EFFECT OF CURING PERIOD ON THE PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE

M. A. Rahman 1, M. A Rasid 2, Rita Khatun3 & Sabuj Chakma4

1
WRP, Institute of Water Modelling (IWM, Dhaka, Dhaka, <ratanduetce@gmail.com>
2
Civil Engineering, DUET Gazipur,Gazipur, <marashid78@yahoo.com >
3
Engineering, MECTECH Corporation Ltd, Dhaka,Dhaka, <rita.mectech@gmail.com >
4
RHD, Roads & Highway Department, Khagrachhari, <sabujrhd@gmail.com >

ABSTRACT
Concrete’s strength is derived by the hydration of cement particles which requires sufficient moisture.
Curing can be considered as a way of moisturizing the concrete for the hydration process. The principal
objective of this study is to find the effect of curing period on the properties of concrete. The curing
period of concrete has been kept variable through this study. The properties of materials are determined
according to ASTM specification and only one mix proportion is used.

In this study, a series of concrete cylinders have been cast and cured for 0, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. Each
specimen has been tested after 28-days and basic properties of concrete such as compressive strength,
tensile strength and modulus of elasticity have been determined. Mix proportion of concrete has been
considered as 1:2:4 by volume and ratio of water cement has been used 0.5 by weight. Specimens have
been immersed in fresh water for curing process.

It has been observed from the study that the compressive and tensile strength both increases linearly and
gradually with the increase of curing periods respectively. Also increasing rate of tensile strength is
slower for short period rather than long period.

Keywords: Curing; Concrete strength; Hydration; Compressive and Tensile strength.

INTRODUCTION
Concrete is a mixture of cement, water and aggregate which produces firm and hard mass making it
durable. The quality and durability of concrete depend both on the quality and properties of ingredients
and method of preparation, placing, curing and environmental conditions to which it is exposed over its
service life.

In the practical, higher water-cement ratio is used where the concrete remains open to atmosphere. The
water used in the concrete evaporates and quick surface drying of concrete results extraction of
moisture from the concrete mix. Remaining water in the concrete is not sufficient for effective
hydration. Extra water must be added for the proper hydration during a specified period to replenish the
loss of water by absorption and evaporation. (Shetty, 2005)
The strength of concrete starts developing immediately after settling is completed which continues for
an indefinite period at a rate gradually diminishing with time. 80-85% of the strength is attained within
first 28 days and hence this strength is considered to be the design criterion. Submerged method is the
most effective method of curing during laboratory tests.

