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MECHANICAL COMPACTION OF CONCRETE: A GOVERENING FACTOR FOR

DURABILITY AND SERVICEABILITY OF THE CONCRETE

Conference Paper · March 2014

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 ISBN: 978-81-929339-0-0
National Conference on: “Trends and Challenges of Civil Engineering in Today’s Transforming World”

MECHANICAL COMPACTION OF CONCRETE: A

GOVERENING FACTOR FOR DURABILITY AND
SERVICEABILITY OF THE CONCRETE

Ranchhod Mata1, Prof. Jayeshkumar Pitroda2, Prof. J. J. Bhavsar3

1
Student of first year M.E (C.E & M), B.V.M Engineering College, Vallabh Vidyanagar
2
Assistant Professor and Research Scholar, Civil Engineering Department, B.V.M. Engineering College,
Vallabh Vidyanagar-Gujarat-India
3
Associate Professor and PG Coordinator (M.E C E & M), Civil Engineering Department, B.V.M.
Engineering College, Vallabh Vidyanagar-Gujarat-India

1
ranchod111@gmail.com
2
jayesh.pitroda@bvmengineering.ac.in
3
jaydev_2004@yahoo.co.in

Abstract: Compaction is the governing factor for the strength, durability and serviceability of the
concrete. During the placing of the concrete in the form air is likely to trap within the concrete
body, hence the density of the concrete is decreasing; ultimately it affects the strength, durability
and serviceability of the concrete body. Vibration is the best remedy for getting rid off the
trapped air from the concrete. At earlier stages when advanced vibrators were not found
generally hand compaction method were adopted, but nowadays is a trend to use mechanical
compaction method for compaction of the concrete. According to the condition we can use
immersion vibration, surface vibration, or from vibration. We must use such vibration method
with certain precaution to avoid any damages.

Keywords: Compaction, Durability, Strength, Serviceability, Vibration

INTRODUCTION

“Compaction is the process which expels entrapped air from freshly placed concrete and packs
the aggregate particles together so as to increase the density of concrete.” The aggregate
particles, although coated with mortar, tend to arch against one another and are prevented from
slumping or consolidating by internal friction. Compaction of concrete is, therefore, a two-stage
process.

29th March, 2014, Civil Engineering Department S.N.P.I.T. & R.C., Umrakh
 ISBN: 978-81-929339-0-0
National Conference on: “Trends and Challenges of Civil Engineering in Today’s Transforming World”

In first stage with the vibration, initial consolidation of the concrete can often be achieved
relatively quickly. The concrete liquefies and the surface levels, giving the impression that the
concrete is compacted, then after the second stage, entrapped air is expelled. Entrapped air takes
a little longer to rise to the surface. Compaction must therefore be prolonged until this is
accomplished, i.e. until air bubbles no longer appear on the surface. Shown in Figure 1.

Proper compaction also ensures that the formwork is completely filled – i.e. there are no pockets
of honeycombed material – and that the required finish is obtained on vertical surfaces.

Even air-entrained concrete needs to be compacted to get rid of entrapped air voids. The
difference between air voids and entrained air bubbles should be noted at this stage. The air
bubbles that are entrained are relatively small and spherical in shape, increase the workability of
the mix, reduce bleeding, and increase frost resistance. Entrapped air on the other hand tends to
be irregular in shape and is detrimental to the strength of the mix. It is to remove this air that the
concrete must be properly compacted. There is little danger that compaction will remove the
minute air bubbles that have been deliberately entrained, since they are so stable.

29th March, 2014, Civil Engineering Department S.N.P.I.T. & R.C., Umrakh
 ISBN: 978-81-929339-0-0
National Conference on: “Trends and Challenges of Civil Engineering in Today’s Transforming World”

IMORTANCE OF COMPACTION OF CONCRETE

It is important to compact the concrete fully because, Air voids reduce the strength of the
concrete. For every 1% of entrapped air, the strength falls by somewhere between 5 and 7%.
This means that concrete containing about 5% air voids due to incomplete compaction can lose
as much as one third of its strength. Figure 2

Air voids increase concrete's permeability. That in turn reduces its durability. If the concrete is
not dense and impermeable, it will not be watertight. It will be less able to withstand aggressive
liquids and its exposed surfaces will weather badly. Moisture and air are more likely to penetrate
to the reinforcement causing it to rust. Air voids impair contact between the mix and
reinforcement (and, indeed, any other embedded metals). The required bond will not be achieved
and the reinforced member will not be as strong as it should be. Air voids produce blemishes on
struck surfaces. For instance, blowholes and honeycombing might occur. Summing up, fully
compacted concrete is dense, strong and durable; badly compacted concrete will be porous, weak
and prone to rapid deterioration. Sooner or later it will have to be repaired or replaced. It pays,
therefore, to do the job properly in the first place.

