Research Needs to Advance Concrete Pumping Technology

Published

April 10, 2015

Author(s)

Chiara C. Ferraris, Nicos Martys, Myoungsung Choi, Van Bui, Trey Hamilton, Didier Lootens

Abstract

With the increasing use of pumping to place concrete, the development and refinement of the industry practice to ensure successful concrete pumping is becoming an important need for the concrete construction industry. To date, research on concrete pumping has been largely limited to a few student theses and research papers. The major obstacle to conducting research on pumping is that it requires heavy equipment and large amounts of materials. Thus, developing realistic and simple measurement techniques and prediction tools is a financial and logistical challenge that is out of reach for small research labs and many private companies in the concrete construction industry. Moreover, because concrete pumping involves the flow of a complex fluid under pressure in a pipe, predicting its flow necessitates detailed knowledge of the rheological properties of concrete, which requires new measurement science. This paper summarizes the technical challenges associated with concrete pumping, summarizes the technical advances in concrete pumping that have been published in the technical literature, and identifies future research needed for the industry to develop best practices for ensuring successful concrete pumping in the field. Consolidating these research needs into one document will help to ensure that future concrete rheology research is part of a coordinated and focused larger effort.

Citation

Technical Note (NIST TN) - 1866

Report Number

1866

NIST Pub Series

Technical Note (NIST TN)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.1866

Local Download

Keywords

Concrete, pumping, rheology

Citation

Ferraris, C. , Martys, N. , Choi, M. , Bui, V. , Hamilton, T. and Lootens, D. (2015), Research Needs to Advance Concrete Pumping Technology, Technical Note (NIST TN), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.1866, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=916377 (Accessed May 16, 2026)

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