Abstract
Rheological properties of cementitious pastes and mortar affect the casting, placement, and setting properties of fresh concrete. Fundamental rheological knowledge thus helps in predicting concrete flowability and workability. Empirical equations correlate actual rheological parameters based on physical material characteristics to workability tests. Still, these equations generally only take the dynamic yield stress of the material into account. This is not sufficient for thixotropic cementitious pastes or mortars, which possess structural buildup at rest. Workability predictions regarding the flow of concrete are thus more complicated with thixotropic materials. During form-filling in L-shaped formworks, the flow velocity of concrete slows down, wherefore rheological parameters change with time. At initial fast flow, high shear rates without structural buildup can be assumed. Dynamic yield stress and a steady state viscosity thus are proper parameters for empirical equations describing concrete flowability. During low shear rates, partial structural buildup takes place. Viscosity and yield stress increase due to agglomeration and affect the flowability of concrete tremendously. Rheological parameters of various cementitious pastes and mortars varying in their solid volume fraction and flowability were investigated in a vane-in-cup rheometer. The workability of the same mixtures was investigated by measuring the flow length in an L-shaped formwork. The effect of yield stress, viscosity, and thixotropic structural buildup on flow length was investigated. Subsequently correlations and discrepancies between flowability parameters and workability equations were analyzed.
Highlights
Concrete is a non-Newtonian material with yield stress and viscosity ranging from shear-thinning to shear-thickening due to its mixture and design, e.g., its relative solid volume fraction and the chemistry of the cementitious phase [1,2,3,4]
The results describe an expected decrease of the calculated Bingham yield stress τ0,B with an increase of the mini slump flow value, which was calculated with the mini slump flow yield stress τ0,sF as well, and a decrease in calculated plastic viscosity μ
Roussel et al assume the correlation between dynamic yield stress and the mini slump flow value [10]
Summary
Concrete is a non-Newtonian material with yield stress and viscosity ranging from shear-thinning to shear-thickening due to its mixture and design, e.g., its relative solid volume fraction and the chemistry of the cementitious phase [1,2,3,4]. The casting of densely reinforced or complex construction elements requires a deep understanding of the rheological behavior of concrete. The rheological behavior is expressed by the parameters yield stress, viscosity, and structural buildup, which are investigated by conducting rheometric measurements. Flowability tests are conducted for the estimation of workability properties. These methods are known as empirical stoppage tests (e.g., those developed in [10,11]) and are used in standardizations [12]. Empirical equations correlate rheological parameters with actual workability properties. With more complex material properties or placement requirements there is a discrepancy between rheometry data and empirical stoppage tests
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