Effect of Curing and Composition on the Properties of the Outer Skin of Concrete

Abstract

The effects of curing in mild, hot, and dry conditions on strength and quality of concrete skin were studied. The skin quality was determined by absorption tests and depth of carbonation (natural and accelerated). It has been found that a deficient water treatment in a hot and dry environment could have a mild negative effect on strength, but a marked detrimental influence on the properties of the skin, particularly in high‐fly‐ash content concretes. Thus, compressive strength can be a misleading parameter if it is used to characterize the quality of concrete skin. Accelerated carbonation and rate‐of‐absorption tests are more valid for the latter purpose, and can provide information that is at least of semiquantitative significance.