How to Use Curing Compounds for Curing Pavements and Bridge Decks

Curing Compound on Concrete Surface

As per the expert's researches, sustainability becomes a major issue in recent time. It is important to develop such things which can accomplish present needs but can’t destroy the possibilities of future peoples. Like in terms of natural resources mainly it is important to either recycle and use things or make things in such a way that they can be easily use from you and to future generation as well. In construction trends are become important nowadays but most important thing in any construction is the strength and durability of structure which decides it life. Making such infrastructure which have strong base and can stand properly for decade’s is the necessity according to today’s scenario. For making such buildings curing plays an important or we can say most important role in it. It is so because if the base is cured well it can easily stand for years. 

Few structures like dams or canals or highways and airports, bridges are such places which if build properly can stand for decades without any problem all what require is to follow a proper construction process which includes right and best quality material, high technologies and perfect choice of chemicals with all this you can make structures which can stand for years. Making such structures is the need of today because all the natural resources are being disappeared quickly what if we left nothing for the future generation. Because of this experts suggest to make things in such a strong way that re construction will not be require for decades only renovation and touch up and time to time maintenance will keep the structure strong and stable for long time.  

As taking the above scenario it becomes more important to cure pavements and bridge decks they require more care and consideration and require different curing as per the structure. Both bridge decks and pavements requirements differ.

The workability of curing compound can be effected directly by the temperature either it rises up or going down both make an impact on the application of curing and its results same as the sir humid moisture, heat and dust also make an impact of results of curing. It has been observed that the places near sea gives not perfect result while using curing compound because the air contain a lot of humid in it which effects the working procedure of chemical. Same as with the places where temperature is low or near to freezing points are also not suitable place to use curing compounds. For using such chemicals it is necessary that the temperature should be maintained in a proper way so that it can give best results on concrete surface.

Using such chemicals can shape up your structure in a better way and additionally provides long life and durability to it as well   

Role of Curing in Construction

Curing of Concrete

We all are very much familiar with the word curing as it comes in our day to day routine. It may be related to building, lighting or to any other stuff. Here we are talking about curing of concrete. We all are very well known that concrete act as a key material in almost all types of building and various construction processes. What makes essential to cure concrete is if it does not cured in initial stage it dries up quickly and loose all the inside moisture due to which the structure strength and life will decrease and the surface will lead towards cracking and damaging.

Or in other words it is a process which is adopted widely for hardening the surfaces of concrete under hard conditions such as humidity & the temperature which is favorable to proper and cumulative settings of cement. Curing affects in a huge way on the concrete from both inside as well as from its outside surface. As it helps it to harden in a better way it also increases the durability, volume stability, strength, wear resistance, freezing, water-tightness and thawing.

No matter how perfectly you mix, placed or finished concrete without perfect curing all the efforts are useless.Now when we are clear with the concept why curing is necessary it is essential to be aware of various cuing techniques and which one is best among them.

When we are talking about building construction we all know that after making slabs and floors people use to pour water and fill that place with it just to maintain the outside temperature cool and to look moisture of concrete inside it but this technique require more time, more labor, more expense and lots of attention plus the technique is not environment friendly because it results wasting natural resource for unwanted and unnecessary reasons.

Moving towards another option for curing which sounds more reasonable, eco friendly and requires almost no attention and you don’t have to keep us the record of how many days left till you can use the surface.

That technique is called 'Curing Compound'.  There are so many varieties available in market such as oil based, PVA based, rubber based, resin based, wax based curing compound. All of them are colored which fades by time only the wax based curing compound is white in color.

It can be easily sprayed on any surface especially on cement roads, concrete pillars with the help of spraying pump it is necessary to spray this wax based white colored liquid just after it dries a bit. The wax based film breaks by passing time when the surface gets in touch with sunlight continuously.

This application saves your time and money both its better to upgrade your construction process with new chemicals which makes you work more easily as compared with your experience with old techniques. Adopt the usage of curing compound and contribute in saving natural recourses, time and money. About wax based curing compound uses, advantages, properties etc. 

Why Curing is Necessary?

(Curing of Concrete) Image Source : Flickr

Curing helps to keep the moisture of concrete inside it which plays a vital role in gaining strength of fresh layer and prevent it from forming cracks.

Ways of curing:

There are commonly two major ways to cure concrete.

1. Traditional curing
2. Chemical curing

Traditional curing: This technique is decades older or we can say from when the cement come in use from that time this traditional curing is use to cure the fresh surface of concrete. We are familiar with the term traditional curing by the name of water curing; it is very common way to cure concrete of cement fresh layer.

Chemical curing: This technique introduced in very recent time and becomes important due to the high-tech requirements of construction. Chemical curing means  a chemical which is well-known as curing compound is spray on the fresh layer of cement or concrete after 2 hours to cure the surface from high temperature, wind, humid and dust materials so that the moist of concrete stay inside and gain the desired strength.
  
Why it becomes important to use chemical curing instead of traditional curing?

