Numerical Search of the Optimum Curing Regimes for High-Early-Strength Concrete

Abstract

High-early-strength concrete (HESC) made of Type III cement attains approximately 60%–70% of its design compressive strength at ambient temperature in 1 day. A numerical method incorporating a rate-constant model was developed to optimize curing regimes for HESC at preassigned maximum temperatures of 40°C, 50°C, and 60°C with design concrete compressive strengths of 30, 40, and 50 MPa. The use of HESC after optimization resulted in 36%–55% savings in terms of energy index, compared with the curing regime typically applied for concrete with Type I cement. Experimental verification was performed by compression tests for HESC that were cured according to the optimum regimes. Compared with conventional trial-and-error mix methods, the developed numerical model contributes to a significant reduction of the number of trial mixes and provides in a systematic way the effects of design variables on optimum curing regimes.