| Abstract: | Early Age Concrete Curing Based on Capillary Pressure Measurement Due to evaporation of water at fresh concrete surfaces, a capillary pressure is built up in the pore system of the material leading to shrinkage deformations. At a certain material dependent pressure, air penetrates into the pore system. This air entry appears to be a local event and results in an inhomogeneous strain field and possibly in cracks. By controlling the capillary pressure build‐up the risk of cracking in the early age, i.e. within the first about 6 hours after casting, may be reduced significantly. A method of controlled concrete curing is proposed. It is based on in situ measurements of the capillary pressure. If the latter reaches a previously defined threshold value the concrete surface is rewetted. Thereby, the capillary pressure decreases temporarily, but is not completely relieved. Consequently, the rewetting does not create a continuous water film on the concrete surface which might degrade the near‐surface material properties due to an increased water‐cement ratio. |
