Concrete curing is one of the most important processes to achieve desired concrete properties. Test cubes of any particular mix will be submerged in water until the day of the test. This is done in order to promote the hydration process of the concrete. The initial mixing water used to make the concrete will not be sufficient to achieve the full performance of the concrete. However, the actual structures cannot be submerged in water. For this reason, the structures will be covered with a wet jute bag or plastic sheet. The reason is that we provide (jute) water to promote continuous hydration or protect the initial water from evaporating. On the other hand, this is not as easy as it seems. It is not widely practiced in the construction industry (except in many regulated countries).

This is one of the main reasons why the concrete structure does not last the entire design life (or at least half). So now is the time to think of a way to cure your concrete from the inside without having to cover it with jute bags or plastic sheeting. This new technology is called self-curing concrete. As the name implies, the concrete could cure itself without having to provide additional water. This concept is also known as internal curing. How is that humanly possible? There have been many discoveries about this new technology, but not much commercial application.

The basic concept of this technology is to provide water to the concrete so that it can continue the curing process on its own. This is done by embedding the water within the materials used to make concrete. If the water has just been added as mixing water; this would lead to many other quality related issues such as bleeding, segregation, etc. Therefore, a special material will be used; so that part of the water can be hidden in the material. This water will be released into the concrete over time after the concrete has been placed in the structure and hardened. By doing this, the hardened concrete will be able to undergo continuous curing for a long time, which will promote towards a better hydration product. There are many types of material that can be used to impregnate water. An example is through the use of feldspar; that is capable of hiding water in its porous microstructure. Water-impregnated feldspar can be used to replace some of the sand in the concrete mix. One downside to feldspar is the cost, which is much higher than regular sand.

I hope you have a basic idea of ​​what self-curing concrete is from this article.