Internal Curing by Superabsorbent Polymers in Ultra-High Performance Concrete
Cement and Concrete Research 2015
Jānis Justs, Mateusz Wyrzykowski, Diāna Bajāre, Pietro Lura

To limit self-desiccation and autogenous shrinkage that may lead to early-age cracking of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC), internal curing by means of superabsorbent polymers (SAP) may be employed. Cement pastes and UHPC with water-to-cement ratio below 0.25, with or without SAP, were studied. The absorption capacity of a solution-polymerized SAP was first determined on hardened cement pastes by SEM image analysis. It was observed that the SAP cavities become partially filled with portlandite during cement hydration. Isothermal calorimetry showed that water entrainment with SAP delays the main hydration peak, while after a couple of days it increases the degree of hydration in a manner similar to increasing the water-to-cement ratio. Internal curing by SAP is effective in reducing the internal relative humidity decrease and the autogenous shrinkage. Although the mechanical properties are affected by SAP addition, it is possible to reach compressive strengths of almost 150 MPa at 28 days.


Keywords
High-performance concrete, Mechanical properties, Shrinkage, Curing, Superabsorbent polymers
DOI
10.1016/j.cemconres.2015.05.005
Hyperlink
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0008884615001283

Justs, J., Wyrzykowski, M., Bajāre, D., Lura, P. Internal Curing by Superabsorbent Polymers in Ultra-High Performance Concrete. Cement and Concrete Research, 2015, Vol.76, pp.82-90. ISSN 0008-8846. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.cemconres.2015.05.005

Publication language
English (en)
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