Objectives
 Study the effect of curing period on the compressive strength of concrete.
 Find the effect of curing period on the modulus of elasticity of concrete.
MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY
Properties of Concrete Ingredients
The strength of concrete is greatly influenced by the properties of ingredients in the concrete mix.
Cement, Fine Aggregate, Coarse Aggregate and Water are generally used in concrete:
Cement
Holcim is one of the world's leading cement, for this study Holcim ordinary Portland cement has been
used. Its specific gravity ranges from 3.12 to 3.16 and weight 1208 kg/m3 (94lb/ft 3). The specific
gravity of cement used in this study is 3.15.
Fine Aggregate
Fine aggregate passes through a 4.75 mm IS sieve and contains material permitted by the specifications.
The fine aggregate that has been used in this study was mix of 50% Sylhet sand and 50% local sand. The
value of F.M of combined fine aggregate is 2.59 where the F.M of fine sand is 1.86 and coarse sand is
3.32
Coarse Aggregate
Most of the coarse aggregate are retained on the 4.75mm IS sieve and contain material permitted by
specifications. Generally, brick chips are used as coarse aggregate. Brick chips are prepared by crushing
first class bricks and 3/4" down grade chips are selected for this study.
Table 1: Properties of brick
Compressive strength 35.1 (MPa)
Absorption capacity 8.45% (by weight)
Properties of Coarse Aggregate
The test method for sieve analysis of coarse aggregate conforms to the ASTM standard requirements of
specification C136. Maximum size of coarse aggregate was 3/4".
Table 2: Properties of coarse aggregate
Common properties Brick aggregate
Dry unit weight 18.62
Absorption capacity (%) 12.47
Bulk specific gravity (S.S.D) 1.92
F.M 6.54
Water
Water is essential for concrete to initialize chemical reaction with cement, to wet the aggregate, and to
lubricate the mixture for workability. Since the quality of water effects the strength it is necessary to
ensure fresh water. Normally, drinking water is used for mixing. Water having harmful ingredients such
as contamination, salt, oil, sugar or chemical is deleterious to the setting properties of cement. It can
damage the affinity between the aggregate and cement paste also adversely affect the workability of
mixture.
Preparation of Test Specimens
Quality of concrete requires careful care exercised at every stage of concrete manufacturing. The
various stages of casting test specimens are batching, mixing, placing and compacting, and curing.
Batching
The correct method of measuring the materials is weigh batching. For important concrete, invariably,
weigh batching system is should be adopted. In this study weigh batching has been used for measuring
water cement ratio and volume batching is used for measuring the materials.
Mixing
Tilting type mixer machine has been used for the study to mix up the concrete. After loading the mixer
machine, the mixing process should be continued till a thoroughly and properly mixed concrete is
obtained. Speed of this mixer machine was about 15-20 rpm. Mixing time was 5-6 minutes.
Placing and Compacting
After mixing the concrete is placed in a cylindrical mold in three layers. Each layers compacted by a
25mm bar with rounded end. Compaction is accomplished by doing external work on the concrete. In
this study compaction was done by manually. In the process of placing and mixing, air might have been
trapped in the concrete. If the air is not removed entirely, the strength of concrete will decrease
significantly.
Curing of Concrete
During the first few days and weeks, fresh concrete gains strength rapidly. Structural design is usually
based on the 28-days strength, about 70 percent of which is reached at the end of first week after
casting. The final concrete strength depends largely on the conditions of moisture and temperature
during this initial period.
In this study water curing method was used for curing of concrete. Test specimens have been immersed
in curing tank for 3-days, 7-days, 14-days, 21-days, 28-days. Some specimens have been immersed for
25-days which have not been immersed in water for first 3-days after casting. Some specimens have
been immersed for 21-days which have not been immersed in water for first 7-days after casting. Some
specimens have allowed for no curing totally.
Testing of Concrete Specimens
Testing of harden concrete plays an important role in controlling and confirming the quality of cement
concrete work. Following tests have been commonly used to determine the properties of hardened
concrete.
Test for Compressive Strength
Compression test is the most common test on
hardened concrete. In this study cylindrical specimens
have been used. The size of the cylinder specimens is
6 in. dia. and 12 in. height. Universal testing machine
has been used for loading which is illustrated in Fig 1.
Capacity of the testing machine 1000 KN and rate of
loading is 250 KN/minute. The test method conforms
to the ASTM standard requirements specification C39
for cylinder. The compressive strength of test
specimens of concrete has been determined at 28-days
but different curing periods have been used for
different specimen.
Fig 1: Photo view of set up of compressive strength

Test for Modulus of Elasticity

The modulus of elasticity is determined by subjecting a cylinder specimen to uniaxial compressing and
measuring the deformation by means of dial gauges fixed between certain gauge lengths showing in Fig
2. Dial gauge reading divided by gauge length will
give the strain and loads are divided by area of
cross section will give the stress. A series of
reading is taken and stress-strain relationship is
established. Thus the modulus of elasticity Ec
(N/mm2), that is, the slope of the initial straight
portion of the stress-strain curve, is seen to
increase as the strength of concrete increases. The
modulus of elasticity values obtained will usually
be less than moduli derived under rapid load
application (dynamic or seismic rate, for example)
under slow load application (extended load
duration) provided other test condition have been
kept the same.
Fig 2: Photo view of set up for modulus of elasticity test

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Compressive Strength of Concrete
The compressive strength of concrete varies with the change of curing period. In this study it has
been obtained that the variation is linear (Fig 3). The result of compressive strength of concrete are
summarized in
Table 3. 30
Compressive Strength (Mpa)

25
Table 3: Test result of compressive strength
Curing Period Compressive Strength 20

(day) (MPa)
15
f'c = 0.302D + 15.91
2
R = 0.97
10

5
0 7 14 21 28 35
Curing Period (day)
 No curing at all 15.67
3 17.68
7 17.25
14 20.08
21 22.46
28 24.31

Fig 3: Relation between the compressive strength

and curing period.
The following equation is suggested to express the relationship

…………………………………… (1)
Where, = Compressive strength of concrete in Mpa, D= Curing period in day
From the test results we obtain that the specimen which were cured for 0, 3, 7, 14, 21 days attained 65%,
69%, 74%, 82%, 91% strength as compared to the strength of 28 days cured specimen. The strength of
concrete increases almost linearly with the curing period, so from the experimental data it can be say
that proper curing up to a specified period is must be required for attaining the desired strength of
concrete.
Modulus of Elasticity of Concrete
The modulus of elasticity is determined by the formula,

(Hossain. N, Concrete structure)

The modulus of elasticity is affected by curing period but no relationship can be defined with such
limited number of experimental data. The variation of modulus of elasticity is shown in
. The result of modulus of elasticity is summarized in
Table 4.

