Setting time: An important criterion to determine the length of the delay period before steam curing of concrete

Some precast concrete plants expose freshly made concrete elements to steam curing immediately after casting. This is detrimental to properties of the product; therefore, some delay prior to the steam curing process is beneficial. This paper contains the results of an investigation on the effects of various delay intervals selected based on initial setting time of concrete. Four different delay periods and two different steam curing periods at 80 degreesC (5 and 10 h) were used with two concrete types, namely C25 and C40. Compressive strength tests were performed at 1, 3, 7, 28, and 90 days. Setting time of the concrete was found to be an important criterion to determine the length of the delay periods. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.