Field-oriented test methods to evaluate structural build-up at rest of flowable mortar and concrete

Abstract

Thixotropy of flowable mortar and concrete is an important property that affects stability and form pressure characteristics. The increase in thixotropy can reduce lateral pressure on formwork systems. On the other hand, low thixotropy or a continuous casting is required to eliminate the formation of weak interface between lifts in multilayer casting. Thixotropy can be assessed by determining the rate of structural build-up at rest, which necessitates the use of simple and robust test methods to be quantified. Five field-oriented test methods that can be used for the determination of structural build-up at rest of mortar and concrete are proposed in this paper in an attempt to select a reliable field-oriented test. This includes the inclined plane (IP), portable vane (PV), undisturbed slump spread (USS), cone penetration (CP), and K-slump test methods. The repeatability of these test methods was determined four times using two concrete-equivalent mortars and two self-consolidating concretes (SCC) of different thixotropy levels. The IP, PV, and USS tests showed relative error (RE) values of 0.5–37 %. The CP test was successfully used to determine structural build-up of mortar; however, it was difficult to assess the thixotropy of concrete. The K-slump test exhibited a RE, less than 12 % for SCC mixtures with low thixotropy, but up to 76 % for highly thixotropic SCC. Good correlations were established among the various structural build-up indices determined from the proposed test methods and those determined by rheometric tests using various concrete.