×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

\curing concrete with Curing compounds
6

\curing concrete with Curing compounds

\curing concrete with Curing compounds

(OP)
I have a contractor who wants to use curing compounds instead of water to cure concrete, I have not used these compounds before and know nothing about them, my qustion is:
1- do these compounds totaly replace water, or are they used togethr with water
2- are they applied for 7 days like water , or once only and the work continues? if so how can you tell that the concrete has reached its strength
3- are they effective
thanks

RE: \curing concrete with Curing compounds

My understanding, and I'd like to hear what others know, is that a curing compound basically creates a barrier to keep mix water in the concrete and outside water out of the concrete.  There are a several different varieties.  The ones I am familiar with need to be blasted from the surface before any water repellant or the like can be applied to the surface.  There are other low VOC varieties that will break down in the sunlight and theoretically do not need to be blasted from the surface.  I am not sure how I feel about that.

To get back to your questions, I believe they eliminate the need to wet cure (not positive about this), they are applied once and your done, and, depending on the variety being used, I believe them to be very effective.  The strength of the concrete is still measured in the typical fashion.  The idea being that the design mix is intact since nothing can get in or out through the curing compound barrier, so cylinders should be accurate.

RE: \curing concrete with Curing compounds

Curing compounds are generally applied to the top surface of flatwork to assist in curing of the concrete. They have their good points and their limitations. My preference if I was going to choose between the two would be to wet cure.

Typically they are spray applied once. There can be issues if sealers or coatings are to be applied afterwords.

My main issue with curing compounds is the application. Time and time again the concrete gets a quick spray and the contractor is done. I was onsite for a demonstration by a sealer manufacturer. The stipulated coverage rate meant a heavy spray in each direction, something I had never seen applied onsite before. The effectiveness of the sealer decreases rapidly if the coverage rate is not met.

RE: \curing concrete with Curing compounds

2
Agree with SkiisAndBikes. Curing compounds are effective, if applied correctly. This is not always done. They can be substituted for a wet cure and they are used without water. The only time that I prefer to use them is on surfaces (such as walls, when the forms need to be removed for immediate reuse) that are difficult to wet cure. Here is a brief comparison of various curing methods by the Portland Cement Association:
http://www.cement.org/tech/cct_curing.asp

www.SlideRuleEra.net idea
www.VacuumTubeEra.net r2d2

RE: \curing concrete with Curing compounds

2
This is an Australian reference, but applies anywhere.  Note the poor performance of the PVA curing agents.  The wax emulsion and chlorinated rubber curing compounds do a good job, but are hard to remove if applied finishes follow.  Also, I think the chlorinated rubber has some health and safety issues.  Nothing like good old ponding for curing concrete, but that is hard to achieve on site.

RE: \curing concrete with Curing compounds

hokie66 nailed it....read it twice!!

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources