The effect of curing relative humidity on the microstructure of self-compacting concrete

Sofía Aparicio, Sagrario Martínez-Ramírez, Miguel Molero, José V. Fuente and Margarita G. Hernández
Construction and Building Materials, 104, 154-159

A study was conducted to investigate the effect of the curing relative humidity on the microstructural properties of SCC with limestone filler. Two curing conditions were considered with humidities of 98% and 70%. Three microstructural techniques were employed to study the hydration: TGA, Micro-Raman spectroscopy and NMR. It was found that the samples cured at 70% humidity present more tetrahedrally coordinated aluminium since more aluminium is taken up by the C—S—H gel and the transformation of ettringite to AFm is promoted. The samples cured at 98% humidity are more hydrated but present lower mean chain lengths of the C—S—H gel.

Acknowledgments

Support from the Spanish Economy and Competitiveness Ministry, through research projects BIA2009-14395-C04-01, TEC2012-38402-C04-03, IPT-020000-2010-26, and from The Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness (IVACE) through the IMIDIC/2012/102 reference project, is greatly acknowledged. We would like to thank comments and suggestions from the reviewers.