Development of the Elastic Modulus of Concrete under Different Curing Conditions

The modulus of elasticity is a property of concrete, which is known for its high variability of values. A high enough value of the modulus of elasticity is a critical requirement in complicated concrete structures and in order to attain it, a number of factors must be taken into account, as it is subject to many. Curing is one of the most important influences. It can be described as an effort to maintain the temperature of concrete within the correct limits, prevent loss of water and the shrinkage connected with this. This paper describes an experiment focused on the observation of the development of the dynamic and static modulus of elasticity in dependence on the method of curing. The experiment worked with air-entrained as well as non-air-entrained concrete of the C 30/37 strength class. The results show that the curing method strongly affects not only the development, but also the final values of the concrete modulus of elasticity.