Well as the world is moving ahead by every passing year so as the construction industry. And as we are gaining so much comfort equipment from our high-tech societies there are few thing which are reducing rapidly and we can't use them the way we are using it in earlier time. The major ones are natural resources, due to global warming and some other atmospheric issues we can’t use plenty and plenty of water just for curing. Water is a natural resource and we can’t waste it just by putting gallons of water for curing our fresh layered concrete surfaces. By taking this situation in mind scientists make curing compound which did the same job as water did for curing and it doesn’t waste any natural resource neither it affects the atmospheric layer at all. And it just form a fine white layer on the surface which prevent the concrete from heat and other damages which caused by atmosphere.

How to use curing compound

Image Source : Flickr

Using curing compound doesn't need that you have an expert of using it, all you need is to have a bit and exact knowledge of how to use these chemicals to gain desired results.

Take curing compound; don't dilute it with water or any other liquid. Once the concrete layer settles down, normally it takes about 3-4 hours (Time will vary according to atmospheric conditions). It is very important that the surface of concrete is not dry it should damp. Because due to dry surfaces it prevent to form correct film and leads to absorption of curing compound, which requires more and more curing compound to form a enough layer on surface and it causes difficulty in removal also. When you are sure that the surface is in its best condition to apply curing on it, spray curing compound on the surface with the help of spray nozzle. Make sure that the nozzle is away from the concrete surface about 450mm and the pressure of pump should keep up in a frequent way so that it results a fine and even spay over the surface. Repeat the spraying process twice so that no place can leave dry. When curing application is applied on surface there is no further need of any application of material needed.  

It is compulsory, not to disturb the surface until it gain a sufficient amount of strength.

Take care of applied film and don’t open the surface for walking before the chemical dries completely. 

Areas of Application

You can use this chemical on any surface like plaster/concrete where curing is required.

• Decks of bridges
• Dams and canals
• Towers
• Walls and rams
• Highways
• Industrial and hospitals floor
• Runways
• RCC sections

How much time curing takes to remove completely?

If you are planned to place another layer or want to apply tile or stone on the concrete surface where you applied chemical for curing then it is very important to remove each part of chemical before lying of further layer on that surface.

This is because curing compound is just like a thin-film which lied just above the surface of concrete layer and due to this reason it is able to lock the moisture of concrete inside the layer, but this is the adverse part as well because it causes no connection between concrete surface and the material which supposed to applied on the layer and due to which the tile stone or paint can't hold the surface which results either they cannot find any grip and unable to apply or it they find a bit grip after sometime they will lose it the leave the surface.

So remove the curing layer before applying anything on surface. Avoid usage of acid for removing the film instead of it prefers the use of detergent for removing process. Once the film removes completely now the surface is ready for your further use you can either apply paint on it or fix stones or anything else. But make sure that the thin-film removes completely there is a very simple step for checking the status of surface that either it is free from curing chemical or not just pour a little amount of water on the surface if water absorbs then there is no chemical present on surface but if water remains on surface then you have to clean the surface again.       

Features and benefits of using curing compounds

• If curing compound applied as per direction it forms a thin layer which keeps the moisture inside concrete.
• It reduces the temperature of surface and protects it from sunlight and dust.
• Reduces possibility cracking which normally caused due to moisture loss.
• It is a non flammable and non toxic chemical
• It doesn’t cause any harm to atmosphere. Rapid film formation

Conclusion

This chemical is beneficial and easy to use and as per today's requirement of construction and nature it is the best option for curing.

Concrete Curing Compound and Membrane are Helpful in Curing of Concrete

Curing of concrete with the help of plastic sheets or membrane has become efficient and practical way to cure concrete in modern manufacturing and construction industries. Sometimes, people do not remain available with water for curing of concrete or perform the process by following an incorrect process. Incorrect process will result in alteration of finished surface of the concrete product. Moreover, many experts have said that addition of water to concrete surface, which remained unfinished in its setting procedures, can create adverse affects on hydration process by altering different properties of concrete. Therefore, professionals should cover the concrete by using suitable type of plastic material or a Concrete Curing Compound capable of sealing off small pores and retard evaporation of water from surface of concrete.

Common Forms of Membranes to Cure Concrete
Now, let us look over some common types of membranes capable of curing concrete.

Plastic Sheeting
Curing of concrete by the application of plastic sheeting involves covering of different exposed concrete areas in no time without causing any type of damage to concrete finish. However, whenever you use plastic sheeting above different plat surfaces, like for instance slabs and pavements, you should make sure of extending the same beyond slab edges by minimum 2 times of the entire thickness of slab.

Membranes

Some curing compounds are type of chemical products sprayed directly over the surface of concrete and allow its dryness to form impermeable Concrete Curing Membrane. These membranes can easily retard loss of moisture contents from surface of concrete. 

Reasons for Curing of Concrete

Curing concrete has become essential for construction process because of the fact that it allows constant and transitional evaporation of water from entire mixture of concrete. Now, many people ask one common question related to the time, after which concrete proceeds for its curing process. For this, experts related to construction sector have said that concrete curing process depends completely on different environmental conditions, where concrete remained placed, which include placement of concrete directly above the ground, in between different forms, submerged inside the water, directly above the ground and many more. Best practice in this case is the curing of concrete by using concrete curing chemical, which will allow hardening of concrete. Lastly, you should never allow concrete to become dry at any situation and at the same time should maintain curing condition during the starting 24 hours or until the passing of complete setting time of cement.