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Experimental study on effect of winter curing conditions on

mechanical properties of concrete

F.L. Li, W.L. Lu, W.Q. Peng & Y.D. Tang

Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China

L.F. Xu
Beijing Municipal Design Institute, Beijing, China

ABSTRACT: Compressive strength and elastic modulus are important mechanical properties
of concrete, which are closely related to curing age, temperature, humidity and other conditions.
The cube compressive strength, prism axial compressive strength, stress-strain relationship and
elastic modulus of C50 concrete were tested under winter construction and curing condition.
The effects of curing age, curing temperature and humidity on the development of mechanical
properties were analyzed. The results show that with the increase of curing age, the compressive
strength and elastic modulus of concrete increased rapidly in the early stage and slowly in the
later stage. The compressive strength and elastic modulus of concrete cured under the natural
conditions were lower than those of standard curing. The curing method had a great influence
on the mechanical properties of short age specimens. Finally, according to the test results, the
curing suggestions of concrete in winter construction were put forward, which provides refer­
ence for speeding up the project progress and ensuring the quality of the project.

1 INTRODUCTION

Concrete curing conditions, especially environmental temperature and environmental humid­

ity, have a great influence on the mechanical properties of concrete. The lower environmental
temperature and humidity values in the winter in northern China resulted in a large difference
between the mechanical property growth of concrete and that under standard indoor curing.
In recent years, to meet the development needs of transportation facilities, there are many
bridges, especially assembled bridges, using winter construction methods, which brings chal­
lenges to the project schedule control (Freyermuth, 1999). Early strength and elastic modulus
growth of concrete is particularly important under winter construction conditions. On the one
hand, the reasonable connection between processes is a strong guarantee to speed up the pro­
ject progress. If the early strength and elastic modulus values of concrete do not meet the con­
struction requirements, it will seriously delay the project progress and reduce the project
quality (Chen, & Duan, 2014). On the other hand, the early strength of concrete develops
more rapidly than the elastic modulus, and concrete beams with small values of elastic modu­
lus will lead to increased creep in the later stages of the beam after prestressing tendons are
tensioned. Large-span continuous rigid frame bridge and continuous beam bridge will pro­
duce large deformation and deflection after several years of use, which will seriously affect the
safety and durability of the bridges (Yan & Xie 2017; Xie & Cui 2019). Therefore, in the con­
struction of bridge superstructures, dual parameter control of concrete strength and elastic
modulus is usually required. Mechanical property parameters such as compressive strength
and elastic modulus of concrete are influenced by a variety of conditions such as material
composition, curing age and curing method, and have obvious regional and climatic charac­
teristics (Xie & Li 2014). Among the existing research (Xie & Yan 2018), there are more stud­
ies on the mechanical properties of concrete at 28 days, while there is a relative lack of

DOI: 10.1201/9781003323020-147

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research on the effects of winter construction and curing conditions on the developmental
changes of concrete mechanical properties.
In this paper, cube compressive strength, prismatic axial compressive strength, stress-strain
relationship during compression and elastic modulus of concrete were tested under winter con­
struction and curing conditions, and the effects of curing age, curing temperature and curing
humidity on the development of mechanical properties were analyzed, which can provide
a reference to ensure the safety, suitability and durability of the project.

2 EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM

2.1 Specimen fabrication and maintenance

2.1.1 Fabrication
Cube specimens with size of 100 mm×100 mm×100 mm were used for cubic compressive strength
test, 3 pieces in each group. Prismatic specimens with size of 100 mm×100 mm×300 mm were
used for axial compressive strength and elastic modulus test. 6 pieces of each group were used, 3
pieces for axial compressive strength test and the other 3 pieces for elastic modulus test. When
testing the axial compressive strength of prisms, the stress-strain relationship during compression
is also tested. The specimens are formed by mechanical mixing and artificial vibrating.
2.1.2 Maintenance
The maintenance methods are divided into two types of standard curing and natural curing.
The environmental temperature for standard curing is 20±1 °C, and the environmental humid­
ity is >95 %rh. The process of natural curing is as follows: the specimens were left in the natural
environment with temperature 6~9 °C and humidity about 40% rh for 3 hours after the speci­
mens were poured, and then the specimens were steam cured by steam curtain(steam curing
temperature 30~35 °C, humidity>85 %rh), and the steam curtain was withdrawn after 7 hours
of steam curing, and the specimens were placed in the natural environment to continue curing.
The cube compressive strength of 1 day, 6 days, 7 days, 28 days and 60 days and the axial
compressive strength and elastic modulus of 7 days, 10 days and 60 days were tested. Take the
specimens of different curing methods under the same age for testing, one curing method cor­
responds to a group of specimens.

