CVL141 Lecture 08

CVL141
Civil Engineering Materials

Chapter 8
Shashank Bishnoi
Fresh concrete
2
S. Bishnoi, IIT Delhi
Properties of fresh concrete
 Workability
 Rheology
 Bleeding and Segregation
 Air content
 Setting
3
Workability
 ASTM C125 defnition:
 Workability is the property determining the
efort required to manipulate a freshly
mixed quantity of concrete with minimum
loss of homogeneity
 Manipulate: Placing, compacting and
fnishing
 Workability includes:
 Consistency: The relative mobility or ability
to fow
 Cohesiveness: Stability or lack of bleeding
and segregation
4
Workability required
 Is not absolute, it depends on:
 Type of construction, e.g. Massive concrete
or thin slab
 Method of placement, e.g. pump or chutes
 Method of compaction, e.g. vibrators or
hand tamping
 Method of fnishing, e.g. screeding or
trowelling
5
The concrete process
 Batching
 Mixing
 Transport
 Placing
 Compacting
 Finishing
 Curing
 Formwork removal
6
Transportation
Source: Portland Cement Association

7
Compacting concrete

8
Honeycombing

9
Finishing
Darbying Vibratory screed

10
Measuring workability
 Tests of consistency
 Slump
 Slump fow
 Vebe test
 Tests of compaction
 Compacting factor test
 Tests for cohesivehess
 Bleeding test, e.g. ASTM C232
11
Workability – slump test
From Mehta and Monteiro

12
Types of slump
13
Workability – slump test
Source: PCA
14
Workability – Vebe test
 Invented by V.
Bährner
 Used for stif concretes
 Workability measured
in vebe seconds
 EN 12350-3 and
ASTM C1170

15
Vebe test
16
Vebe test
http://geotechnical-equipment.com
17
ASTM C1170
 Test for consistency
and density of roller
compacted concrete
 Uses 2 surcharge
weights of 22.7 kg
and 12.5 kg
depending on
stifness of concrete
 Measure vebe time
and density
18
Workability – compacting factor
 This test measures the
compaction achieved
when a standard amount
of work is done on the
concrete
 A ratio of density
achieved to density in
compacted state gives
the compacting factor
 BS 1881-103
19
Slump fow test
Knipptang - Wikipedia
20
Slump fow test
21
Slump fow test
22
Slump fow test
 ASTM C1611 – Slump fow of self-
consolidating concrete
 No tamping or compaction
 Measure T50 – time taken to reach
diameter of 500 mm
 Measure largest diameter of fow
 Observe segregation, bleeding, etc.
23
ASTM C1611 – Very stable
24
ASTM C1611 – Stable
25
ASTM C1611 – Unstable
26
ASTM C1611 – Highly unstable
27
Flow table test
 ASTM C230, C1437 –
For cement pastes and
mortars
 After the mould is
removed the table is
dropped 25 times in 15
secs
 Flow is the increase in
diameter as percent of
original diameter
civilab.com
28
Factors afecting workability
 Water content
 Workability usually increases with water
content
 Cement content and fneness
 Drastically low cement content increases
harshness
 Aggregate characteristics
 Finer and angular aggregates reduce
workability
 Admixtures
29
Slump loss
 Not related to setting
 Due to:
 Absorption in aggregates
 Evaporation of water
 Hydration
 Depends on:
 Temperature
 Sun, wind, etc.
 Time
 Cement reactivity
30
Segregation
 Separation of the constituents of a
heterogeneous mixture so that their
distribution is no longer uniform
 Due to diferences in sizes of particles
and densities of components
 Larger and heavier particles tend to settle
 Grout (water and cement) tends to rise
31
Segregation
32
Factors afecting segregation
 Larger or heavier coarse aggregates and
gap grading
 Low fnes content in sand
 Low cement content
 Too dry or too wet concrete
 Over-vibration
33
Bleeding
 Rise of water in the mix to the surface
of fresh concrete
 Due to inability of solids in mix to retain
water as they settle
 Finishing usually done after bleeding has
stopped
 Bleeding can not lead to rise in surface
of water
 Measured either by settlement or by
volume of bleed water
34
Bleeding
35
Efects of bleeding
 Weaker and non-uniform surface
 Non-uniform or channelled bleeding can
lead to weak and porous concrete
 Rise of fne cement particles with water,
laitance, can lead to weak surface
36
Factors afecting bleeding
 Rate of bleeding increases with
temperature
 Bleeding reduces by:
 Increasing fneness of cement and fnes
 Reducing water content
 High alkali, C3A or CaCl2 content
 Increasing cement content
 Use of pozzolans or aluminium powder
 Air entrainment
37
Quantifcation of bleeding
 Bleeding capacity: Volume of water
released per unit surface of fresh
concrete or per unit volume of concrete
or initial water
 Bleeding rate: Rate of release of water
or subsidence of the surface
 Duration of bleeding: Period elapsed
from placing until bleeding virtually
stops
38
Measurement of bleeding
From PCA Powers, 1968

