Prediction of compressive strength at early age of concrete – Application of maturity

• Temperature evolution of four types of concretes.
• Mechanical strength evolution depending on the age hardening and the cure temperature.
• Determination of progress rate of hydration reactions by “the maturity technique”.
• Estimation of the compressive strength a few hours after the concrete casting phase.

While respecting the requirements of concrete strength in a structure, the maturity technique is part of a rapid and safe achievement of construction operations (formwork, prestressing, etc.). This technique transforms, in real time, the temperature history of on-site concrete into a strength. The objectives of this study are (1) to study the temperature evolution of four types of concrete such as self compacting concrete, high performance concrete and high performance synthetic or metallic fiber-reinforced concrete; and (2) to study the mechanical strength evolution depending on the age hardening and the cure temperature. Based on the mechanical strength reference curve at 20 °C of these four types of concrete studied, the final objective is to characterize the on-site strength as a function of the equivalent age of 5 h after casting of concrete.