Properties of Blast-Furnace Slag Cement Concrete Subjected to Accelerated Curing

Accelerated curing is used for mass production in the precast concrete industry. Autogenous shrinkage and drying shrinkage occur in concrete, during and after accelerated curing. Thus, thermal cracks may occur in concrete due to both heating and cement hydration at early age, whereas drying shrinkage causes cracks after demolding. Ground granulated blast-furnace slag cement (GGBS), a byproduct in steel manufacture, has been used to improve concrete strength development during accelerated curing but poses a challenge of increased shrinkage. In this paper, two types of granulated blast-furnace slag cements were used to study mechanical and shrinkage properties of water cured and concrete subjected to accelerated curing. Limestone powder and gypsums, with two different types of fineness, were other additives used. An accelerated one day curing cycle was adopted that consisted of a 3 h delay period, heating to 65 °C, a peak temperature maintained for 3 h, and, finally, cooling. The results indicated that increment in gypsum fineness increased concrete expansion at one day for both sealed and accelerated cured concrete. In drying condition, similar shrinkage was observed. The addition of gypsum provided slightly lower shrinkage, and this may help to reduce cracking of concrete. Limestone powder improved concrete strength at early age. The difference in blast-furnace cement fineness did not have significant differences in compressive strengths, especially at 28 days.