39
Cement and concrete rheology
 Rheology deals with deformation and
fow of matter
 Rheological states:
 Disperse state – System where particles
have no tendency to remain near each other
 Thixotropic state – Systems which though
viscous under normal conditions fow when
agitated
 Flocculated state – Systems where no forces
prevent the particles from coming close
together
40
Flocculent state of cement
Flocculation
Flocculent state
41
Some terms in concrete rheology
 Consistency
 The relative mobility or ability of fresh
concrete or mortar to fow
 Degree of frmness, density, viscosity or
resistance to movement or separation of
constituent particles
 Elasticity
 Capability of a strained body to recover its
size and shape after it has become deformed
by external forces
42
 Viscosity
 Property of a substance that enables it to
yield continually under a constant shearing
stress
 Force per unit area for for unit reduction in
velocity in fuid at unit distance
 In cement, the solid particles increase
viscosity
 Plasticity
 Ability of a soft material to retain any given
shape
43
 Thixotropy or Shear thinning –
Reduction of apparent viscosity with
shear force
Powers 1968
44
Rheological behaviour of concrete
 Fresh concrete is not:
 Purely thixotropic
 Newtonian fuid
 Bingham fuid
 Purely elastic
 Purely plastic
45
Fresh concrete under shear
46
Void content in concrete
 Despite vibration, air voids may remain
in concrete
 While they should be minimised, they
can make up to 3% of the volume
 Usually spherical in shape and as large
as a 3mm
 Entrained air is added to concrete using
air entraining agents up to 4-7%
 Entrained air is much fner than trapped
air
47
Non AE vs. AE concrete
PCA
48
AE concrete
PCA
49
Characteristics of air-void system
 Total air content – % volume of air
 Spacing factor – maximum distance of
any point from periphery of air void
(length)
 Specifc surface – Surface area of air
voids divided by their volume
 Void frequency – Voids per unit length
of traverse
50
Measuring air content
From PCA
51
Pressure method for air voids
ASTM C231
52
Pressure method for air voids
ASTM C231
53
Volumetric method for air voids
ASTM C173
54
Void spacing factor and sp. surface
55 PCA ASTM C457

Void-spacing factor
ASTM C457
56
Air void analyser
Aare 1998, PCA

57
Air Loss
 Although air-bubbles are stabilised by
the air-entraining admixture, the system
is intrinsically unstable
 Loss of air occurs with time due to
internal and external factors
 Over-agitation
 Haul time
 Temperature
 Amount of retempering
 Overfnishing
 Slump of concrete
58
Setting
 Setting is usually assumed to be the
point beyond which any vibration/work
on concrete can lead to irreversible
destruction of microstructure
 Initial set marks the point at which the
stifening starts
 Final set is the point at which the
structure is fully rigid
 Measurements are usually arbitrary
59
Setting time of cement paste
 Standard Consistency:
10mm plunger (G),
penetration 5-7 mm
from bottom
 Initial set: 1mm2
needle (C),
penetration 5 mm
from bottom
 Final set: 1 mm2
needle, only needle
(F) makes impression
60
Setting time of concrete
27.6 MPa
3.5
PCA, ASTM C403

61
Setting time using UPV
Lee et al. 2004

62
Setting time using UPV
Lee et al. 2004

63
Initial and fnal set
64
Site-practice
 Mixing
 Transporting
 Placing
 Compacting
 Finishing
 Curing
65
Mixing – stationary mixers
66 PCA
Ready-mix concrete – truck mixers
67 PCA
Agitating using truck mixer
68 PCA
Agitation
69 PCA
Remixing concrete
 Water may be added provided w/c is
within limits
 Only if slump is less than specifed
 Remixing should ensure uniformity
(minimum 30 revs.)
70
Transporting – Wheelbarrows
71 PCA
Belt-conveyors
72 PCA
Belt-conveyors
Provide at least 0.6 m Belt Scraper

(24 in.) headroom for
downpipe, elephant
trunk or equivalent
No
Separation
73 PCA
Belt-conveyor
74 PCA
Cranes and buckets
75 PCA
Pumps
76 PCA
Slip-form pavers
77 PCA
Before placing
78 PCA
Compaction
79 PCA
Action of vibrator
Vibrator
1½ R
80 PCA
Placing and vibrating on slope
 Placing from top
may lead to
removal of concrete
from top and
segregation
81 PCA
Screeding/strikeof
82 PCA
Vibratory screeds
83 PCA
Floating/Bullfoating
84 PCA
Power-foating
85 PCA
Darbying
86 PCA
Edging
87 PCA
Troweling
88 PCA
Brooming
89 PCA
Tining
90 PCA
Bonding to hardened concrete
91 PCA
Contraction joints
92 PCA
Contraction joints
PCA
93
Construction joints
94 PCA
Work-safety
95 PCA
Summary
 Workability of concrete
 Test methods for workability
 Segregation and bleeding
 Rheology
 Measuring air voids
96
Thank you!
97

CVL141 Lecture 08

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CVL141

Civil Engineering Materials

Source: Portland Cement Association

Source: Portland Cement Association

Source: Portland Cement Association

Darbying Vibratory screed

From Mehta and Monteiro

From Mehta and Monteiro

From PCA Powers, 1968

55 PCA ASTM C457

Aare 1998, PCA

PCA, ASTM C403

Lee et al. 2004

Lee et al. 2004

Provide at least 0.6 m Belt Scraper

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