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Internal Curing - Using Expanded Shale, Clay and Slate Lightweight Aggregate
Internal Curing - Using Expanded
Shale, Clay and Slate Lightweight Aggregate
Expanded Shale, Clay, and Slate Institute
Lightweight aggregate batched at a high degree of absorbed water may be substituted for normalweight aggregates to provide “internal curing”in concrete containing a high volume of cementitious materials. High cementitious concretes are vulnerable to self-desiccation and early-age cracking, and benefit significantly from the slowly released internal moisture. Field experience has shown that high strength concrete is not necessarily high performance concrete and that high performance concrete need not necessarily be high strength. A frequent, unintended consequence of high strength concrete is early-age cracking. Blending lightweight aggregate containing absorbed water is significantly helpful for concretes made with a low ratio of water-to-cementitious material or concretes containing high volumes of supplementary cementitious materials that are sensitive to curing procedures. This process is often referred to as water entrainment.