2.2 Material properties

The cement was P·O 42.5 grade cement, and the physical and mechanical properties are shown
in Table 1. The sand was natural river sand, and the indicators are shown in Table 2. The
coarse aggregate was continuous graded aggregates from 5 to 25 mm, and the performance
indexes are shown in Table 3. The indicators of fly ash are shown in Table 4. The external addi­
tive was high performance water reducing agent, which meets the requirements of Chinese stand­
ard GB 50119-2013 (2013) Mixing water was daily drinking water. The concrete was C50 pea
gravel concrete with water-cement ratio of 0.37 and slump of 210 mm, as shown in Table 5.

Table 1. Physical and mechanical properties of cement.

Compressive Condensation Standard consistency
Flexural strength (MPa) strength(MPa) time (mins) water (%)

3 days 28 days 3 days 28 days Initial final 27.4

5.4 8.1 26.4 54.1 214 265

Table 2. Indicators of river sand.

Mud Mud lump Apparent Bulk density
Fineness modulus content (%) content (%) density (kg/m³) (kg/m³)

3.2 5.1 0.4 2710 1660

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Table 3. Indicators of coarse aggregate.
Mud con­ Mud lump Needle flake particle Crushing value Apparent dens­ Bulk density
tent (%) content (%) content (%) index (%) ity (kg/m³) (kg/m³)

0.9 0.3 5 8.6 2710 1660

Table 4. Indicators of fly ash.

Fineness (%) Burning loss (%) Water demand ratio (%)

9.4 4.1 97

Table 5. Mix ratio of C50 pea gravel concrete.

Amount of materials (kg/m³)
Cement Water Sand Coarse aggregate Fly ash water reducing agent

400 147 726 1088 83 5.9

2.3 Test method

The tests of concrete cubic compressive strength, axial compressive strength and elastic modulus
were carried out according to Chinese standard GB/T 50081-2019 (2019). The stress-strain rela­
tionship of the concrete during compression was tested as follows: after wiping and grinding the
surface of the prismatic specimen, four strain gauges were symmetrically pasted at the center of
the four sides of the specimen, as shown in Figures 1(a)-(b). The test setup was YA-3000C auto­
matic pressure machine with accuracy level 1, as shown in Figure 1(c). The strain was collected
by the static strain test and analysis system, and the stress was calculated by Equation (1).

Where σ is the specimen stress (MPa); F is the value of the loading force (N); A is the cross-
sectional area of the specimen (mm²).

Figure 1. Strain gauge arrangement and test setup: (a) 3D view, (b) Photo, and (c) Test setup.

2.4 Test results

The cubic compressive strength, axial compressive strength and elastic modulus data of the
same group of specimens were averaged and the results were summarized in Tables 6 and 7.

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Table 6. Test results of the cube compressive strength.
Age (day) 1 6 7 28 60

Standard curing Strength (MPa) 34.8 50.1 50.9 68.3 72.1

Table 7. Test results of the axial compressive strength and elastic modulus.
Axial compressive strength (MPa) Elastic modulus (GPa)
Age
(day) Standard curing Natural curing Standard curing Natural curing

7 43.0 39.2 31.4 28.7

10 45.7 41.4 34.7 30.2
60 59.3 53.3 46.6 43.4

3 EFFECT OF CURING AGE ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE

3.1 Cube compressive strength

The variation of the cube compressive strength of concrete under standard curing with the curing
age is shown in Figure 2. From Figure 2, the cube compressive strength grew monotonically with
the curing age, but the growth rate slowed down and tended to converge. The cube compressive
strength of the specimens with ages of 1 day, 6 days, 7 days and 60 days were 50.95 %, 73.35 %,
74.52 % and 105.56 % of the cube compressive strength of the specimens with ages of 28 days,
respectively. Compared with the standard value of cube compressive strength of 50 MPa for C50
concrete, the percentage increase in cube compressive strength of the specimens with age of 1 day,
6 days, 7 days, 28 days and 60 days were -30.4 %, 0.2 %, 1.8 %, 36.6 % and 44.2 %, respectively.
The data show that the cube compressive strength of this batch of specimens grew faster in the
early stage and slowed down in the later stage, with early strength characteristics.

