Green artificial aggregates as self-curing agent in concrete

Abstract

Improper curing during concreting on site causing low quality of concrete. The concept of self-cured concrete capable to mitigate the process of water evaporation and increase the capacity of water retention in concrete. Thus, the process of hydration occurred continuously and developed dense concrete. This paper presents the potential of green artificial aggregates as self-curing agent for normal strength concrete. In this study, normal granite aggregates were replaced by 10%, 20% and 30% of green artificial aggregates. Two types of curing regime were applied to the concrete specimens which is wet curing and air curing. The effectiveness of the green artificial aggregates as self-curing agent was evaluated in terms of workability, ultrasonic pulse velocity, and compressive strength at 3 and 7 days. The results showed that concrete with green artificial aggregates produced comparable performance with control sample. This shows that the green artificial aggregates have potential to be used as self-curing agent in concrete.