29th March, 2014, Civil Engineering Department S.N.P.I.T. & R.C., Umrakh
 ISBN: 978-81-929339-0-0
National Conference on: “Trends and Challenges of Civil Engineering in Today’s Transforming World”

METHODS OF MECHANICAL COMPACTION

Figure 3: Methods of Mechanical Compaction

IMMERSION VIBRATION

Figure 4: Detail Sketch of Needle Vibrator

29th March, 2014, Civil Engineering Department S.N.P.I.T. & R.C., Umrakh
 ISBN: 978-81-929339-0-0
National Conference on: “Trends and Challenges of Civil Engineering in Today’s Transforming World”

In immersion vibration a mechanical device termed as needle vibrator is broadly used by many
firms frequently referred to as „poker‟ or „needle‟ vibrators, immersion vibrators consist
essentially of a tubular housing which contains a rotating eccentric weight. The out-of-balance
rotating weight causes the casing to vibrate. When immersed in concrete, the concrete itself.
Depending on the diameter of the casing or head, and on the frequency and the amplitude of the
vibration, an immersion vibrator may have a radius of action between 100 and 600 mm. The
effectiveness of an immersion vibrator is dependent on its frequency and amplitude, the latter
being dependent on the size of the head, the eccentric moment and the head weight – the larger
the head, the larger the amplitude.

As the water cement ratio of concrete decreasing the higher compactive effort required so we
should use the larger diameter head for such kind of work. Immersion vibrators may be driven
by: a flexible shaft connected to a petrol, diesel, or electric motor; or an electric motor situated
within the tubular casing; or compressed air. But most commonly vibrators no the site are
driven by a flexible shaft connected to a petrol, diesel, or electric motor as shown in Figure 4.

CASH STUDY FOR NEEDLE VIBRATOR:

TABLE 1:

Diameter of Recommended Average Radius of Rate of

head Frequency Amplitude Action Concreting
(mm) (HZ) (mm) (mm) (cmt/hour)

20–40 150–250 0.4–0.8 75–150 1–4

30–65 140–210 0.5–1.0 125–250 2–8

50–90 130–200 0.6–1.3 175–350 6–20

75–150 120–180 0.8–1.5 300–500 11–31

125–175 90–140 1.0–2.0 400–600 19–38

Source: Adapted from Table 5.1 ACI Committee Report: Guide for Consolidation of Concrete 309R-05 ACI
Manual of Concrete Practice 2006 Part 2.

29th March, 2014, Civil Engineering Department S.N.P.I.T. & R.C., Umrakh
 ISBN: 978-81-929339-0-0
National Conference on: “Trends and Challenges of Civil Engineering in Today’s Transforming World”

Following care should be taken while using the immersion vibrator:

 As a general rule, the radius of action of a given vibrator not only increases with the
workability of the concrete (higher slump), but also with the diameter of the head
 Immersion vibrators should be inserted vertically into concrete, as quickly as possible, and
then held stationary until air bubbles cease to rise to the surface, usually in about 15–20
seconds
 The vibrator should then be slowly withdrawn and reinserted vertically in a fresh position
adjacent to the first. These movements should be repeated in a regular pattern until all the
concrete has been compacted
 Random insertions are likely to leave areas of the concrete uncompacted.
 The vibrator should not be used to cause concrete to flow horizontally in the forms, as this
can lead to segregation the vibrator should not be dragged through the concrete as this leads
to inadequate compaction and increases the risk of segregation.
 In deep sections such as walls, footings and large columns, the concrete should be placed in
layers about 300 mm thick
 The vibrator should penetrate about 150 mm into the previous layer of fresh concrete to meld
the two layers together and avoid „cold-pour‟ lines on the finished surface
 One should try overlap of this vibration circle should limited to allowed overlapping limits
shown in figure. Because it leads to over vibration at the overlapped portion of the vibrating
circle as shown in figure 5
 The vibrator should not be allowed to touch the forms as this can cause „burn‟ marks which
will be reflected on the finished surface
 Similarly, the vibrator should not be held against the reinforcement as this may cause its
displacement.
 Inclined forms are prone to trapping air. To minimize this tendency, the best technique is to
place the concrete close to, but away from the side of the form and insert the immersion
vibrator close to the leading edge of the concrete, forcing it to properly fill the corner, Void-
formers are also prone to trapping air on their undersides if concrete is placed from both sides
and then compacted. Concrete should be placed at one side and, maintaining a head, vibrated
until it appears at the other side.

29th March, 2014, Civil Engineering Department S.N.P.I.T. & R.C., Umrakh
 ISBN: 978-81-929339-0-0
National Conference on: “Trends and Challenges of Civil Engineering in Today’s Transforming World”

Figure 5 : Pattern of compaction

Surface vibration:

Surface vibrators are applied to the top surface of concrete and act downwards from there. They
are very useful for compacting slabs, industrial floors, road pavements, and similar flat surfaces.
They also aid in levelling and finishing the surface. There are a number of types of surface
vibrators including vibrating-roller screeds, vibrating-beam screeds. The most common type is
the single or double vibrating-beam screed. or Roller screed. Or Plate vibrator as Shown below
in Figure 6.

