Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp.

91-95, 1995
Copyright 0 1995 Elsevier Science Ltd
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Effects of curing upon carbonation of concrete

J. P. Balayssac, Ch. H. D&rich6 and J. Grandet

Laboratoire Matkiaux et Durabilith des Constructions, INSA-UPS GEnie Civil,

Complexe Scientifique de Rangueil, 31077, Toulouse, Cedex, France

Received 9 September 1994; revised 30 November 1994; accepted 2 December 1994

Even if mix design (cement content, W/C ratio) has an effect on durability of concrete mixed with
blended cement, curing conditions, particularly curing time, also affect concrete durability against
carbonation. The choice of curing time depends on cement content, and must be adjusted to
concrete design (28 day strength, W/C ratio). Concretes with a low cement content (or a high W/C
ratio) must be cured longer than those having higher cement content. Finally, some correlations
showthat strength at the end of curing, which takes into account both mix design and curing condi-
tions, is able to assess durability of concrete against carbonation.

Keywords: durability; carbonation; curing

To produce a durable concrete in all storage conditions, sition of two other cements, an ordinary Portland
it might appear to be sufficient by limiting its porosity, cement (CPA 55) and a slag cement (CLK 45) with
to have a minimum 28 day strength. This is easily 65% of slag. The sand and gravel are composed of river
achieved for current concretes, either by increasing aggregate from the Garonne. The maximum grain size
cement content (currently used) or by providing mixing is 6 mm for sand and 12.5 mm for gravel.
factors (aggregate quality and addition of microparti-
cles). The standard test which makes it possible to Concrete mixing
assess this strength is easy and reliable. However, this The concretes mixed cover a range of strength measured
strength must be generally taken as a function of core after 28 days of storage in water, from 25 to 40 MPa.
concrete. By having a minimal 28 day strength, the They are mixed to provide the same slump (8 cm).
durability of core concrete will be assured’. Cement content, W/C ratios and 28 day strength are
Curing conditions can change this core strength and given in Table 2.
also have an important effect on cover concrete proper-
ties. The cover concrete role is of prime importance for Test samples curing and storage
reinforced concrete durability as it protects reinforcing After demoulding at one day, the test samples are
bars from penetration by harmful agents (carbonation, stored in a controlled environment at 20°C and 60%
chloride ingress etc.)2. Hence, in this paper, durability is relative humidity, or kept in water up to 3 or 28 days,
expressed in terms of carbonated depths. before exposure to the environment described above.
Four different concretes are cast. After three different The effects of carbonation are evaluated on 11 cm
curing times (1, 3 and 28 days), they are stored at 20°C diameter and 10 cm high cylinders whose ends are sawn
and 60% relative humidity (with a CO, content of after demoulding. After curing the side surfaces are
0.03%), for up to 18 months. Curing effects (especially covered with adhesive aluminium sheet.
curing time) on durability of the cover concrete to
natural carbonation are investigated. The influence of Table la Oxide composition of cements
cement content and cement type is analysed.
Cement SiO, A&O, Fe,O, CaO MgO SO, K,O Na,O
Finally, it is shown that the influence of both cement (%) (%) (%) (%) (x) (%)
W) W)
(quantity and type) and curing time can be expressed by
a single parameter which makes it possible to estimate CPJ45 26.2 3.1 3.2 58.9 0.60 2.60 - -
CPA55 20.1 5.4 3.2 63.2 2.20 2.30 1.22 -
durability. CLK45 30.3 11.5 - 45.2 4.15 2.90 0.76 0.60

Table lb Physical properties of cements

Experimental details
Cement Density
Cements and aggregate (mS:kg)
A cement with fillers (CPJ 45) is used, containing 75% CPJ45 350 3.01
of clinker and 25% of limestone fillers. Oxides are given CPA55 370 3.15
in Table 1. This table also presents the chemical compo- CLK45 385 2.93

Construction and Building Materials 1995 Volume 9 Number 2 91

f~ects of curing upon carbonation of concrete: J. P. Balayssac et al.

