This paper examines the influence of dosing method and material characteristic of superabsorbent polymers (SAP) used for internal curing, on the selected concrete properties. A new method of introducing SAP into the concrete mix and its impact on the shrinkage and compressive strength of concrete was studied. It was shown that the method of dosing SAP to the concrete mix and the differences in the properties of the tested SAPs have a significant impact on the course of changes of selected properties of the tested concrete composites. In order to compare tested series with each other and with other published results on the subject, a new method of including SAP mass content in the concrete mix, as a percentage of absorbed mixing water, was presented. The effectiveness of internal curing using different types of SAP under different dosing methods was presented as a percentage difference in tested concrete properties between modified series and reference series.
Keywords: absorption; cement concrete; desorption; internal curing; shrinkage; superabsorbent polymers.