Abstract
A methodology is presented for the mixture proportioning of ordinary Portland cement concretes to supply internal curing via the addition of saturated lightweight fine aggregates. The necessary internal curing water is calculated to balance the water consumed by chemical shrinkage during the hydration of the cement. In addition to the original concrete's mixture proportions, the two main issues to be considered are the chemical shrinkage of the cement as a function of chemical composition and curing temperature and the sorption properties of the lightweight aggregates. The simulated spatial distribution of the internal curing water as a function of mixture proportions can be conveniently examined using a freely available web site (
http://ciks.cbt.nist.gov/lwagg.html).