Effect of Curing Conditions on the Durability of Ultrahigh Performance Concrete under Flexural Load

We experimentally investigated the effect of curing conditions on the durability of UHPC under flexural load. Moreover, the mechanisms of the effect of curing conditions were revealed from the microstructural point of view with environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and X-ray computerized tomography (X-ray CT). The experimental results show that the flexural load has negative influence on the durability of UHPC, but UHPC still exhibits excellent durability under flexural load. Besides, the curing conditions do show influences on the durability of UHPC. Compared with standard and steam curing, oven curing led to a lower chloride resistance and freeze-thaw performance of UHPC. The microstructure of UHPC paste was detected with ESEM. It is revealed that, compared with standard and steam cured UHPC, the lower reaction degree and internal microcracks are the causes for the lower chloride resistance of oven cured UHPC. The defects distribution in UHPC before and after freeze-thaw action was investigated with X-ray CT. The number of defects in oven cured UHPC increases the fastest during the freeze-thaw action due to its more defective microstructure