Carbonation Curing versus Steam Curing for Precast Concrete Production
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 24, Issue 9
Abstract
An investigation was conducted into the beneficial utilization of captured for early-age curing of precast concrete products. The performance of the carbonation-cured concrete was compared to that of steam curing to investigate the possibility of replacing steam curing with carbonation. The early-age carbonation curing was performed for a short period after an initial curing in a controlled environment. The effect of the carbonation curing was studied in terms of carbon uptake, accelerated strength, and durability. It was found that the short-term carbonation promoted early strength development, while subsequent hydration was essential to obtain later age properties. Durability performance of the carbonation-cured concrete was compared with steamed and normally hydrated references. The carbonation-cured concrete exhibited more resistance to chloride permeability, ion migration, sulfate attack, and freeze-thaw damage. The improved durability by carbonation is attributed to the significantly reduced calcium hydroxide content at the carbonated concrete surface. Despite a reduced pH at the carbonated zone, the alkalinity at the core was maintained above the threshold value needed to prevent carbonation corrosion.
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Acknowledgments
The financial support by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Canadian Concrete Masonry Producers Association (CCMPA) is very much appreciated. The authors would also like to thank Bauval CMM of Quebec for granite aggregates.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 24 • Issue 9 • September 2012
Pages: 1221 - 1229
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 9, 2011
Accepted: Dec 20, 2011
Published online: Dec 23, 2011
Published in print: Sep 1, 2012
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