Impact of Drying the Concrete before Its Complete Curing: Plain and Fly Ash–Based Cement Concrete

Abstract

The present study deals with the severity of delay before carrying out the curing of concrete in hot weather. The effect of delay before curing on the strength and durability of ordinary portland cement concrete (OPCC) and portland pozzolana cement concrete (PPCC) was studied and compared. The strength and durability of the PPCC were observed to be higher when resaturated by water after a delay, especially in case of up to 3 days of delay before curing. The partial resumption of the hydration process was observed in both type of concrete when resaturated after some delay but were observed to be higher in PPCC than OPCC, leading to higher regain in long-term strength and durability. The resaturation promoted the moisture movement and leaching of the calcium hydroxide due to greater space provided by the fly ash particles inside the concrete, which in turn induces the hydration process at a higher rate in PPCC. Therefore, better performance of the PPCC may be expected in a hot and dry environment and where proper curing may be interrupted due to some unavoidable reasons.