Table 4: Test result of modulus of elasticity

50000
Curing Period Modulus of
Modulus of Elasticity, Ec (MPa)

(day) elasticity (Mpa) 48000

No curing at all 45,880

46000
3 42,700
7 44,350 44000

14 42,610
42000
21 45,630
28 44,400 40000
0 7 14 21 28 35
Curing period (day)

Fig 4: Variation of modulus of elasticity with curing

period.

Relation between Compressive Strength and Tensile Strength

Depending on the curing variation the relation between compressive strength and the tensile strength is
established. The relation is shown Fig 4.
 2.2

2.0

Tensile strength, fsp(Mpa)

1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2

1.0
12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
Compressive strength,f'c(Mpa)

Fig 4: Relation between Compressive strength and Tensile strength in different curing period

Result show that the tensile strength is increasing with the increasing of compressive strength. This rate
of increasing is lower than the increasing rate of compressive strength. The curve shows that the rate of
increasing of tensile strength is lower in less compressive strength and higher in larger compressive
strength.

……………………………………… (2)

Where,
= Tensile strength of concrete (MPa)
= Compressive strength (MPa)

Table 5: Table of the test results

Water
Compressive Tensile Modulus of Unit
Curing period absorption Ratio Ratio
Strength, strength, elasticity, Weight
(day) (By fsp /√fc' Ec /√fc'
fc' (MPa) fsp (MPa) Ec (MPa) Kn/m3
weight)
No curing at
15.67 1.30 45880 19.80 12.56% 0.083 11590
all
3 17.68 1.32 42700 20.20 13.78% 0.074 10155
7 17.25 1.50 44350 20.21 13.85% 0.087 10680
14 20.09 1.48 42613 21.42 12.75% 0.074 9508
21 22.46 1.60 45633 20.30 13.15% 0.071 9628
28 24.31 1.86 44400 20.73 13.13% 0.076 9005
Curing
period: 4th to 20.77 1.42 49120 21.10 13.78% 0.068 10778
th
28 days
Curing
period: 8th to 21.72 1.40 45237 20.95 12.89% 0.064 9707
th
28 days

CONCLUSIONS
Concrete is the most widely used construction materials. When other factors remain same the quality
control is the main factor to get good concrete. Curing of concrete is crucial to attain the desired
strength of concrete. Concrete hardens and gains strength as it hydrates. The hydration process
continues over a long period of time. It happens rapidly at first stage and slows downward trend as time
increases. However, hydration occurs only if water is available and if the concrete temperature remains
within an appropriate range. During the curing period initially concrete surface needs to be kept moist to
permit the hydration process. So it is clear that for attaining desired strength, the concrete must be cured
sufficiently up to a specified time period.

The main objective of this project work is establishing a relationship among curing period and different
properties of concrete. Analysing the result, it has been figured out that
(i) Compressive strength increases linearly up to 28 days with the increasing in curing periods and
compressive strength can be determined by using the equation

(ii) Tensile strength increases gradually with the increasing in curing periods, the increasing rate is
lower in short curing period becomes higher in longer period and the tensile strength can be
determined by using a two-degree equation

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
At first authors are grateful to almighty Allah for giving the strength and courage that we have
completed the study successfully. The completion of this study involves contribution and assistance’s
from many individuals. First of all, we would like to express our invaluable profound gratitude to our
supervisor Dr. M.A. Rashid, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Dhaka University of
Engineering and Technology (DUET) for his valuable continuous guidance, helpful suggestion and
constant encouragement throughout the thesis. His generous suggestions and directions during this
period have led to the completion of this thesis. We are also grateful to him for acquainting us with the
world of advanced technology.

Finally, the authors would like to convey their thanks to the Department of civil Engineering. They also
express their sincere gratitude to Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology (DUET), Gazipur,
for providing the necessary fund to fulfil the entire project.

REFERENCES
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Hossain, N.M “Structural Concrete”1st edition.
Hilsdorf and Burieke, (1992), “Influence of Initial Curing on Concrete
Nevil, A.M “Properties of Concrete” Third edition, London, Pitman Publishing Limited (119-339)
Nilson, H.A and Darwin.D. (1997), “Design of concrete structures”12th edition, Printed in Singapore.
Shetty M.S. “Concrete technology” second edition published by S.Chand & Company Ltd India.
Uddin, S and Amin, A.F.M S, (1998) “Effect of Curing Period on the Compressive Strength of
Concrete”