Abstract
Direct electric curing (EC) is a new green curing method for cement-based materials that improves the early mechanical properties via the uniform high temperature produced by Joule heating. To understand the effects of EC and steam curing (SC) on the mechanical properties and microstructure of cement-based materials, the mortar was cured at different temperature-controlled curing regimes (40 °C, 60 °C, and 80 °C). Meanwhile, the mechanical properties, hydrates and pore structures of the specimens were investigated. The energy consumption of the curing methods was compared. The results showed that the EC specimens had higher and more stable growth of mechanical strength. The hydration degree and products of EC samples were similar to that of SC samples. However, the pore structure of EC specimens was finer than that of SC specimens at different curing ages. Moreover, the energy consumption of EC was much lower than that of SC. This study provides an important technical support for the EC in the production of energy-saving and high early-strength concrete precast components.
Highlights
Steam curing (SC) is a commonly used curing technology for concrete precast element production
All 1-day SC and electrical curing (EC) specimens improved by 12.55–33.02% compared to NC-1dand reached 52.02–61.48% of the NC-56d compressive strength. These results indicate that SC and EC could greatly improve the early strength of cement mortar
The effects of SC and EC on the mechanical properties and microstructure of cement-based materials were investigated through comparative experiments
Summary
Steam curing (SC) is a commonly used curing technology for concrete precast element production. The current mainstream research direction mainly uses Joule heating to solve the problem of winter construction at ultra-low temperatures [27,28,29,30], repair and reinforcement of building structures [31], and strengthening concrete [32,33,34]. These studies have proven that EC has the advantages of shortening the curing time, improving the early mechanical properties of cement, wide application prospects, and low energy consumption. The disadvantages of EC include thermal damage to the specimens caused by high temperature, pore coarsening, and long-term performance degradation
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