Self-Compacting-Concrete - Limits of the Concrete Composition

Technical Information

Basic Situation

Self-Compacting Concrete - SCC was developed some years ago in Japan to improve the
quality of concrete. The characteristics of this concrete are its very advantageous rheological
and self-venting properties äs well äs its adequate resistance against segregation. Without any
additional compaction needed, this concrete - simply under the impact of gravity - practically
flows to levelling point, filling every void and all interstices between rebars inside a
formwork. The mixture design for SCC, which is presently based on the concept of an
increased content of powder (powder type), äs a rule is based on a design method according to
Okamura IM from Japan. This method includes time-consuming paste, mortar and concrete
tests, starting from the following marginal conditions (fig. 1):
- The bulk volume of coarse aggregate (gravel) shall not exceed a maximum of 50%
of the concrete volume.
- The volume content of sand in the mortar shall be 40%.

Fig. 1: SCC acc. To Okamura

According to this procedure, concrete compositions are presently being developed more or less
systematically in the laboratories of ready-mixed concrete plants and plants for precast
concrete units. For reasons of costs and capacities, these three Steps are less often used in
practice, and the composition of the concrete is determined by trial and error method. The
following Standard composition proved a success as a basic mixture:

350 kg/m3 Cement

200 kg/m3 Fly ash
170-180 kg/m3 Water
650 kg/m3 Sand 0/2 mm
950 kg/m3 Gravel 2/16 mm
0,8-2,0% SP (PCE)

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Target of examination

Above Standard composition must be adapted to the individual marginal conditions (basic
materials, concrete requirements) in suitability tests. Searching for possibilities of
optimization, the following questions arise:

• How high is the optimal sand content?

• Are the high binder contents, most of all cement contents, necessary?
• What is the impact of various filiers (fly ash or limestone)?
• How much coarse aggregate can be used?

The examinations described in the following shall provide the information to answer these
questions. Four lest series with the following modified compositions were examined (Fig. 2):

Figure 2: schematic graph of modified compositions

- Increased sand volume and reduced gravel volume, with constant paste volume (Series
1).
- Reduction of paste volume (only filier) with constant mortar volume (Series 2).
Reduction of paste volume (cement filier, water) with constant mortar volume
(Series 3).
- Increasing gravel volume, with constant mortar composition and decreasing mortar
(Series 4)
In these tests, the impact of modified compositions on the properties of fresh concrete shall be
assessed

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Basic materials and concrete compositions

The examinations were conducted with commercial-grade basic materials. The concrete
composition is based on approved SCC compositions (Table 1).

Test performance

The tests were performed by means of a laboratory forced pan mixer with a content of 50 Itrs
and a concrete temperature of approx. 20°C. The target consistency (slump flow of approx. 72
- 75 cm) was adjusted by an appropriate dosage of superplasticizer. The water-cement ratio
was kept constant within series 1+2 and 3+4.

The following properties of fresh concrete were determined:

- Consistency
• Slump flow - the diameter of the concrete sample was determined by slump test
(indication of yield value).
• Flow time T50 - the flow time of concrete until sample reaches a diameter of 50 cm is
determined by slump test, as a rheological indication of viscosity.
- Air content
- Levelling behaviour, or blocking behaviour, determined by means of the L-Box (Fig. 3):
• The rheological properties are examined in an L-shaped chute. When a slider is opened,
the concrete must flow through an obstacle of rebars. The ratio calculated from concrete
height in the beginning and in the end of the chute is used as the assessment criterion.
- Stability - Assessment by visual inspection

Consistency tests are performed after 5, 30 & 60 min., all other tests after approx. 15 min

Test results

Series 1:

Increase of sand content - reduction of gravel content (Table 2)

In the tests, the sand content in the mortar was increased from 40 to 49 Vol.-%.
Correspondingly, the gravel content was reduced from 59 to 42 Vol.-% (bulk volume). The
sand content was increased from 630 to 917 kg/m3. An increase in superplasticizer
BETONAC-SCC from 0,72 to 1% by weight of cement (% v.Z.) was necessary to obtain the
target consistency. The results of slump flow measurements (Fig. 4) show a good constant
consistency for the first three mixtures over a period of 60 minutes. However, a slight
stiffening and a slight segregation were observed with the highest sand content.

