The effect of curing temperature and relative humidity on the strength development of Portland cement mortar

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of humidity on development of mechanical properties of Portland cement mortars under different curing regimes. The curing conditions were selected in order to simulate the average seasonal climatic conditions in various regions of Turkey. Conventional maturity formulas for Portland cement usually neglects the effect of humidity. However, especially under low relative humidity conditions the test data obtained in this paper reveals that; this assumption is no longer valid. Test results also include the comparative data on relation between compressive and flexural strength, compressive strengths of 50 mm cubic and 40×40×160 mm prismatic mortars. © 2011 Academic Journals.