Table 2 Properties of concretes

Concrete Cement c wit G/S R28

(kgim’) (MPa)

Bl CPJ45 300 0.65 I .oo 25.1

B2 CPJ45 340 0.61 1.13 32.6
B3 CPJ45 380 0.53 1.13 37.8
B4 CPJ45 420 0.48 I.15 43.5
CPA55 250 0.73 0.92 26.4
CPA55 280 0.65 0.94 30.0
CPA55 300 0.59 0.96 35.0
CPA55 350 0.54 I .04 41.8
CLK45 340 0.61 1.17 24.9
CLK45 400 0.50 1.15 31.9 &e (W

C: cement content
G/S: gravel on sand ratio
R28: 28 day strength (after storage in water at 2O”C, three samples
tested)

After an appointed period (90, 180, 360 and 540

days) three test samples are split to obtain a break
without wet sawing. The carbonated depth is then
measured - referring to RILEM Recommendations”
after application of phenolphthalein to the free surface
obtained by splitting. The measurement uncertainty is
0.5 mm, and the dispersion is around 5%.

Experimental results and discussion

Table 3 presents carbonated depths according to curing
time and testing ages. Carbonation ingress up to 18
months is shown for each curing time in Figure I.
Whatever curing time, carbonated depth decreases
with increasing cement content (also 28 day strength).
Concrete Bl (cement content: 300 kg/m3) shows more
significant carbonated depths than others, for 3 and 28
day curing. Figure 2 presents carbonated depths accord-
ing to cement content and curing, for all concretes.
The beneficial effect of curing time on durability can
0 30 160 270 3643 450 540
be seen immediately. So, after 18 months, for a concrete
with a cement content of 350 kg/m3, increasing the
period of curing from 1 to 28 days halves the carbona- Figure I Carbonation ingress (cement used : CPJ45)
tion depth.
Carbonated depth versus curing time is plotted on variation, This result should be specified in terms of
Figure 3, for all concretes. Curing effects do not cement content. Thus, Figure 4 presents the PJP,, ratio
increase in the same proportion as curing time. Indeed, between carbonated depth for x day curing (P,,s), with
carbonated depth decreases rapidly when the curing .Y = 3 or 28 days and carbonated depth for one day
period increases from 1 to 3 days, followed by a slower curing (PC,) - versus cement content.
For a concrete stored for 18 months, increasing the
Table 3 Carbonated depths (mm) curing period from 1 to 3 days increases durability
Age (day) performance by a value of 10% for a concrete with a
Concrete Properties Curing 90 180 360 540 cement content of 300 kg/m3 and 50% for a concrete
Bl C=300 kg/m’ Id 6.5 11 13 15
with a cement content of 420 kg/m3; increasing the
W/C=O.65 id 4 6 9.5 13 curing period from 3 to 28 days still improves by a
R,,=25.1 MPa 2nd 3 5 6 9 value of 300/;, the concrete with the lowest cement
B2 C=340 kg/m’ Id 5.5 10 12 13
W/C=O.61 3d 3.5 5 6 8
content, but only by a value of 10% the concrete with
R2,=32.6 MPa 28 d 2.5 4 4.5 6 the highest cement content.
B3 C=380 kg/m’ Id 4.5 9 IO 11.5 Considering one day curing, two additional days
w/c=o.53 3d 3 5 5.5 7
R,,=37.8 MPa 28d 2 3.5 4 5
halves carbonated depth for a concrete with a cement
B4 C=420 kg/m’ Id 4 7.5 8.5 9.5 content of 420 kg/m3 and 27 additional days are neces-
W/C=O.48 3d 2.5 4 3.5 4 sary for a concrete with a cement content of 300 kg/m3.
R,,=43.5 MPa 28 d 1.5 3 3 3.5
In fact, a concrete with a low cement content, even if

92 Construction and Building Materials 1995 Volume 9 Number 2

 Effects of curing upon carbonation of concrete: JR Balayssac et al.

16 CmboiWon depth (mm) 16 Cerboneuon dqth (mm)

Curing (day):
14 14 I[
Ags:SOdeye

,6 Cubonatlon depth (mm)

16
Curing (day) :
14

12 12

10 10
i

“,’ 0

4 4
I
Age:MOdaye 2 Age:S4Odeye
2 I
O--- --t_---, i 0
250 300 350 400 450 250 300 350 460 450

cement content (kg/m3) camantcontent(kg/m3)

Figure 2 Effect of cement content on carbonation (different curing periods). (Cement used: CPJ45)

16 - ABEWV) : 16

14 .. Concrete Bl ~- 14 Concrete 82
12 -. -540 12

10 '. 10
--3&J
8 6

6 ~- - --•--- i&O 6 L

4 .- L- --- -90 4
3
2 2

O- 0 c
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Curing time (dry) Curing tlme(dey)

fhrbonllon depth(mm) Carbonrtlon depth (mm)

