Influence of Barites on Strength of Internally Cured Concrete by Use of PEG 400

[1]. This study investigates the effects of partial replacement of cement with barites on the compressive and tensile strength of self-curing concrete. The primary goal is to evaluate the feasibility of incorporating barites, a heavy mineral with significant density, into concrete mixtures as a partial cement substitute and PEG 400 curing agent for internal curing to determine its impact on the mechanical properties of the resulting concrete. In this research, various proportions (0%, 2.5%, 5%,7.5% & 10%) of barites and constant 1% PEG 400 to the weight of cement are introduced into M30 Concrete mixtures. By replacing percentage of the cement content with barites, the concrete specimens will be subjected to both compressive and tensile strength tests at different curing periods (7 & 28 days) to assess the influence of barites on these properties. Experimental results revealed that the addition of barites powder influence the workability of concrete due to its low water absorption properties, here PEG helped us for better workability of concrete. The compressive and tensile strengths showed significant improvement, particularly at 7.5% replacement of cement for both 28 days internally and externally cured concrete. These findings indicate that barites powder is sustainable alternative for cement replacement for either internally or externally cured concrete while reducing environmental impact and cost.