MATURITY-BASED PREDICTION OF BATCHING PLANT CONCRETE STRENGTH AND SLUMP LOSS EVALUATION UNDER ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11113/aej.v16.25441Keywords:
Maturity method, Concrete strength, Environmental factors, Batching plant, Workability, Evaporation rateAbstract
As large-scale construction projects continue to expand in Bangladesh, the use of batching plants for large-scale concrete production is on the rise. Ensuring the quality and workability of concrete has become increasingly vital, particularly as mass concrete is used for casting. Multiple destructive and non-destructive techniques are utilized to evaluate or estimate the in-situ strength of concrete. Common destructive testing methods include the following tests which are commonly employed to assess concrete strength: splitting tensile strength test, compressive strength, concrete core, bending strength, impact test, semi destructive testing method includes pullout test and Non-destructive techniques, on the other hand, include shock pulse measurement, ultrasonic wave propagation, and maturity testing. The maturity method, which estimates concrete strength during the early curing stages, is a widely accepted indirect approach. This method relies on the concrete's internal temperature, which corresponds to the heat produced by the chemical curing process. While most studies to date have focused on maturity models under controlled laboratory conditions, where temperature and curing are regulated, a significant gap remains in research regarding the application of these models in batching plant trial mixes. In such conditions, environmental variables such as air/wind speed, humidity and ambient atmospheric temperature and can fluctuate significantly, influencing the maturity of the concrete. In most existing calculations, external variables like humidity and ambient atmospheric temperature are often disregarded. This study aims to address these environmental parameters and offers a more precise prediction of concrete strength development in real-world conditions by using a complex maturity model, developed in accordance with ASTM C1074. This model considers ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and introduces coefficients that reflect the impact of each factor. The incorporation of wind velocity into the maturity equation is an innovative aspect of this study to the best of the author’s knowledge. After including wind velocity, the complex maturity approach achieved a coefficient of determination R² = 0.9326, nearer to R² values for standard (ASTM C1074‑2019) maturity method which is 0.9694, demonstrating its enhanced reliability aligned with traditional maturity methods. The findings show an inverse relationship between evaporation rate and slump, a key discovery for optimizing the workability of concrete under fluctuating environmental conditions. The evaporation rate was determined using a nomograph found in ACI publications. In conclusion, the study highlights the practical application of the advanced maturity method in large-scale construction projects in Bangladesh.As most previous research has focused on controlled laboratory environments, this method not only allows for an accurate assessment of concrete strength but also optimizes curing time, ultimately improving economic efficiency throughout the construction process.
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