EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON SELF CURING CONCRETE USING COIR PITH AS FINE AGGREGATE

Curing is the process in which the concrete is protected from loss of moisture and kept within a reasonable temperature range. This process results in concrete with increased strength and decreased permeability. Large quantity of good quality water is needed for curing concrete and labor has to be conscious while curing. Curing is difficult when works carried out at heights. Curing can be done both internally and externally. For external curing ponding, wet covering, fogging, sprinkling, etc., can be adopted. Internal curing can be done by adding admixtures in the concrete. In this project, sand is replaced by coir pith for the internal curing purpose. Coir pith can hold water up to 25-40 days. Due to this water holding capacity coir pith is used in agriculture. So, replacement is done for sand by 2%, 4%, 6% and 8% of coir pith in concrete and concrete tests for these replaced concrete specimens are done. Results of conventional concrete specimens and coir pith replaced concrete specimens can be compared and conclusion is arrived