Figure 2. Variation curve of cube compres­ Figure 3. Variation curve of axial compressive
sive strength with curing age. strength with curing age.

3.2 Axial compressive strength

The variation of axial compressive strength of concrete with the curing age for different curing
methods is shown in Figure 3. From Figure 3, the variation pattern of axial compressive strength
with the curing age tended to be the same for different curing methods, all of which showed a fast
growth of strength in the early stage and a slow growth of strength in the later stage. At the age of 7
days, the axial compressive strength of standard curing and natural curing reached 72.51% and
73.55% of the 60-day strength, respectively. At the age of 10 days, the axial compressive strength of
standard curing and natural curing reached 77.07% and 77.67% of the 60-day strength, respectively.

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3.3 Elastic modulus
The elastic modulus is an important mechanical parameter of concrete, which reflects the rela­
tionship between force and deformation. The factors affecting the value of the elastic modulus
of concrete include external factors and internal factors. The external factors are specimen
age, specimen size, load holding time, curing temperature and curing humidity, etc. The
internal factors are mainly concrete raw materials and mix ratio. The variation of the elastic
modulus of concrete with the curing age for different curing methods is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Variation curve of elastic modulus with curing age.

As can be seen from Figure 4, the variation of elastic modulus of concrete with the curing
age was similar for different curing methods. At the age of 7 days, the elastic modulus of
standard curing and natural curing were 67.38% and 66.13% of the 60-day elastic modulus,
respectively. At the age of 10 days, the elastic modulus of standard curing and natural curing
were 74.46% and 69.59% of the 60-day elastic modulus, respectively.

3.4 Elastic modulus

The stress-strain relationship of concrete is an important basis for studying the strength,
deformation and crack development of specimens. The shape of the stress-strain curve reflects
the elastic, plastic and fracture processes occurring in the material under the action of external
forces, which is important for analyzing the force behavior of the specimen. The stress-strain
curves of concrete under different curing methods are shown in Figure 5, where the strain is
positive in compression.
Figure 5 (a) shows that: i) at the initial stage of loading, the strains of the specimens at differ­
ent ages varied approximately linearly. ii) The slope of the stress-strain curve at the initial stage
of loading was progressively larger for the specimens at 7, 10 and 60 days of age, indicating that
the degree of concrete hardening gradually increased for the specimens at 7, 10 and 60 days of
age. This also reflected the increase of the elastic modulus value with the increase of the curing
age. iii) Loaded to failure, the stresses in the specimens at 7, 10 and 60 days of age were approxi­
mately 40 MPa, 50 MPa and 65 MPa, respectively, indicating that the compressive strength of
concrete gradually increased with the growth of the curing age. iv) The stress-strain curves of
the specimens at 7 and 10 days of age grew more stable, without obvious turning points, and
with lower elastic modulus values. There was an obvious turning point(stress value approxi­
mately 20 MPa, strain value approximately 375 με) in the growth process of the stress-strain
curve for the specimens aged 60 days, after which the slope of the curve decreased, indicating
the rapid development of microcracks inside the specimens, resulting in a decrease in the ability
of the specimens to resist deformation.
Figure 5 (b) shows that: i) the development of stress-strain curves for specimens at 10 and
60 days of age were closer at the initial stage of loading. ii) The specimens with an age of 7
days had larger strain values at the initial stage of loading and larger strain growth in the
middle and late stages, indicating that the resistance to deformation of the specimens under

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Figure 5. Stress-strain relationship of concrete under different curing methods: (a) Standard curing and
(b) Natural curing.

natural curing was poor. iii) With the growth of the curing age, the compressive strength and
elastic modulus of concrete also gradually increased.

4 EFFECT OF CURING METHOD ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF

CONCRETE

4.1 Axial compressive strength

According to the Chinese standard GB 50010-2010 (2010), the standard value of axial com­
pressive strength of C50 concrete is 32.4 MPa, and the percentage increase of axial compres­
sive strength under different curing methods was calculated using this value as the strength
base value, as shown in Figure 6. From Figure 6, the percent increase of axial compressive
strength under standard curing was approximately 15 % higher than that under natural curing
for the specimens at 7, 10 and 60 days of age. This is because the higher environmental tem­
perature and environmental humidity of standard curing make the cementitious material
hydrate faster and therefore the axial compressive strength is higher.

4.2 Elastic modulus

According to the Chinese standard GB 50010-2010, the standard value of elastic modulus of
C50 concrete is 34.5 GPa, and using this value as the base value of elastic modulus, the per­
centage increase of elastic modulus under different curing methods was calculated, as shown
in Figure 7.

