1. This document presents a project report on studying the compressive strength of self-curing concrete using liquid paraffin wax. 2. The literature review discusses previous studies that found using agents like poly-acrylic acid, PEG600, and paraffin wax in concrete can increase its water retention capacity and hydration, leading to higher strength. 3. The project will mix paraffin wax in different amounts into concrete cubes and test the compressive strength after 14 and 28 days, comparing it to normal concrete.

1. PROJECT REPORT ON
A STUDY ON COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF SELF CURING
CONCRETE USING LIQUID PARAFFIN WAX
Work done by :-
R.CHANDRA SEKHAR 196C1A0102
U.SAIRAM 206C5A0101
K.NANI 206C5A0104
 Project Guide
Mr . B DHANUNJAI RAO,(M .Tech)
Assistant Professor
MIRACLE EDUCATIONAL GROUPS OF INSTITUTIONS
(NACC accredited)
(Affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada),
2019 - 2023
MIRACLE EDUCATIONAL GROUPS OF INSTITUTIONS

2. CONTENETS
• ABSTRACT
• INTRODUCTION
• LITRATURE REVIEW
• CONCLUSIONS MADE FROM THE STUDY OF LITERATURE
REVIEW

3. ABSTRACT
On Curing of concrete simply means keeping the water in concrete
where it can do its job of chemically combining with the cement into
tough glue that will help to develop strong durable concrete It plays a
major role in developing concrete microstructure and pore structure.
Ponding, Spraying are generally used methods and in fact they are
effective But such curing methods results in some of the practical
problems. Insufficient curing results in reduction in strength of
concrete which will end up in an increase in the cost of project. In this
project we are going to mix paraffin wax in different amounts
and find out the strength of concrete cubes after 14 and 28
days . There by comparing the result with normal mixed
concrete.

4. INTRODUCTION
Today concrete is most widely used construction material due to good compressive
strength and durability. The word concrete comes from latrine word "concretes"
which means "grow together".
Depending upon the nature of work, cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate and
water are mixed in specific proportions to produce plain concrete As the cement and
water mixes, a chemical reaction called hydration occurs and normally the concrete
changes from plastic to solid state in about two hours.
In this stage the concrete continuous to gain strength as it cures. Plain concrete
needs congenial atmosphere by providing moisture for a minimum period of 28 days
for good hydration and to attain desired strength.

5. 1.Concrete is a mixture of sand, gravel, crushed rock or other
aggregate held together by a hardened paste of cement and water.
2.This mixture, when properly proportioned, is at first a plastic mass
that can be cast or molded into a predetermined size and shape.
3.Upon hydration of the cement by the water, concrete becomes stone
like in strength, hardness and durability.
WHAT IS CONCRETE?

6. Importance of curing
In curing, if the Self relative humidity drops below 80%, hydration and strength
gain will stop The rate of strength gain is directly related to the amount of moist
curing Thus, curing should be taken essential care by the engineer in-charge in
the site In all applications, extensive care needs to be taken properly in the
curing of concrete to achieve best strength and hardness.
Curing happens after the concrete has been placed In order that the cement will
gain its maximum strength, it requires a moist and controlled environment. The
cement hardens as time passes and gaining in strength by passing of days.

7. Methods of curing
Methods of curing concrete broadly fall into the following
categories. Water curing preventing the moisture loss from the
concrete surface by continuously wetting the exposed surface of
concrete. Membrane curing-minimizing moisture loss from the
concrete surface by covering it with an impermeable membrane.
Water Curing - is done by spraying or sprinkling water over the
concrete surface to ensure that the concrete surface remains
continuously moist. This prevents the moisture from the body of
concrete from evaporating and contributes to the strength gain of
concrete.

8. This is the most common and inexpensive method of curing flat surfaces such as
floor slabs, flat roofs, pavements and other horizontal surfaces.
A dike around the edge of the slab, which may be sub-divided into smaller dikes, is
erected and water is filled to create a shallow pond. Care must be taken to ensure that
the water in the pond does not dry up, as it may lead to an alternate drying and
wetting condition.
Ponding

9. Sprinkling, fogging & mist curing
Using a fine spray or fog or mist of water can be an efficient
method of supplying water to the concrete surface especially during
hot weather, which helps to reduce the temperature of concrete,
eventually conserving moisture inside the body of concrete .

10. Wet coverings
Water absorbent fabrics such as hessian, burlaps, cotton mats, rugs etc. may be used
to maintain water on the concrete surface by completely covering the surface
immediately after the concrete has set
They must be continuously kept moist to prevent the fabric from absorbing water
from the body of concrete, due to capillary action.
In rural areas, straw sprinkled with water regularly can be used to cure concrete

11. Membrane curing
In this curing method, the concrete surface is covered with water-resistant
membrane. Membrane concrete curing will take about a week. The main purpose
of this process is to resist the concrete evaporation.
Wax emulsion, bitumen emulsion, water resistant bitumen paper and plastic sheets
etc are used as membrane in this method. This is also known as sealing compound.
In membrane curing, concrete strength gain is less than the concrete moisturizing
methods

12. Steam curing:
Steam is applied in small precast members and the concrete
takes less time to cure properly In this concrete curing method,
the curing process is aggregated above 22" temperature.

13. • Self curing concrete is one of the special concrete in
mitigating insufficient curing due to human negligence,
scarcity of water in arid areas, inaccessibility of structures i
difficult terrains and in areas where the presence of fluorides
in water will badly affect the characteristics of concrete.
• ➢ The concept of self curing is to reduce the water
evaporation from concrete and hence increase the water
retention capacity of the concrete compared to conventional
concrete.
Self Curing concrete

14. Benefits of self curing concrete:-
Benefits of Self curing include increased hydration and strength
development, reduced autogenous shrinkage and cracking, reduced
permeability, and increased durability.
The impact of Self curing begins immediately with the initial
hydration of cement, with benefits that are observed at ages as early
as 2 days.

