EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON SELF CURING CONCRETE USING BIOMATERIALS AS ADMIXTURES

Concrete is the basic engineering material used in most of the civil engineering structures. Its popularity as basic building material in construction is because of its economy of use, good durability and ease with which it can be manufactured at site. With advent of new generation admixtures, it is possible to achieve higher grades of concrete with high workability levels economically. To attain the target strength proper curing is necessary. Curing is the process of maintaining a satisfactory moisture content and temperature in concrete during its early stages so that desired properties may develop. 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. In this paper, it is planned to investigate the fresh and hardened properties of the concrete by adding Silica Fume, extract from Calotropis Gigantea and Cypress tree bark. The Proportion of Calotropis Gigantea starting from 0.2% to 0.4% with the gradual increase of 0.1%.The cypress bark extract water is used instead of mixing water (15 %).Silica Fume is used instead of cement (15%).