Trade Journals for the Concrete Industry

Insufficient curing of concrete causes the concrete surface to dry out prematurely, which leads to a porous structure. Consequently, the concrete surface shows lower strength and lower resistance against long-term physical and chemical attacks from the environment, such as chloride infiltration and carbonation processes. The curing of concrete is not always given the necessary attention at the early age. As part of the project “OptiNB - Optimal Curing for Improved Quality in Construction”, suitable processes are being developed to provide evidence of proper concrete curing. For this purpose, non-destructive methods were tested to obtain information about the microstructure resulting from the hydration evolution of the concrete surface. The objectives of this contribution are to discuss and propose innovative solutions for carrying out a successful verification of the efficiency of the applied curing process.