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The segregation is explained by the necessary increase in superplasticizer to obtain the
identical slump flow. The flow time T50 tends to increase with an increasing sand content,
indicating an increased viscosity of the concrete (Fig. 5).

Table 2: Compositions and properties of fresh concrete of test-series 1 and 2

1) Sand content of Mortar.
2) Bulk volume of coarse aggregates in relation to concrete volume.

Fig. 4: Serie 1: Slump -Flow depending on sand content Fig. 5: Serie 1: T50 and aircontent depending on sand content

If the sand content is increased, the air content also slightly rises from 2,2 to 3,5 Vol.-%. This
effect might be explained by a deterioration of the self-venting properties of the concrete as a
consequence of the increased viscosity and/or the increased sand content and the pores caused
by the latter.

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The levelling or blocking behaviour of concretes in the L-Box with ratio values of H2/H1 to
0,93 - 0,97 was, as expected with the reduced gravel content, very advantageous.
During the visual assessment of stability, only the mixture with the highest sand content of 917
kg/m3 showed a significant settling.

Series 2:

Reduction of filler content - increase of sand content (Table2)

These four tests are designed to determine the possible reduction of powder content, keeping
the concrete properties constant. For this purpose, the fly ash content was reduced from 200 to
100 kg/m3 . The sand content was correspondingly increased to compensate the volume.

The dosing of BETONAC-SCC which is necessary to obtain the target consistency, was
reduced simultaneously with the reduction of fly ash. If water content remains constant, this
can be explained by the reduced water requirement of the mixture. The reduction of filier has a
significant impact on consistency (Fig. 6). The first two concretes (Nr. 2.1 and Nr. 2.2) show
no clear impact of the filier reduction by 34 kg/m3; the differences in slump flow might have
been compensated by an increased dosing of
superplasticizer. The tests with an even lower
content of fly ash (Nr. 2.3 and Nr. 2.4) show
clear deteriorations in consistency. This
becomes apparent by a stronger stiffening
from 71 to 63 cm slump flow in Nr. 2.3.
Mixture Nr. 2.4, i.e. with 100 kg/m3 fly ash
was not able to obtain the target consistency.
The concrete showed distinctive bleeding
before, which can be explained by the
increased volume ratio of water and powder, Fig. 6: serie 2. Slumo -flow deoendina on filier content (fly ash)
making more „free water” available in the
concrete.

In this series, no differences were found concerning the air content. The levelling and blocking
behaviour in the L-Box is influenced. Although even concretes Nr. 2.3. and 2.4. were able to
comply with test criterion H2/H1 > 0,8 these values could not be used for assessment due to a
lack of stability.

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Series 3+4:

In test series 3+4 limestone was used as a filler, resulting in similar fresh concrete properties
as with fly ash in series 1+2 (compare Nr.1.1 and Nr.3.1). The biggest differences were found
in superplasticizer and water requirements. These can be explained by the less advantageous
grain shape and the higher degree of fineness of the limestone filler, compared with fly ash. In
addition, the air content values of the mixtures with limestone lie clearly below those with fly
ash.

Table 3: Compositions and properties of fresh concrete of test-series 3 and 4

1) Sand Content of Moratr
2) Bulk volume of coarse aggregates in relation to concrete volume

Series 3

Reduction of paste content - increase of sand content (Table 3)

In the tests of these series, the paste volume was

reduced from 380 l/m3 to 320 l/m3. The sand
content was increased from 664 kg/m3 to 814
kg/m3 so as to keep the mortar volume constant
at 650 l/m3. This corresponds to a modification
of the initial ratio of sand:paste = 40:60 to
sand:paste = 49:51 (see fig. 1). Due to the lack of
paste volume, the initial consistency as well as
the stiffening behaviour of the concrete
deteriorated (Fig. 7).
Fig.7: Serie 3-Slump -Flow depending on paste volume

