Effects of surface hardeners on the performance of concrete floors prepared with different mixture proportions

Abstract Constant growth in the concrete floor sector claims new techniques to improve concrete performance and avoid undesirable issues. In this way, materials used in concrete floors are essential, and it is critical to investigate them. Therefore, this study evaluated the influence of surface hardeners on the surface hardness determined by the rebound hammer test of concrete floors prepared with distinct water/cement ratios, curing ages, and cement types. The control parameters of the concrete’s production, including the compressive strength, flexural tensile strength, and bleeding tests were analyzed. In addition, data were assessed by multifactorial analysis of variance (ANOVA). Thus, hardeners increased the surface resistance of the composites, therefore reducing the chances of pathological manifestations occurring. Taken together, we demonstrated that hardeners improved the concrete surface prepared with all mixture proportions, but it was more significant when using the cementitious hardener and higher w/c content (0.6).