15. PARAFFIN WAX
Paraffin wax is a white or colourless soft, solid wax. It's
made from saturated hydrocarbons.
It's often used in skin-softening salon and spa treatments
on the hands, cuticles, and feet because it's colourless,
tasteless, and odourless. It can also be used to provide
pain relief to sore joints and muscles.

16. • “Wen-Chen Jau” stated that self-curing concrete is provided
to absorb water from moisture and from air to achieve better
hydration of cement in concrete. It reduces the problem
when the degree of cement hydration is lowered due to no
curing or improper curing by using poly-acrylic acid as a self-
curing agent which has strong capability of absorbing moisture
from atmosphere and providing water required for curing
concrete.
LITERATURE REVIEW

17. “ PietroLura” The main aim of his study was to reach a
better conception of autogenous shrinkage in order to be
able to model it and possibly reduce it. Once the important
role of self-desiccation shrinkage in autogenous shrinkage is
shown, the benefits of avoiding self-desiccation through
internal curing become apparent.

18. • Mohammed Shafeeque Sanofar.P.B, Praveen.K.P.,
Jitin Raj, Nikhil.V.P, Gopikrishna has used PEG600 as a
self-curing agent in concrete. M20 and M25grade of
concrete are adopted for investigation. They added 0-
2% of PEG600 by weight of cement for M20 and M25
grade concrete. From that they found 1% of PEG600 by
weight of cement was optimum for M20 and M25 grade
of concrete for achieve maximum strength.

19. ➢”Roland Tak Yong Liang, Robert Keith Sun” carried work
on internal curing composition for concrete which includes
a glycol and a wax. The invention provides for the first
time an internal curing composition which, when added to
concrete or other cementitious mixes meets the required
standards of curing as per Australian Standard AS 3799.

20. ➢ “Stella Evangeline” had use poly vinyl alcohol as
self-curing agent in concrete. He added 0.03-0.48% by
weight of cement from that he found 0.48% of poly vinyl
alcohol by weight of cement provides higher
compressive, tensile as well as flexural strength than the
strengths of conventional mix.

21. ➢ Dayalan J had used super absorbent polymers as a self-
curing agent in concrete. He was added 0.0-0.48% of super
absorbent polymer by weight of cement for M25 grade
concrete. He was found that super absorbent polymer 0.48%
by the weight of cement provides higher compressive, tensile
as well as flexural strength than the strength of conventional
mix.

22. ➢ Madduru sri rama chand, Pancharathi raihish kumar,
Pallapothu swamy naga ratna giri. Carried out work on effect
of using paraffin wax as a self-curing compound in SCC mixes.
The variable parameters of the study include curing type,
concrete grade (mix proportions), molecular weight and dosage
of paraffin wax. Water retention and compressive strength tests
were conducted on hardened concretes. The weight loss after 90
d was found to be less in specimens with a self-curing agent then
in specimens without. The compressive strengths of the self-
cured specimens closely matched those of conventional water-
cured specimens

23. ➢ M.pavan kumar, Sunkara pavan ayyappa ,
G.T.naidu. Describes the role of liquid paraffin wax as a
self curing agent and compares this with the effect of
different curing regimes simulating traditional methods of
curing The dosage of liquid paraffin was compound taken
is 0.1%. The parameters include grade of concrete,
dosage of paraffin wax, curing conditions and age of
curing The strength parameters namely compressive
flexural strength are determined as a performance
strength, split tensile strength benchmark for the
investigated curing compounds

24. ➢ Basil M Joseph Studied on self-curing concrete and
PEG400 were used as a self-curing agent in concrete.
M20 grade of concrete is adopted for investigation. He
added 0-1.5% of PEG400 by weight of cement for M20
grade concrete from that he found 1% of PEG400 by
weight of cement was optimum for M20 grade of
concrete for achieve maximum strength. He also found
that if percentage of PEG400 gets increased slump as
well as compaction factor also increased.

25. ➢ Dayalan J had used super absorbent polymers as a
self-curing agent in concrete. He was added 0.0-0.48% of
super absorbent polymer by weight of cement for M25
grade concrete. He was found that super absorbent
polymer 0.48% by the weight of cement provides higher
compressive, tensile as well as flexural strength than the
strength of conventional mix.

26. Patel Manishkumar Dahyabhai, Prof. Jayeshkumar
Pitroda studied on “introducing the self-curing concrete in
construction industry”. Compressive strength of self-curing
concrete is increased by applying self-curing admixtures. The
compressive strength of concrete mix increased by 37% by
adding 1.0% of PEG600 and 33.9by adding 1.0% of PEG1500 as
compared to the conventional concrete. The optimum dosage of
PEG600 for maximum compressive strength was found to be 1%
of weight of cement for M25 grade of concrete. The optimum
dosage of PEG1500 of maximum compressive strength was
found to be 1% of weight of cement for M25 grade of concrete.
Self-curing concrete is the best solution to the problem faced in
the desert region and faced due to lack of proper curing.

27. Based on literature review, following conclusions are obtained:
 The optimum dosage of PEG400 for maximum strength (compressive,
tensile and modulus of rupture) was found to be 1% for the M20.
➢ As percentage of PEG400 increased slump increased for M20 grade of
concrete.
➢ Strength of self-curing concrete is on par with conventional concrete
➢ Self-curing concrete is the answer to many problems faced due to lack of
proper curing.
➢ Self-curing concrete is an alternative to conventional concrete in desert
regions where scarcity of water is a major problem.
CONCLUSIONS

28. Thank you
for your attention