Preliminary Study for Strength and Freeze-Thaw Durability of Microwave- and Steam-Cured Concrete
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 19, Issue 11
Abstract
This study investigates the effects of steam and microwave curing on the strength development and freeze-thaw durability of concrete. Two steam-curing treatments, four microwave curing times and four types of concrete mix, were used in this study. The test results indicated that microwave heating could further increase the early strength of concrete. Pozzolanic reaction of silica fume, fly ash, and blast-furnace slag was observed to be further promoted by steam-microwave curing. Concrete samples with 10% silica fume added responded well to microwave curing. The strength gain development of concrete appeared to level off after of microwave curing. Thus, a 40-min microwave heating time appeared to be the optimal curing time. The microwave-cured concrete did not show an increase in deterioration relative to the concrete that was steam cured, but showed an increase in strength. The strength of the top layer of the steam-cured concrete blocks is lower than the strength of the middle or bottom layer.
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Acknowledgments
Many thanks go to Professor Mang Tia for his English review. This study was supported by the National Science Council, Taiwan, R.O.C under Contract No. NSCTNSC 92-2622-E-324-011-CC3.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 19 • Issue 11 • November 2007
Pages: 972 - 976
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Feb 27, 2006
Accepted: Jan 16, 2007
Published online: Nov 1, 2007
Published in print: Nov 2007
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Chiara F. Ferraris
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