective curing of concretes.

4- Curing helps to attain high and required strength in concrete which helps to avoid faulty constructions and also finally  provides a safe and reliable structures. 

Curing Methods

1- Shading.

In this method, concrete is covered to avoid evaporation from sun rays. 

2-Ponding.

This method is used only for horizontal surfaces of slabs and concrete roads but require a lot of water.

3-Spraying of Water.

This method involves the sprinkling of water on concrete surfaces to keep moist surfaces but this is difficult as requires periodic showering of water.

4-Membrane Curing.

In this method of curing a chemical coating /Using some membrane is provided on the surface of the concrete to avoid evaporation of concrete water.

5-Steam Curing/ Hot water Curing.

Curing with Steam and hot water is sometimes adopted to gain rapid development in the strength of concrete. This process of curing is best for the construction of Pre-Cast Structures.

6-Covering.

This is a broadly used technique of curing, mainly for structural concrete. The uncovered surface of the concrete is prohibited from drying out by casing it with a hessian cloth or canvas cloth.

 This Blog contains supporting images which are property of Google only.