16 T Age&v): Age (day):
14 Concrete B3
.
..-540

* 360

--.- 180

--+ 90

-.~-_+
oi--d+ / -Y ---_--_+.--_~~ ---------v--
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25

Curingtime(day) Curing Urn0 (day)

Figure 3 Effect of curing on carbonation (cement used: CPJ45)

improved by adequate curing, will still have a largely formation into a much denser structure because of the
porous cover concrete, encouraging ingress of harmful presence of a large number of anhydrous grains4.
agents. Furthermore a too high cement content can Therefore, the curing period must be optimized accord-
prevent additional hydration by stopping hydrate ing to concrete strength and cost restraints, These

Construction and Building Materials 1995 Volume 9 Number 2 93

Effects of curing upon carbonation of concrete: J. P. Balayssac et al.

,,~ _: /!
r, x=3
0.6 t 0.6
1 -, x=3
c l _ . l
0.4 t + x=26 0.4 * . * . x=26

0.2 1 0.2
Age : 90 dye Age:lBodaye
OL 0
260 300 360 400 450 250 3co 350 400 450
Cameal content (kg/m3) Cement content (kg/m3)

0.8 I

0.6 06.
. .-
/, x=3
0.4 . c 047
’ x=26
0.2 0.2 *
Age:36Odeye
Age:srOdeye
~.~ 0
300 360 400 460 250 300 350 400 450

Cement content (kg/m3) Cement content (kg/m3)

Figure 4 Effect of increasing curing time beyond one day (cement used: (‘PJ45). PJP, :I: ratio between carbonated depth for .Y days’ curing
(PC,, with x=3 or 28) and carbonated depth for one day curing

Bier’s” results. On the other hand concretes with a

16
Portland or blended cement content of 340 kg/m3 have
higher strengths at end of curing and lower carbonated
depths. Such a relation can provide quite a good corre-
lation between durability factor and strength whatever
cement content and type.
Using a simple mechanical test, it will be possible to
assess longer term durability of a concrete against
carbonation, whatever cement type and content, simply
by knowledge of its curing time.

Figure 5 Relationship between carbonation depth and strength at

end of curing (concretes: 3 day curing; age: 18 months)
Conclusions
Test results for carbonation have shown that curing
results are in agreement with others which showed that
conditions, and especially curing time, have a large
curing must depend on W/C ratio5. The lower the latter
effect on the durability of commonly used concretes.
the shorter may be the curing period.
This effect depends on cement content, and curing must
Curing effects depend on cement type. Increasing
be optimized in relation to the latter.
curing period does not have the same effect, for the
Regarding our results, one day curing is not sufficient
same cement content, on a concrete of Portland cement
as on a concrete of slag cement. Curing is more appre- for all the concretes whatever the cement content (in a
ciable for a concrete with slag cement, as has been range between 300 and 420 kg/m3); indeed at 18 months
demonstrated by other&‘. for one day curing, carbonated depths vary between 10
Then, in Figure 5 carbonated depths after 18 months and 15 mm, relating to cement content, which is close to
of concretes mixed with three different cements (ordi- the usual underlying reinforcing bars in non-aggressive
nary cement, cement with limestone fillers and slag environments.
cement) are plotted versus strength at end of curing. Increasing the curing period to 3 days is sufficient for
For all these concretes the curing period is 3 days. concretes with a cement content higher than 380 kg/m’;
Cement content is within the range of 250 to 420 kg/m”. for others, curing must be longer. The curing effect also
The two concretes, with a slag cement content of 340 depends on cement type. For example, increasing the
and 420 kglm3, show low strength at end of curing and curing period much improves durability of concretes
high carbonated depth according to Parrott’s and mixed with a slag cement.

94 Construction and Building Materials 1995 Volume 9 Number 2

 Effects of curing upon carbonation of concrete: J.P. Balayssac et al.
By correlating the carbonated depths after 18 months
exposure of concretes cured over 3 days (using several
cements), and strength at the end of curing, it can be
seen that the latter makes it possible to assess longer
term durability versus carbonation; this can be realized
whatever the cement content and cement type.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge financial support from the
Association Technique de 1’Industrie des Liants
Hydrauliques (ATILH).
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and Building Materials 1995 Volume 9 Number 2 95