Study on early-age thermal field of single-cell box girder concrete cured with electric heating furnaces

Abstract

In the cold winter, the concrete strength of box girder under steam curing is not enough and early cracks appear because of volume expansion, poor temperature control and other reasons. The electric heating furnace can provide enough temperature for concrete curing and will not produce a lot of water vapor to make the concrete expand. The construction section of the box girder of the long-span prestressed continuous rigid frame bridge is taken as the research object. The early-age thermal field of concrete under the curing of the electric heating furnace in the cold winter is studied by the method of finite element analysis and field test comparison. The comparison shows that the initial temperature growth of box girder mainly depends on the hydration heat in cement. When the temperature reaches the peak value, it is closely linked to the external conditions. The concrete curing by electric heating furnace can achieve better curing effect in the cold winter. The research results provide a cheap and efficient curing method for concrete curing in the cold winter and a scientific basis for concrete curing by electric heating furnace.