Investigation of the existence of self compacting properties in high performance concrete through experimental tests

Abstract

The self compacting concrete is characterized by its capacity to flow inside the formwork filling it exclusively by the force of the gravity with adequate cohesion and viscosity in such a way that segregation does not occur. One of its characteristic is the presence of fines which provide the necessary cohesion,and grains with maximum diameter of 20 mm. This work presents some procedures and experimental methods that make it possible to evaluate self compacting properties of high performance concrete. First, a bibliographical review on the subject was carried out, and later, the equipment used for the accomplishment of the assays were manufactured, in order to verify the properties related to the self compacting concrete: cohesion, viscosity and segregation. As for the work, two concretes were produced with Portland ARI Cement, thick sand, stone powder, sand 0, superplasticizer made of ether-carboxilate chains that differentiate from each other for the presence of active silica in one of them and fly ash in the other. Based on the results, it was verified whether the high performance concrete had self compacting characteristics. In this case, both were considered positive. It was also analyzed the behavior of these concretes in their hardened state by means of the compressive strength test. The Self Compacting Concrete has many advantages such as: reduction in the number of employees, shorter construction period, the non-use of the vibrator and the filling of formworks with high density of… or of complex geometry.

Keywords

• Self compacting concrete
• High performance concrete
• Superplasticizer