Natural Concrete Curing under Hot Sub-Humid Climate

Abstract

This paper describes how the weather of the Yucatan Peninsula is classified as hot sub-humid, with minor differences of relative humidity and temperature during the year. Local builders, in their search for process optimization and cost reduction, usually do not cure concrete beyond wetting the concrete surface immediately after removing the formwork. Teaching of concrete technology has been based on classic reports, where it is affirmed that the strength gain is enhanced when moist curing is applied. Preliminary studies in the Yucatan region have not shown that moist curing helped to improve strength gain. Based on the meteorological conditions of the Yucatan region, it is possible that natural curing occurred with no need for additional curing for most of the cases. The objective of this study was to obtain the strength-gain curves as a function of the moist curing time from 0 to 90 days. Preliminary results confirm the hypothesis about the sufficiency of the natural curing under the weather conditions of the Yucatan region. The use of porous aggregate may have contributed to curing during storage in air.