Abstract
The rheological behaviour of Self-Compacting Micro-Concrete (SCMC) mixtures has been investigated within the scope of this paper. Rheological measurements have been performed using a novel rheometer equipped with a ball measuring system. Three SCMC mixtures with the same water/cement (W/C) ratios (0.44 by weight) and cement/limestone powder (1/1 by weight) with different High Range Water Reducing Admixtures (HRWRA) contents (1, 1.2 and 1.4% by weight of cement) have been tested. For comparison purpose, three conventional cement paste mixtures with varying W/C ratios (0.30, 0.325 and 0.35) were also prepared. Flow parameters such as yield value and plastic viscosity have been measured along with shear thickening or thinning behaviour. Furthermore, thixotropic behaviour of the various mixtures have been measured using hysteresis areas. Finally, advanced rheological properties of micro-concretes and cement pastes have been compared and discussed. While cement pastes investigated in this study possessed high yield values (34–217 Pa) and very low viscosities (5–19 Pa.s), comparatively high viscosities (17–45 Pa.s) and low yield values (0–47 Pa) have been obtained from SCMCs. The high viscosity of micro-concretes improves the solid holding capacity of this composite. According to flow curve analysis, cement paste mixtures and SCMCs exhibited shear thinning and shear thickening characteristics, respectively.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aiad I 2003 Influence of time addition of superplasticizers on the rheological properties of fresh cement pastes. Cem. Concr. Res. 33(8): 1229–1234
Artelt C and Garcia E 2008 Impact of superplasticizer concentration and of ultra-fine particles on the rheological behaviour of dense mortar suspensions. Cem. Concr. Res. 38(5): 633–642
Azeredo G, Morel J -C, and Lamarque C -H 2008 Applicability of rheometers to characteriz-ing earth mortar behaviour. Part I: Experimental device and validation. Mater. Struct. 41(8): 1465–1472
Banfill P and Frias M 2007 Rheology and conduction calorimetry of cement modified with calcined paper sludge. Cem. Concr. Res. 37(2): 184–190
Banfill P F G 1987 Feasibility study of a coaxial cylinders viscometer for mortar. Cem. Concr. Res. 17(2): 329–339
Banfill P F G and Saunders D C 1981 On the viscometric examination of cement pastes. Cem. Concr. Res. 11(3): 363–370
Barrak M, Mouret M, and Bascoul A 2009 Self-compacting concrete paste constituents: Hierarchical classification of their influence on flow properties of the paste. Cem. Concr. Comp. 31(1): 12–21
Baudez J -C 2006 About peak and loop in sludge rheograms. J. Env. Management 78(3): 232–239
Chougnet A, Palermo T, Audibert A, and Moan M 2008 Rheological behaviour of cement and silica suspensions: Particle aggregation modelling. Cem. Concr. Res. 38(11): 1297–1301
Cyr M, Legrand C, and Mouret M 2000 Study of the shear thickening effect of superplasticizers on the rheological behaviour of cement pastes containing or not mineral additives. Cem. Concr. Res. 30(9): 1477–1483
Felekoglu B 2007 Utilisation of high volumes of limestone quarry wastes in concrete industry (self-compacting concrete case). Resources, Conservation and Recycling 51(4): 770–791
Felekoglu B 2009 High performance micro-concrete design, Ph.D. Thesis, Dokuz Eylul University. The Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, 428 p. (in Turkish)
Felekoglu B and Sarıkahya H 2008 Effect of chemical structure of polycarboxylate-based superplasticizers on workability retention of self-compacting concrete. Constr. Build Mat. 22(9): 1972–1980
Ferraris C F 1999 Measurement of the rheological properties of cement paste: A new approach. In: Cabrera, J G and Rivera, R R (Eds.) Symposium on the role of admixtures in high performance concrete, Proceedings of RILEM International, Monterrey, Mexico pp. 333–342
Feys D, Verhoeven R, and Schutter G D 2008 Fresh self compacting concrete: a shear thickening material. Cem. Concr. Res. 38(7): 920–929
Feys D, Verhoeven R, and Schutter G D 2009 Why is fresh self-compacting concrete shear thickening? Cem. Concr. Res. 39(6): 510–523
Flatt R J 2004a Towards a prediction of super-plasticized concrete rheology. Mater. Struct. 37(5): 289–300
Flatt R J 2004b Dispersion forces in cement suspensions. Cem. Concr. Res. 34(3): 399–408
Flatt R J and Bowen P 2003 Electrostatic repulsion between particles in cement suspensions: Domain of validity of linearized Poisson–Boltzmann equation for nonideal electrolytes. Cem. Concr. Res. 33(6): 781–791
Flatt R J and Houst Y F 2001 A simplified view on chemical effects perturbing the action of superplasticizers. Cem. Concr. Res. 31(8): 1169–1176
Hanehara S and Yamada K 2008 Rheology and early age properties of cement systems. Cem. Concr. Res. 38(2): 175–195
Kaufmann J P, Winnefeld F, Hesselbarth D, and Trindler W 2006 Evaluation of the consistency of fiber reinforced cementitious composites. Mater. Struct. 39(6): 645–654
Koehler E P and Fowler D W 2004 Development of a Portable Rheometer for Fresh Portland Cement Concrete. Aggregates Foundation for Technology, Research and Education (AFTRE) Research Report, No. ICAR-105, August, 306 p
