Effect of internal curing on concrete properties

Internal curing has improved the strength and performance of concrete buildings. Insufficient curing of concrete has been shown to result in a considerable loss in its strength, leading to the deterioration of the building's structural performance. This study aimed to investigate the effect of internal curing on concrete properties. Therefore, in this research, two types of internal curing materials were employed: water-absorbent polymer balls with two ratios of 5% and 10% from the weight of cement and crushed Thermostone aggregates with a ratio of replacement of 50% and 100% from coarse aggregates. Under two types of curing conditions (water and air), was studies and compares the efficiency of the polymer balls and crushed Thermostone aggregates through several tests conducted on (cubes, cylinders, and prisms)from where compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, and modulus of elasticity. The findings demonstrated the efficacy of using water-absorbent polymer balls as internal curing material, and the optimum percentage was 5% for the P5A specimen compared to the reference specimen curing in water. Also, the findings show that raising the dosages of internal curing materials can reduce the mechanical properties of concrete. Therefore, carefully choosing suitable materials and controlling their quantity may be guaranteed internal water curing.