Beam screed vibrator Roller screed vibrator Plate vibrator

Fig. 6: Different Surface vibrators
Source : Google Images

29th March, 2014, Civil Engineering Department S.N.P.I.T. & R.C., Umrakh
 ISBN: 978-81-929339-0-0
National Conference on: “Trends and Challenges of Civil Engineering in Today’s Transforming World”

Beam Screed vibrator:

A vibrating-beam screed consists of either one or two beams, made from aluminium, steel or
timber, to which is attached a form of vibrating unit to allow the beams to impart adequate
vibration to the concrete. This may be a single unit, mounted centrally, or may consist of a series
of eccentric weights on a shaft driven from a motor on one end and supported on a trussed frame

In general, the centrally-mounted units have a maximum span of about 6 m, but the trussed units
may span up to 20 m. The intensity of vibration, and hence the amount of compaction achieved,
decreases with depth because surface vibrators act from the top down. Therefore, the slab
thickness for which compaction by surface vibrators is effective will vary (from 100 to 200 mm)
depending on the size and operation of the unit used. As shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Surface Vibrator

With centrally-mounted vibration units, the degree of compaction achieved may vary across the
width of the beam. It is generally desirable, therefore, to supplement vibrating-beam compaction
by using immersion vibrators alongside edge forms. The effectiveness of vibration, and hence
degree of compaction, increases with an increase in the beam weight, the amplitude and the
frequency,As the forward speed of beam increases compaction decreases and vise versa. Speed
of screed should be limited to between 0.5 and 1.0 m/min. for getting batter output. The lower
speed should be used for thicker slabs and where reinforcement is close to the top face

29th March, 2014, Civil Engineering Department S.N.P.I.T. & R.C., Umrakh
 ISBN: 978-81-929339-0-0
National Conference on: “Trends and Challenges of Civil Engineering in Today’s Transforming World”

Roller Screed vibrator:

Roller screed vibrator is same of that beam screed vibrators in mechanism. In this type of
vibrator beam is replaced by long cylindrical roller. Here roller is given vibration through
internal rotating imbalanced weight. Vibration is occurred throughout the cross section is same.

Plate Vibrator:

Plate vibrator is generally used in laboratories. It is generally used for compaction of practical
specification made in lab, It is not preferred on large scale of concreting done on big sites
Vibrating table techniques are usually restricted to recasting operations ,Also reflection of the
pressure waves against the concrete surface will influence the amplitude distribution. Table
vibrators can give less consistent results even with careful operation.

Form Vibration:

Figure 8: Form Vibration

In form vibration an external mechanical vibrating device is used and it is attached with the form
work. Shown in Figure 8. Form vibrators are useful with complicated members or where the
reinforcement is highly congested, This types of vibrator must used with smooth surface form
work so it can allow easy flow of concrete over the surface. They are clamped to the outside of
the formwork and vibrate it thus compacting the concrete in this type of vibration first vibration
is transferred to the form work and then it is transferred to the concrete. Due to above reason it
consumes more power than the ordinary vibrators. The formwork will need to be specially
designed to resist the forces imposed on it.

29th March, 2014, Civil Engineering Department S.N.P.I.T. & R.C., Umrakh
 ISBN: 978-81-929339-0-0
National Conference on: “Trends and Challenges of Civil Engineering in Today’s Transforming World”

CONCLUSIONS
Today‟s rapid growing world Concrete is most essential material for construction. But the
concrete properties like strength, durability, serviceability are the problem. But with complete
compaction of concrete one can improve concrete property like strength, durability,
serviceability with great extent.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The Authors thankfully acknowledge to Dr. C. L. Patel, Chairman, Charutar Vidya Mandal,
Er.V.M.Patel, Hon. Jt. Secretary, Charutar Vidya Mandal, Mr. Yatinbhai Desai, Jay Maharaj
construction, Dr. F.S.Umrigar, Principal, B.V.M. Engineering College, Dr. L.B.Zala, Head and
Professor, Civil Engineering Department, Dr. A. K. Verma, Head and Professor, Structural
Engineering Department, B.V.M. Engineering College, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat, India for
their motivations and infrastructural support to carry out this research.

REFERENCE
[1] Concrete Technology by M.S.Shetty
[2] Cement & Concrete Association of New Zealand Bulletin
[3] Cement Concrete & Aggregate Australia Bulletin
[4] www.concrete.net.au
[5] www.wikipedia.org
[6] www.google.co.in

29th March, 2014, Civil Engineering Department S.N.P.I.T. & R.C., Umrakh

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