Title:
Influence of Curing Methods on Moisture Loss and Drying Shrinkage of Shotcrete at Early Age
Author(s):
Bruce Menu, Thomas Jacob-Vaillancourt, Marc Jolin, and Benoit Bissonnette
Publication:
Materials Journal
Volume:
117
Issue:
4
Appears on pages(s):
95-103
Keywords:
cracking; curing; drying; evaporation; moisture loss; shotcrete; shrinkage; surface protection
DOI:
10.14359/51724624
Date:
7/1/2020
Abstract:
The experimental program reported in this paper sought to evaluate the efficiency of a range of curing methods in view of minimizing the evaporation rate at the surface of freshly placed shotcrete and preventing the detrimental consequences of early-age shrinkage. CSA A23.1-14 states that severe drying conditions should be considered to exist when the surface moisture evaporation rate exceeds 0.50 kg/m2/h (0.1 lb/ft2/h). In fact, the environmental conditions that lead to such evaporation rates are regularly
experienced on construction sites, requiring that adequate protection of the concrete surface be carried out in a timely manner after placement. This research effort is aimed at quantifying the influence of selected curing methods upon the early-age moisture loss and the resulting shrinkage. The results show that early-age volume change of freshly sprayed shotcrete can be significantly reduced by adequate surface protection. Among the investigated methods, moist curing is found to be the most effective.
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