Kong H -J, Bike S G, and Li V C 2003 Development of a Self-Consolidating Engineered Cementitious Composite Employing Electrosteric Dispersion/Stabilization. Cem. Concr. Comp. 25(3): 301–309
Li C -Z, Feng N -Q, Li Y -D, and Chen R -J 2005 Effects of polyethlene oxide chains on the performance of polycarboxylate-type water-reducers. Cem. Concr. Res. 35(5): 867–873
Li V C 2002 American Concrete Institute Special Publication on Concrete: Material Science to Applications SP. Advances in ECC Research 206–23: 373–400
Li V C, Kong H J, and Chan Y W 1998 Development of Self-Compacting Engineered Cementitious Composites. In: Proceedings of International Workshop on Self-Compacting Concrete, Kochi, Japan, pp.46–59
Li V C, Wu C, Wang S, Ogawa A, and Saito T 2002 Interface Tailoring for Strain-Hardening Polyvinyl Alcohol- Engineered Cementitious Composite (PVA-ECC). ACI Materials J. 99(5): 463–472
Lombois-Burger H, Colombet P, Halary J L, and Van Damme H 2008 On the frictional contribution to the viscosity of cement and silica pastes in the presence of adsorbing and non adsorbing polymers. Cem. Concr. Res. 38(11): 1306–1314
Mazanec O, Lowke D, and Schießl P 2010 Mixing of high performance concrete: effect of concrete composition and mixing intensity on mixing time. Mater. Struct. 43(3): 357–365
Mouret M and Cyr M 2003 A discussion of the paper ‘The effect of measuring procedure on the apparent rheological properties of self-compacting concrete’ by Geiker M R Brandl M, Thrane L N, Bager D H and Wallevik O (eds.) Cem. Concr. Res. 33(11): 1901–03
Naaman A E and Reinhardt H W 2006 Proposed classification of HPFRC composites based on their tensile response. Mater. Struct. 39(5): 547–555
Ovarlez G and Roussel N 2006 A physical model for the prediction of lateral stress exerted by self-compacting concrete on formwork. Mater. Struct. 39(2): 269–79
Papo A and Piani L 2004 Flow Behaviour of Fresh Portland Cement Pastes. Particulate Sci. Technol. 22(2): 201–212
Roussel N 2005 Steady and transient flow behaviour of fresh cement pastes. Cem. Concr. Res. 35(9): 1656–1664
Roussel N 2006 A thixotropy model for fresh fluid concretes: theory, validation and applications. Cem. Concr. Res. 36(10): 1797–1806
Roussel N 2007 The LCPC BOX: A cheap and simple technique for yield stress measurements of SCC. Mater. Struct. 40(9): 889–896
Sahmaran M, Lachemi M, Hossain K M A, Ranade R, and Li V C 2009 Influence of aggregate type and size on ductility and mechanical properties of engineered cementitious composites. ACI Materials J. 106(3): 308–316
Schatzmann M 2005 Rheometry for large particle fluids and debris flows. PhD Thesis. Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule ETH Zürich, Nr.16093: 192pp
Schatzmann M, Bezzola G R, Fischer P, Windhab E J, and Minor H E 2004 The ball measuring system — a new rheometric tool to determine the flow curve of large particle material. Swiss Group of Rheology Annual Meeting, Poster Session, Lausanne/Switzerland
Schatzmann M, Fischer P, and Bezzola G R 2003 Rheological behaviour of fine and large particle suspensions. ASCE J. Hydraul. Eng. 129(10): 796–803
Toussaint F, Roy C, and Jézéquel P -H 2009 Reducing shear thickening of cement-based suspensions. Rheol. Acta. 48(8): 883–895
Uchikawa H, Hanehara S, and Sawaki D 1997 The role of steric repulsive force in the dispersion of cement particles in fresh paste prepared with organic admixture. Cem. Concr. Res. 27(1): 37–50
Wallevik J E 2003 Rheology of particle suspensions: Fresh concrete, mortar and cement paste with various types of lignosulfonates. Ph.D. Thesis, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 397 pp
Wallevik J E 2005 Thixotropic investigation on cement paste: Experimental and numerical approach. J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 132(1–3): 86–99
Westerholm M, Lagerblad B, and Forssberg E 2007 Rheological properties of micromortars containing fines from manufactured aggregates. Mater. Struct. 40(6): 615–625
Yang E -H, Sahmaran M, Yang Y, and Li V C 2009 Rheological Control in Production of Engineered Cementitious Composites. ACI Materials J. 106(4): 357–366
Zingg A, Winnefeld F, Holzer L, Pakusch J, Becker S, and Gauckler L 2008 Adsorption of polyelectrolytes and its influence on the rheology, zeta potential, and microstructure of various cement and hydrate phases. J. Colloid and Interface Sci. 323(2): 301–312
Zingg A, Winnefeld F, Holzer L, Pakusch J, Becker S, Figi R, and Gauckler L 2009 Interaction of polycarboxylate-based superplasticizers with cements containing different C3A amounts. Cem. Concr. Comp. 31(3): 153–162
Acknowledgement
The financial support from the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) under grant no. MAG 108M062 is acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
FELEKOĞLU, B. Rheological behaviour of self-compacting micro-concrete. Sadhana 39, 1471–1495 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12046-014-0281-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12046-014-0281-2