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The curves of mixtures Nr. 3.2 and 3.3 which are almost congruent, were only possible as a
consequence of an increase in the addition of superplasticizer BETONAC-SCC. The mixture
containing the most sand (Nr.3.4) was not able to reach the target consistency as in Series 2.
Before this the concrete already started to segregate and to bleed. Simultaneously, the levelling
behaviour clearly deteriorated. The distinct deterioration of the fresh concrete properties can,
similarly to series 2, be traced back to an insufficient quantity of paste. The lack of an
adequate thickness of paste layer between the individual sand grains in the mortar phase leads
to a restriction of the rheological properties of the mortar and consequently of the concrete.

Series 4:

Reduction of mortar content - increase of gravel content (Table 3)

These test series were designed to determine how much gravel can possibly be used in an
SCC. For this purpose, the mortar volume was reduced from 665 l/m3 to 537 l/m3.
Consequently , the gravel content was increased from 834 kg/m3 (4 50 % bulk gravel, see fig.
1) to 1165 kg/m3 (4 70 % bulk gravel). Although the target consistency could be adjusted in
tests 4.2 and 4.3 (fig. 8), a larger amount of BETONAC-SCC had to be added. Furthermore
mixture 4.3 did not demonstrate an adequate stability . Simultaneously, the workability time of
these concretes was clearly reduced, if compared with initial concrete Nr. 4.1. It was no longer
possible to obtain the target consistency with the mixture containing the highest quantity of
gravel (Nr. 4.4). The concrete showed intense bleeding and segregation.

The levelling behaviour (fig. 9) decreased strongly, as expected. Although mixture Nr. 4.2 was
able to comply with „blocking criterion” H2/H1 = 0,81 > 0,8 it was already clearly worse than
the initial concrete. In regard to levelling behaviour, tests 4.3 and 4.4 were absolutely out of
the question, also as a consequence of the segregation.

Fig. 8: Serie 4 – Slump -Flow depending on gravel content Fig. 9: Serie 4 – L-Box-Performance depending on gravel content

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Summary and outlook

A quality assessment of all test results is provided in Table 4. It shows the tendencies in the
behaviour of fresh concrete depending on the modified concrete compositions. Special
emphasis shall be attributed to the following individual items:

- A gravel reduction with a simultaneous sand increase (Series 1) has only minor impact
on the properties. If sand content is 40-43 Vol.% of the mortar, the difference in
superplasticizer requirement is irrelevant. This is why this ränge may be regarded
compatible with practical application.
- A reduction of binder content (here: fly ash) is only possible in a minor degree. If
reduced by 35kg/m3, or approx. 151/m3, the deterioration of fresh concrete properties
was tolerable. The application of an SCC with slight reduction of binder is therefore
imaginable, for example, in structural parts with minor reinforcement (blocking).

- The reduction of paste content by up to

40 l/m3 and a simultaneous increase of
sand content (Series 3) influenced the
properties of fresh concrete in a
tolerable ränge, however with an
increase in superplasticizer of almost
30%. However, no SCC could produced
with a paste content of only 320 l/ .
Tab. 4: Influences of modifications of Compositions to
properties of fresh concrete

- An increased gravel content of 56,6% (Series 4), based on 50 Vol.-%, together with a
sand content of 43 Vol.% (!) results in a clear deterioration of consistency and of
levelling and blocking behaviour. A sand content of 40 Vol.% of mortar allows a higher
gravel content (see Series 1).

These results on the whole demonstrate that the selected basic compositions are a good basis
for SCC concretes. An optimization of concrete composition, however, makes sense in any
case. The examinations described above can be helpful for this purpose. Basically, however,
all examinations should be based on the knowledge that the Self-Compacting Concrete SCC
does not exist, but that various compositions with slightly different properties of fresh concrete
are possible, depending on the basic materials and the concrete requirements.

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Literature:

1. Okamura, Hajime; Ozawa, Kazumasa: Mix Design For Self-Compacting Concrete.

Concrete Library Of JSCE, 25.6.1995

2. Billberg, Peter: Energymodified Cement in SCC, RILEM Symposium 1999, Stockholm

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