Ben ammar B - Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, University Mohamed Khider, Biskra, Algeria
Mezghiche B - Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, University Mohamed Khider, Biskra, Algeria

The discovery of hydraulic cement made it possible to the manufacturers to reach a malleable material at the fresh state and having the properties of the stone at the hardened state. The neat cement grout plays the part of binder and allows the manufacture of the concrete by incorporating sand and gravel. The concrete occupies, since its invention, the first place in volume of use of materials in the field of the building and the civilengineering. Its interest comes from its great simplicity of implementation, its resistance in compression, its durability and its low cost. It also presents other qualities, a such excellent behaviour with fire, a great impact resistance, a good protection against nuclear radiations, etc…. However, the material concrete must adapt in a continuous way to new requirements and new needs. This article shows the effect of natural steam curing of fresh concrete (by solar energy) on the mechanical strength of concrete for prefabricated elements during the early hours of heating, in order to reach the minimum of resistance deemed essential for the rotation of mussels, with which it is capable of supporting loads without distortion or loss of load-bearing capacity while saving energy for heating.

natural steam curing, fresh concrete, mechanical strength, solar energy