Abstract:

Curing is an essential process in concrete technology to ensure proper hydration and strength development. However, inadequate curing due to water scarcity, human negligence, and difficult terrain often leads to compromised concrete performance. Self-curing concrete (SCC) offers a promising solution by retaining internal moisture and ensuring uninterrupted hydration without external water supply. This study explores the effectiveness of polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a self-curing agent in high-performance concrete (HPC) to enhance durability and strength. The experimental investigation focused on M70 grade concrete with two types of polyethylene glycol—PEG 4000 and PEG 200—at varying dosages of 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1% by weight of cement. The influence of these self-curing compounds was analyzed through weight loss, compressive strength, and flexural strength tests under different curing conditions and at different curing ages. The study found that higher molecular weight PEG (4000) at a dosage of 1% provided superior water retention and enhanced strength characteristics compared to other self-curing compounds. The results indicated that the use of PEG-based self-curing compounds significantly reduces moisture loss, ensuring better internal curing and mitigating shrinkage cracks. Additionally, the self-curing technique proved to be more effective in higher-grade concrete, making it particularly beneficial for arid regions, inaccessible construction sites, and structures where conventional curing is challenging. The findings of this research emphasize that self-curing technology can revolutionize concrete practices, leading to more durable and sustainable infrastructure while addressing water conservation concerns in construction. Concrete requires curing to continue with the hydration process. Self-curing concrete is one of the special concretes in mitigating insufficient curing due to human negligence paucity of water in arid areas, inaccessibility of structures in difficult terrains and in areas where the presence of fluorides in water will badly affect the characteristics of concrete. The present study involves the use of polyethylene glycol which acts as a self curing compound. The most important aspect is that this compound is expected to maintain maximum water retention there by contributing to full hydration. The parameters in the study include grade of concrete, type and dosage of polyethylene glycol, curing conditions and age of curing.

Description:

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