Figure 6. Variation curve of the percentage

growth of axial compressive strength with the Figure 7. Variation curve of the percentage
curing age. growth of elastic modulus with the curing age.

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 As can be seen from Figure 7, the percentage increase of the elastic modulus under standard
curing was approximately 10% higher than that under natural curing for the specimens at 7,
10 and 60 days of age, which is consistent with the law of development of axial compressive
strength of concrete, where the value of elastic modulus under standard curing was higher.

4.3 Stress-strain relationship

The stress-strain curves of concrete at different ages of specimens under standard curing and
natural curing are shown in Figure 8. Figure 8 shows that: i) the specimens with an age of 7
days, especially under natural curing, had larger strain values at the initial stage of loading and
larger strain growth at the middle and late stages, indicating that the resistance to deformation
of the specimens under natural curing was poorer than under standard curing. ii) At the early
stage of loading, partial overlap was observed at the initial section of the stress-strain curves for
the 10-day and 60-day age specimens under different curing methods, while it did not occur for
the 7-day age specimens (Figure 8 (a)). This may be because the short-age specimens under nat­
ural curing were more sensitive to environmental temperature and environmental humidity,
resulting in inadequate hydration reaction of cement, which in turn caused poor resistance to
deformation of the specimens, indicating that the curing method had a greater effect on the
mechanical properties of the short-age specimens than the long-age specimens. iii) The slope of
the concrete stress-strain curves began to differ for specimens at 7, 10 and 60 days of age under
different curing methods in the middle and late stages of loading. The slope of the curve under
natural curing was smaller and gradually flattened, while the slope of the curve under standard
curing varied more than that of natural curing, which indicated that the compressive strength of
concrete under standard curing was higher than that under natural curing.

Figure 8. Stress-strain relationship of concrete at different ages: (a) 7 days of age, (b) 10 days of age,
and (c) 60 days of age.

5 CONCRETE MAINTENANCE RECOMMENDATIONS UNDER

WINTERCONSTRUCTION

Under winter construction conditions, the growth of early strength and elastic modulus of
concrete is particularly important (Xie & Zhao 2018). For concrete beams with prestressed
tendons, if the early elastic modulus value does not meet the design requirements, the later
deformation and prestress loss of the beam after tensioning of prestressed tendons increases,
thus reducing the safety and durability of the structure. For the project with time limit, only
the early strength and elastic modulus value of concrete reach the construction requirements,
so that the next process can be carried out as scheduled or ahead of schedule, thus speeding
up the project progress and improving the quality of the project.
The early strength and elastic modulus values of concrete depend on the rate of hydration
reaction of cement. The higher the external temperature, the faster the hydration process of
the cement. The higher the external humidity and the longer the time, the slower the relative
humidity inside the specimen decreases and the more complete the cement hydration reaction
is (Gao & Shi 2021; Chen & Zhou 2021).

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 To guarantee the quality of winter concrete maintenance, the following recommendations are
proposed in this paper combined with the test results: i) increase the curing temperature and
curing humidity, and extend the period of steam curing, to approach or reach the standard
curing conditions is better. ii) Under the premise of not affecting the progress of the project,
properly extend the specimen curing age. iii) Age as a variable, increase the number of specimen
groups, and increase the frequency of compressive strength and elastic modulus tests to grasp
the development of mechanical properties of concrete in real time. iv) The specimens under nat­
ural curing are cured for at least 10 days before the subsequent processes are carried out.

6 CONCLUSIONS

By testing the mechanical properties of concrete under winter construction and winter curing
conditions, the following main conclusions were obtained.
(1) Under standard curing, the cube compressive strength of C50 concrete grew monotonic­
ally with the gradual increase of curing age, but the growth rate was decreasing. The cube
compressive strength of concrete exhibited early strength characteristics.
(2) With the increase of the curing age, the axial compressive strength and elastic modulus of
concrete developed similarly, both showing the law of fast growth of early strength and
slow growth of late strength.
(3) The compressive strength and elastic modulus values of concrete under natural curing
were lower than those of standard curing. The resistance of concrete to deformation
under natural curing was worse than standard curing.
(4) The curing method had a greater effect on the mechanical properties of the short-age spe­
cimens than the long-age specimens.
(5) The paper proposed recommendations for winter concrete maintenance, which accumu­
lates experience for speeding up the project progress and guaranteeing the project quality.

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