Curing requirements of silica fume and fly ash mortars

The curing requirements of silica fume and fly ash mortars were investigated in this study. Silica fume and fly ash mortar specimens were moist cured for periods of 0, 3, 7, 14 and 28 days. After each of the five periods, the moist curing was interrupted by oven-drying the specimens at a temperature of 110°C for 3 days. The specimens were later tested for compressive strength and absorptivity. In this study, it was also determined whether the losses in strength and impermeability of silica fume and fly ash mortars due to an interruption in curing could be regained by recuring. The test results clearly indicate that the curing requirement of silica fume mortar is less than that of plain cement mortar, while in the case of fly ash mortar it is hogher than that of plain cement mortar.