Maturity-Based Method of Early-Strength Characterization of Rapid-Setting Cements

Abstract

The expedient repair of damaged airfield pavements is important to eliminate long closure periods. Rapid-setting cement (RSC) is promising for achieving target strength in a much shorter duration (4–6 h) compared to conventional repair methods. However, when the objective is to reopen the pavement within 1–2 h, there is a lack of methods to quantify the development of mechanical properties during the first few hours. In this study, a simplified maturity method is proposed to monitor the very early-strength development of two commercially available RSC mixes with different strength development mechanisms. The results were validated using hydration chemistry data from scanning electron microscope (SEM) experiments and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) tests. The experimental results show that such a maturity-based approach is effective and robust in characterizing the early-strength development of the two RSC mixes despite variations in ambient temperature conditions.