SELF COMPACTING CONCRETE (SCC)

What is SCC
 SCC is very flow able concrete that never needs to be consolidated to fill forms
 It looks a little like lumpy pancake batter
 Placed flat, like for a slab, it is virtually self-leveling
 The consistency is measured by what's called slump flow, where the width of the
puddle left is measured when a slump cone is filled and lifted
 Slump flow for SCC varies from 18 to 30 inches.
Thus:
Self-Consolidating Concrete flows easily between obstructions to fill a form
without vibration
 But self-consolidating concrete is NOT simply concrete that flows.
 If that's all then lots of water can be used.
 The currently accepted definition of what makes good SCC has three parts:
 High flow ability: Easy flow into the finest details of formwork and around
reinforcement under its own weight. This is also called workability or filling
ability.
 Passing ability: Ability to flow through tight spaces, like congested steel
reinforcing bars or narrow spots in the formwork

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  Stability: Stability implies that at very high slumps the concrete doesn't
 segregate,
 remains homogenous
 No separation of the aggregate from the cement paste.
 This is the big difference between SCC and simply wet sloppy concrete.
 There are actually two kinds of stability:
 Dynamic Stability that is it stays stable while being transported and
placed
 Static Stability that is it stays stable--the aggregate doesn't settle and it
doesn't bleed excessively--while it is in the forms but not yet hardened.
 Magically, it is not much different than conventional concrete. In fact, super
plasticizers (high-range water reducers) are used to achieve the flowability, and lots
of fines, the concrete can be proportioned for very low water-cement ratios and
achieves very high strengths and low permeability.
 Self-consolidating concrete (SCC) is recognized as one of the greatest advances in
the concrete industry over the past 20 years
 Using new admixtures and some mix modifications, concrete can be produce that
flows easily without segregating.
 It is the self-consolidating nature of SCC that makes it so valuable in construction.
 SCC can flow into very intricate forms or forms that have a lot of reinforcing bars
(rebar congestion) and still leave no voids.
 In such situation Normal concrete have to be heavily vibrated for proper compaction
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Advantages of Self-Consolidating Concrete
• The advantages of using concrete that flows into place virtually effortlessly are
obvious to anyone who works with concrete
• We've been getting that kind of concrete for years by adding water.
• Unfortunately, adding water decreases the concrete's strength and leads to
segregation.
• Self-Consolidating Concrete flows easily under its own weight.
• There is no segregation, even on the leading edge of the concrete
• The ultimate dream is to set up the forms and then have the ready mix truck driver
come and fill them up with no other workers on the job site.
• That may never happen, but SCC that has been properly proportioned and placed
provides many advantages:
 Reduced labour since no vibration is needed for concrete in forms
 No need to worry about how good is the vibration
 Faster construction since the concrete places very quickly—a truckload can be
discharged in as little as one minute!
 Easier to place SCC since it will flow so far. No need to move the truck to
different placement locations.

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 Reduced labour since no vibration is needed for
concrete in forms
 No need to worry about how good is the vibration
 Faster construction since the concrete places very
quickly—a truckload can be discharged in as little as
one minute!
 Easier to place SCC since it will flow so far. No need
to move the truck to different placement locations.
SCC flows easily and rapidly
 Extremely good finished surface quality—SCC can
from a ready mix truck
take on nearly a mirror-like surface and can produce
concrete with very fine detail. This is really
advantageous with sculptures
 Simpler to detail the reinforcing steel, since it can be
fairly congested and still get completely filled with
concrete
 Quieter job sites or pre casting shops since there is
no vibrator noise
 Increased safety, since vibrator operators aren't up on
the forms or dragging hoses and cords around the
site
With all these advantages, why use SCC can provide extremely
anything else? detailed castings
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Materials for Self-Consolidating Concrete
• SCC and conventional concrete differ only in some
minor proportioning modifications and a couple of
admixtures
• But in many cases, the contractor won't even know
what's in the mix, but rather will specify the
performance required in terms of
 workability (slump flow)
 passing ability
 stability and
 Strength
• There are three types of SCC mixes:
 high powder content and a high-range water
reducing admixture (HRWRA)
Huge wall with heavily
 low powder content, HRWRA, and a viscosity-
modifying admixture (VMA) congested reinforcement
 moderate powder content, HRWRA, and a being poured in a single lift
moderate dose of VMA with SCC
• The powder referred to here is all the fine materials,
including cement, fly ash, ground granulated blast
furnace slag, silica fume, and ground limestone filler
• This thickens the mix, keeping the coarse aggregate
stable in the matrix and also contributes to slump flow

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 Some Points About SCC Mix

• The fraction of coarse aggregate in the mix is much lower (about 30%)
• The amount of portland cement is typically low—less than half of the total
cementitious materials
• Other cementitious materials are high:—
 fly ash in the range of 20 to 40% of total cementitious materials;
 slag in that range also, and often some silica fume
• The powder may be supplemented with ground limestone
• The water-cementitious materials ratio is often quite low—as low as 0.27 in
some mixes, although 0.4 is more typical
• Viscosity-modifying admixture (VMA) increases the viscosity to keep the
mix stable

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Testing Self-Consolidating Concrete
• The primary test used in the field for SCC is slump flow,
although there are other fields tests currently in use
Slump flow:-
 Flowability is measured with the slump flow test
 has been standardized as ASTM C 1611, "Slump Flow of
Self-Consolidating Concrete."
 This test starts like a standard slump test, sometimes
the cone turned upside down to make it easier to fill
 When the cone is lifted, the SCC spreads out like
pancake batter
A slump flow test performed
 The slump flow is measured as the diameter of the
with the slum cone upside down
pancake. Typical SCC mixes have slump flows ranging
from 18 to 30 inches
J-ring :-
 The J-Ring is a measure of the concrete's passing
ability—how easily it flows through obstructions and
reinforcement
 The J-Ring test is standardized as ASTM C 1621,
"Passing Ability of Self-Consolidating Concrete
 J-Ring is a cage of rebar set up around the slump cone
 The slump flow test is run both with and without the J-
Ring in place and the passing ability is the difference in
slump flow.
The J-Ring Test
 A difference greater than 2 inches indicates poor
passing ability.
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T20 (or T50) test:-
• This is a measure of the concrete's viscosity
• It is measured as the amount of time it takes for
concrete in the slump flow test to reach a
diameter of 20 inches (or 50 centimeters)
• A T20 between 2 and 5 seconds is taken as a low
viscosity concrete
• Pads with a printed 20-inch circle have been
developed to make this test easier.
• The T20 is specified in ASTM C 1611.