Self-Consolidating High Performance Concrete – SCC – Self-Compacting & Highly Flowable Concrete

Robustness can be regarded as the ability of the SCC mixture to maintain both the fresh properties and composition pre- and post-casting of one batch or successive batches, due to the composition of the mixture and due to some small changes in the contents of the ingredients of the mixture. Robustness depends on a number of different attributes including the specific composition of the mixture, the mixing history, i.e. the shear energy and shear rate, and the specific application.

SCC might be more susceptible to changes than ordinary concrete because of a combination of detailed requirements, more complex mix design, and inherent low yield stress and viscosity. Variations in properties (and robustness) are attributed therefore to the specific effects of the ingredients on the rheological properties of the mixture, effects of the physical properties (i.e., size and specific density) of the aggregate, and the mixing history. This article reviews all of these effects and indicates how these effects are likely to affect the robustness of the mixture. In addition, the effects of moisture variations and mixing devices on the fresh properties are discussed, and with examples provided on evaluating the robustness with a new segregation probe device.

Lead Author:

David Bonen, Purdue University

Contributing Authors:

Yogini Deshpande, Purdue University

Jan Olek, Purdue University

Lin Shen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Leslie Struble, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

David Lange, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Kamal Khayat, University of Sherbrooke