Study on the Effects of Innovative Curing Combinations on the Early Temperature Field of Concrete Box Girders

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This research studies on the Effects of Innovative Curing Combinations on the  Early Temperature Field of Concrete Box Girder. Introduction provide sufficient background of literatures. All the cited references are found relevant to the research. The theoretical background is well explained. Methods are adequately described. The results are clearly presented. The conclusions are supported by the experimental results. However, the following minor comments are to be addressed.

1. Abstract, Line 16-20

Split the sentence.

The advantages and disadvantages of the two innovative combination curing methods and the early curing effects on  the construction of a box girder in summer were investigated and analyzed based on the temperature field of the box girder under different curing methods, and the time history curves of the temperature at each key node of the box girder and the time history curves of the temperature difference 20 between the inside and outside of the box girder

2. Keywords:

Arrange it in alphabetical order. Also Capitalize each key word

3. Start the article with 1.INTRODUCTION heading

4. Citations format within the main text is wrong. Adhere the journal guidelines

5. Mention the novelty of your research

6. Line 85, 90 -  The units are not in Line. Correct it.

7. Line no. 107 to 117 : Don’t put serial number…Instead, insert bulletin.

8. Line 157, 168, 176, 183, 191. Use roman letter or Alphabet.

9. Line 224, 228, 232, 239. Use roman letter or Alphabet.

10. Provide the INRODUCTON, EXPERIMENTAL METHOD, RESULT AND DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION sections, so that it satisfies journal guidelines

11. More citations should be added.

Author Response

Thank you very much for the comments and suggestions given by the reviewers, which will be very helpful for the improvement of the author's research, for which the author has made the following modifications to the study:

1. Split 16-20 lines of sentences
2. Keywords are arranged alphabetically and capitalized
3. Modify the introduction title
4. Modify the body reference format
5. The abstract conclusion reflects the novelty
6. Corrected units for Line 85, 90
7. Changes to lines 107 to1 17
8. Use the Roman alphabet or alphabet for lines 157, 168, 176, 183, 191
9. Use the Roman alphabet or alphabet for lines 224, 228, 232, 239.
10. The corresponding instructions are provided in the summary
11. Increase citations

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

1.       The authors mentioned in the abstract, "Box girder bridges are often subject to cracking due to wet temperature changes" are you sure about the term "wet"? Wet temperature is much better than dry temperature when it comes to cracking concrete.

2.       The authors mentioned in the abstract "The research results show that the mold paste 21 method and automatic water spray method (combination B method) is more suitable for the early 22 curing of box girders in summer." It is suitable based on what?

3.       The authors mentioned in Line 29 "there is no reasonable way to maintain the concrete at the early stage of hardening" maintain what in concrete?

4.       The literature review for lines 40 to 76 did not mention the previous findings. The style of the literature review was similar to storytelling without results or discussion.

5.       The introduction section is incomplete or structurally mixed. It should include four key components: motivation, literature survey, contributions, and the organization of the paper. Please modify this section accordingly by highlighting the research problem that motivated the authors to do their work.

6.       Have you thought about the internal curing technique?

7.       I don’t see any validation for the results in Figs 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13!

8.       The cost analysis of the proposed technique is required for both combination A and B methods.

9.       Reporting the result is not research, it is a small part of the research. Please add more explanations for all the reported results. Comparing with previous researchers would be helpful.

10.   Finally, nothing was mentioned about further study in the Limitations and further study section!

Author Response

Thank you very much for the comments and suggestions given by the reviewers, which will be very helpful for the improvement of the author's research, for which the author has made the following modifications to the study:

1. Optimize the presentation in the text
2. Based on the comparative analysis results of box girder temperature under three maintenance methods: natural curing, combination A maintenance and B combination curing
3. It means that "there is no reasonable maintenance method in the early stage of concrete hardening"
4. The previous findings are in the introduction paragraphs 1 to 2
5. Adjust the optimization of the introduction section
6. This paper mainly studies external conservation methods
7. This paper mainly analyzes the temperature change law from a theoretical point of view
8. The cost difference between the two combined methods of A and B is not much
9. Add a description to the results section
10. Further study sections are not considered

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Buildings-1874572: Study on the effects of innovative curing combinations on the early temperature field of concrete box girder. 

General comments

The manuscript reports on the effects of combined curing regimes on temperature increases in concrete box girders during curing. It is well-written and there are only few errors. A few minor changes would however enhance the quality of the manuscript. In making references, it is ideal to have the year of the reference shown during referencing in the text. This obviates the need to have to navigate to the list of references at the end of the manuscript in order to establish the year of publication. Also, it is customary to report in the past tense.

Certain outcomes are also not very clearly explained to the reader, for example why the Time-Temperature curves (in Fig 8) could not be used to determine the peak temperature as occurring at 48 hours, and instead adopting the time history curves in Fig 9 that moves the peak to 72 hours.  This aspect can perhaps be explained better.

For other minor issues, an annotated copy is attached. In addition, a section on specific comments is also provided.

Specific comments

1.      Page 5 lines 161-163. The reading flow for this part does appear smooth. It is recommended that the authors consider rephrasing.

2.      Page 5, the use of numbers for the bullet points on Conservation effect, Economy, and on Special attention duplicates the use of numbers in numbering the different curing regimes. It is recommended that the authors consider use of roman numeral or letters.

3.      Page 5 – Spraying conservation agent curing method. It is not clear what the authors mean by referring to “concrete cannot be sprinkled before the final stage”

4.      Page 6 – Section 3 on mold paste curing method. This part appears to suggest that all curing takes place during the tenure of the formwork, and that no striking of the formwork takes place until curing is completed. This is not very clear. It is recommended that the authors clarify that the curing is for the duration of the formwork and that there is no curing after the formwork has been removed.

5.      Figure 5 is not very clear how it illustrates mould paste curing method. It is recommended that the authors refer to, or highlight, the key features identifiable in the figure.

6.      Page 7, Section 4. The use of template and plate is confusing. It is recommended that the authors explain what is referred to as the template, and/or adopt terms that make it easier for the reader to distinguish elements of the concrete box girder and other aspects/elements, such as of formwork. In addition, there should be consistency I referring to mold or formwork.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Thank you very much for the comments and suggestions given by the reviewers, which will be very helpful for the improvement of the author's research, for which the author has made the following modifications to the study:

1. Rewrite the section
2. Roman numerals were used for the place
3. Modifications to this statement
4. Make modifications to this section
5. Add key features to Figure 5
6. Amendments to section 4 were harmonized

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Accepted