Effect of different curing methods on the compressive strength of concrete

Abstract

Normal concrete was prepared with a water-cement ratio of 0.50. cube specimens were cast for testing the compressive strength at 7 and 28 days of curing respectively using three curing methods namely immersion, sprinkling and Plastic sheeting, curing to cure the cube specimens until the day of testing. Test results indicates that water curing (WAC) as well as sprinkling (spraying) curing provided much better results than membrane (Plastic Sheeting) method of curing. The rate of drying was significant when the specimens were subjected to membrane (Plastic sheeting) method of curing. This thus hampered the hydration process and thus affected the compressive strength property of the hardened concrete. The overall finding of this study suggests that concrete should be cured by water curing to achieve a better compressive strength.