Mechanisms of dimensional instability caused by differential drying in wet cured cement paste

This paper examines the mechanisms of wet curing and subsequent drying at 23 °C and 40% RH influencing the curling of cement paste, plate-like beams. Both experimental and model results show that as the duration of the wet curing is increased, the member peak deflection also increases from one sided drying. Experiments suggest that the extended wet curing causes a pore structure refinement resulting in greater saturation and consequently greater shrinkage. A simplified 1-D, drying diffusion and shrinkage model is able to adequately predict experimentally measured peak curling deflections, and confirms the effect of saturation on curling. The results provide important insight into the volume stability of slabs and the potential negative impact of wet curing on slab curling.