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The hydration process of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)
within concrete is accelerated with elevated temperature curing. Background
research has highlighted that existing heating systems, such as steam curing,
used for accelerating early age concrete strength development within precast
concrete plants, rarely achieve the optimum curing temperature or the rate of
heating and cooling specified in national standards and codes of
practices.
The consequent rapid strength gain of concrete has many advantages in the
concrete manufacturing industry, such as the increased production and rapid
turnover of products in precast plants. In addition, the accelerated gain in
concrete maturity with high temperature curing facilitates in-situ concrete
construction during low ambient temperatures.
With regard to curing at elevated temperatures, standards and codes recommend
maximum curing temperatures, and maximum rates of heating and cooling. In
addition, there are also recommended delay periods prior to the heating of the
early age concrete, which minimise the impact on quality of the concrete as a
result. It has been found that many of the existing curing techniques could not
match the required control of heating stipulated in the standards, nor the
optimum recommended temperatures. By conducting heat directly into early age
concrete at the specified rates and curing temperature using Inditherm's CPT,
production efficiency can be maximised, optimising mould usage and producing
concrete of an improved quality.
The use of a CPT heat source, conducting heat directly into the concrete,
also enables users to optimise the concrete mix design by reducing typically
high cement contents and reducing the excessive use of
admixtures.
Fig 1 - Illustrating the
increased compressive strength when using the Inditherm
system.
Click here to find out more about Inditherm's developments in
innovative Low Voltage Systems for Accelerated Concrete Curing >>
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