Fresh Concrete Rheology - Recent Developments

Published

December 1, 2001

Author(s)

Chiara F. Ferraris, F De Larrard, Nicos Martys

Abstract

The design of concrete with specified properties for an application is not a new science, but it has taken on a new meaning with the wide use of high performance concretes. The following properties are related to fresh concrete: ease of placement and compaction without segregation. Ease of placement covers various other properties of fresh concrete such as workability flowabilitly, compactibility, stability, finishability, pumpability, and/or consistency. These words are often used interchangeably without definition based on fundamental measurements of properties. Several attempts were made to better relate fresh concrete properties with measurable entities. Some researchers treated fresh concrete as a fluid and used the fluid rheology methods to describe concrete flow. This approach, the most fundamental one, is reviewed in this paper. The fundamental definitions of entities used to uniquely describe the flow of concrete are reviewed. An overview of tests that are commonly used to measure the rheology of fresh concrete is given. Methods to predict the flow of concrete from either composition or laboratory tests and the main parameters that affect the flow of fresh concrete, such as composition, placement, and mixing methods, are discussed. Two special applications of rheology are also discussed: pumpable concrete and self-compacting concrete.

Citation

Materials Science of Concrete VI

Volume

6

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

concrete properties, rheology of fresh concrete

Citation

Ferraris, C. , De, F. and Martys, N. (2001), Fresh Concrete Rheology - Recent Developments, Materials Science of Concrete VI, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=860202 (Accessed April 19, 2024)