Abstract: Severe climate conditions in northwest China, such as drought, insufficient rain, large evaporation and large temperature difference between day and night are liable to lead to concrete cracking. Reasonable curing method provides necessary temperature and humidity conditions during concrete hardening and enhances the cracking resistance of concrete. In order to obtain the effect of curing method on the crack resistance of concrete in arid climate, we made a statistical analysis on the crack width, crack time, crack length and crack number of concretes. Results demonstrated that dry shrinkage cracks would occur after detaching the mold plates unless proper curing measures are taken. Under severe weather conditions, conventional curing measures such as plastic film wrapping and sprinkler curing could not meet the temperature and humidity conditions required for concrete hardening, resulting in poor crack resistance. Steam curing could effectively prevent early cracking of concrete, reduce the number of cracks and inhibit the development of crack width, and improve the crack resistance of concrete.

Key words: concrete, crack resistance, curing method, arid region, desiccation crack, steam curing