Concrete - is made up of three basic

components: water, aggregate (rock, sand,

or gravel) and Portland cement. Cement,
usually in powder form, acts as a binding
agent when mixed with water and
aggregates. This combination, or concrete
mix, will be poured and harden into the
durable material with which we are all
familiar.
 - It is one of the most important and useful materials for construction work.

In its simplest form, concrete is a mixture of paste and aggregates, or rocks. The paste, composed of portland cement and water, coats
the surface of the fine (small) and coarse (larger) aggregates. Through a chemical reaction called hydration, the paste hardens and
gains strength to form the rock-like mass known as concrete.

Within this process lies the key to a remarkable trait of concrete: it's plastic and malleable when newly mixed, strong and durable
when hardened. These qualities explain why one material, concrete, can build skyscrapers, bridges, sidewalks and superhighways,
houses and dams.
Methods Used For Curing of Concrete
 Shading concrete work.
 Covering concrete surfaces with hessian
or gunny bags.
 Sprinkling of water.
 Ponding method.
 Membrane curing.
 Steam curing.
Curing of concrete can be done by
adopting following methods :-
 Water curing.
 Membrane curing.
 Curing by applying heat.

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 A.Water curing :-
1.Immersion -
-The precast members are immersed in
curing tank for a certain period. Immersion
in water is particularly important when the
concrete has a low water-cement ratio.

2. Ponding -
- Ponding is commonly adopted for curing
of concrete slabs & pavements. This method
consists of storing water at a depth of 50mm
on the surface by constructing small ponds.,
3. Spraying -

Fogging it to maintain raises the humidity

above the curing concrete by spraying a fine
mist of water regularly across moisture.
Vertical members of structure like column,
walls, plastered surfaces, etc are cured by
spraying water.
4. Wet covering -

Exposed surface of concrete is prevented

from drying out by covering it with hessian,
canvas or empty cement bags. These are
periodically wetted. The interval of wetting
will depend upon the rate of evaporation of
water.
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 B. Membrane curing :-

The process of applying a membrane

forming compound on concrete surface is
termed as Membrane curing. Membrane
serves as a physical barrier to prevent loss of
moisture from concrete. It's usually used if
there's an acute shortage of water or the
concrete's placed at an inaccessible site.
The various membrane forming compound
are ;
1. Bituminous & Asphaltic emulsion.
2. Rubber latex emulsion.
3. Emulsions of waxes & resins.
4. Water repellent chemicals, viz. Silicon.
5. Emulsions of paraffin.
6. Plastic sheething.

1. Application of heat :-
The strength development of concrete not
only depends on time but also on the
temperature. Concrete is subjected to higher
temperatures while the wetness is
maintained to accelerate the hydration
process for faster development of strength.
Following manners are adopted for applying
heat :-
a.Steam curing -
Steam curing is used for precast concrete
members. The members are heated up by
steam either at a high pressure or low
pressure.
Live steam, heating coils, electrically heated
pads or forms are used for steam curing.
 B.Curing by Infrared radiations -

This system is adopted in very cold climatic

regions.
C.Electrical curing -
Concrete can be cured by passing
alternating current through it using two
electrodes either burin or applied to the
surface of the concrete.
These above methods are usually adopted
for curing the concrete for the following
period :-
As per the codes of IS 456 2000 & IS 7861
(part 1) - 1975, the minimum curing
period of concrete made with OPC is 7
days for normal conditions and 10 days
for dry & hot weather conditions.

Methods Of Curing Of Concrete

The concrete is cured by any of the
following methods, depending upon the type
of construction work, Following 7 methods
of curing of concrete are described below.
1) COVERING
In this method, the newly concrete surface is
covered by wet gunny bags or hessian.
This method is suitable for horizontal as
well as the vertical surface.

2) PONDING

In this method, the whole surface is divided into rectangular or square enclosures by constructing small clay bunds and these
enclosures are filled with water periodically forming small ponds….Read more Methods Of Curing Of Concrete
3) IMMERSING IN WATER

Pre-cast concrete members are often cured by immersing them under water….Read more Methods Of Curing Of Concrete

4) STEAM CURING
In this method steam under pressure is sprayed over the concrete surface. This method is adopted in the case of pre-cast members.

5) SPRINKLING

In this method, the concrete surface is kept wet by sprinkling water frequently over the surface.
CURING WITH CHEMICAL
In this method, water is sprinkled over the
surface after adding a certain amount of
some hygroscopic salt such as NaCl, CaCl,
etc. which absorbs moisture from the
atmosphere.

7) MEMBRANE CURING

In this method, the concrete surface is kept covered by a waterproof membrane such as wax emulsion, bitumen emulsion, etc…