Curing Technologies for Cement-Based Materials: Mechanisms, Performance and Future Trends

抄録

Curing plays a critical role in determining the mechanical performance and durability of cement-based materials. However, existing studies remain fragmented, with most reviews focusing on individual techniques rather than providing a unified understanding of the underlying mechanisms. To address this limitation, this study presents a combined bibliometric and mechanism-oriented review of curing technologies based on 2350 publications (between 2000 and 2026). Bibliometric analysis reveals a clear evolution from conventional empirical curing methods toward advanced, sustainability-driven, and intelligent control approaches. More importantly, a unified thermo-hygro-mechanical (THM) framework is established to interpret curing processes as coupled regulation of temperature and moisture fields, which govern hydration kinetics, microstructure evolution, and stress development. Based on this framework, the reviewed approaches are classified into thermal regulation-dominated curing, moisture regulation-dominated curing, reaction-assisted curing or controlled environmental conditioning, and data-driven intelligent control. The framework explicitly distinguishes curing measures for freshly cast concrete from environmental conditioning used to reproduce or accelerate prescribed conditions, while providing a common THM basis for comparing their regulation pathways and material responses. A mechanism-based analytical scheme is further proposed to unify different curing approaches through their regulation pathways and performance outcomes. The results highlight a fundamental transition from single-field control to multi-field coupled regulation, and ultimately toward closed-loop intelligent curing systems. Future research should focus on multi-field coupling mechanisms, predictive models, and low-energy intelligent curing strategies. This work provides a unified theoretical perspective and practical guidance for advancing curing technologies in modern engineering applications.