Date of Publication :7th June 2016

Abstract: Today concrete is most widely used construction material due to its good compressive strength. Depending upon usage the cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate and water are mixed in various proportions to produce desired concrete. conventional concrete needs a minimum period of 28 days for good hydration to attain desired strength. Any laxity in curing will badly affect the performance of concrete. Self-curing concrete is one of the special concrete in dry areas, inaccessibility of structures in difficult terrains and in areas where the presence of fluoride content water will badly affect the concrete. The present study deals with use of shrinkage reducing admixture polyethylene glycol (PEG 400) in concrete that helps in self curing. The optimum value of PEG is fixed as 1% of weight of cement. In the present study, the affect of admixture (PEG 400) on compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength by varying the percentage of steel fiber by weight of cement from 0%,0.25%,0.5%,0.75%,1%,1.25%,1.5% were studied M20 mix. It was found that PEG 400 helps in self curing by giving strength on par with conventional curing. It was also found that 0.75% of steel fiber for weight of cement for M20 grade concrete gives maximum strength in compression and 1% in tensile and flexural strength without compromising workability.

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