Comparison of Compressive Strength of Concrete Cube after Curing with Different Methods

Concrete comprise of course aggregate, fine aggregate, cement and water and it is prepared in a ratio of course aggregate: fine aggregate: cement: water with a water-cement ratio of 0.50. Then concrete cubes were prepared in size of 15 X 15 cm mould for testing the compressive strength at 7 and 28 days of curing respectively using three curing methods namely immersion, sprinkling and Plastic sheeting, curing to cure the cube specimens until the day of testing. After curing the entire prepared cube they all set for compressive testing and then the results of the entire test were compared. Test results indicates that water curing (WAC) as well as sprinkling (spraying) curing provided much better results than membrane (Plastic Sheeting) method of curing. The rate of drying was significant when the specimens were subjected to membrane (Plastic sheeting) method of curing. This thus hampered the hydration process and thus affected the compressive strength property of the hardened concrete. The overall finding of this study suggests that concrete should be cured by water curing to achieve a better compressive strength.