CV1013 Civil Engineering

Materials – Concrete

Fresh Concrete

A/P Yang En-Hua

Office: N1-01b-56
: 6790 5291
: ehyang@ntu.edu.sg
 Workability of Concrete
• Effort required to manipulate a concrete
mixture with a minimum segregation.

• Poor workability vs good workability

– http://youtu.be/tqP1DDYt2Gk
– https://youtu.be/C9g5fAkpWNA

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 Two Main Components of
Workability

• Consistency describes the ease of flow.

– American Concrete Institute (ACI). The relative
mobility or ability of freshly mixed concrete or mortar
to flow

• Cohesiveness or stability describes the

tendency to bleed or segregate.

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 Workability Tests
Slump test Compacting factor test
Parmar, A., Patel, D., & Chaudhary, D. (2014).
Utilization of pond fly ash as a partial
replacement in fine aggregate with using fine
fly ash and alccofine in HSC-fresh concrete
properties. International Journal of
Engineering Development And Research,
1(3), 70-73.
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Vebe test
MFPA. (n.d.). Testing of Fresh Mortar and
Concrete. Retrieved October 25, 2017
from http://www.mfpa-
leipzig.de/portfolio/building-
materials/mineral-building-
materials/testing-of-fresh-mortar-and-
concrete/?L=1
4
Slump Test (ASTM C 143): Principle
• The slump test is a measure of the
behaviour of a compacted inverted cone of
concrete under the action of gravity. It
measures the consistency or the wetness
of concrete.

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Slump Test: Apparatus and Procedure
• Use inverted cone http://youtu.be/Hmo7tMsRD1g

• Fill it up with three

layers of equal volume
• Rod each layer 25
times
• Scrape off surface
• Cone lift away vertically
• Slump measurement:
Downward movement
of the concrete

Developed in US by Chapman, 1913

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 Types of Slump

heqing. (2009). Concreting…^^.

Retrieved December 17, 2017 from
http://bandlovers-
hqc90.blogspot.sg/2009/09/

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 Compacting Factor
Test: Principle
• The compacting factor
test measures the degree
of compaction resulting
from the application of a
standard amount of
work, i.e. constant
potential energy to kinetic
energy
CIVILBLOG. (2015). 3 Methods of determining
workability of concrete. Retrieved October 25, 2017
from http://civilblog.org/2015/10/29/3-methods-of-
determining-workability-of-concrete/

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 Compacting Factor Test: 260 mm

Apparatus and Procedure

mm
280
• Upper hopper is filled with concrete Hinged
door
• Bottom door of upper hopper is then
released and concrete falls into lower 130 mm

mm
200
hopper
240 mm
• Bottom door of lower hopper is released
and concrete falls into cylinder Hinged

mm
240
• Excess concrete is cut and net weight door
of concrete in known volume of cylinder
is determined 130 mm

mm
200
150 mm
• The density of concrete in cylinder is
now calculated, and this density divided
by density of fully compacted concrete

mm
285
is defined as Compacting Factor
http://youtu.be/SRo2vYw_QPI

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Vebe Test (ASTM C 1170): Principle
• The Vebe test measures
the remolding ability of
concrete under vibration
• It is assumed energy
required for compaction is
a measure of workability, Grass
and this is expressed in plate
rider
Vebe seconds, i.e. time
required for remolding to
be complete

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 Vebe Test: Apparatus and Procedure
• A slump cone is placed and filled in the
center of the cylinder
• After removing the slump
Clear Perspex disc

cone, a glass plate is

set atop the fresh
concrete
• Time for the concrete 300
Vibration

to remold is 1. A slump test is performed in a container. Vebe degrees is the time (in

recorded 2. A clear Perspex disc, free to move

vertically, is lowered onto the concrete
surface.
3. Vibration at a standard rate is applied.
Seconds) to complete covering
of the underside of the disc with
concrete.

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Comparison of Workability Tests

• Slump test is suitable for concrete of medium to

high workability
• Compacting factor test is more sensitive and
accurate than slump test, especially for concrete
mixes of medium to low workability
• Vebe test is a good laboratory test, particularly
for concrete of very low workability

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 Suggested Valued of Workability of
Fresh Concrete for Different Placing
Conditions
Placing condition Degree of Values of workability
workability
Compacting factor, max. Vebe time, slump for
size of agg. 20 mm agg.
10 mm 20 mm 40mm
Hand compaction of heavily reinforced High 0.95 0.95 0.95 Vebe N/A
sections (flowing) 125-150 mm slump
Concreting of lightly reinforced section Medium 0.88 0.90 0.92 5-2 s Vebe time,
by hand or vibration of heavily reinforced (plastic) 25-75 mm slump
sections
Concreting of lightly reinforced sections Low 0.82 0.84 0.85 10-5 s Vebe time,
with vibration; road pavements and slabs (stiff plastic) 5-50 mm slump
with hand-operated vibrators and
vibration of mass concrete
Concreting of shallow sections with Very low 0.75 0.78 0.80 20-10 s Vebe time,
vibrations (stiff) 0-25 mm slump
Concreting by intensive vibrations with Extremely low 0.65 0.68 N/A 30-20 Vebe time
vibropressing, centrifugation etc. (very stiff) Slump N/A

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 Factors Affecting Workability
• Water content
• Aggregate type and grading
• Aggregate/cement ratio
• Presence of admixtures
• Fineness of cement
• Time
• Temperature

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Effect of Water Content on Slump

•Reducing strength
•Segregation
•Bleeding

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Effect of Agg. Shape on Slump

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 Effect of Agg. Size on Slump

Slump decreases as specific surface are of aggregate increases (smaller size),

since this requires a greater proportion of water to wet aggregate particles, thus
leaving a smaller amount of water for lubrication.
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 Influence of
Aggregate to
Cement Ratio on
Workability
• For a constant w/c ratio,
an increase in the agg/c
ratio will decrease the
workability
• Higher Vebe time (V-B)
corresponds to lower
workability

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 Effect of Admixtures on Workability
• The principal admixtures affecting improvement in workability of
concrete are water-reducing and air-entraining agents as well
as fly ash
• The extent of increase in workability is dependent on the type
and amount of admixture used and the general characteristics
of the fresh concrete

Flow of cement paste (w/c = 0.25)

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Effect of Temperature on Workability

On a hot day,
the water content
would have to be increased for
a constant early workability to be maintained

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Effect of Time on Workability
(Slump Loss)

Some water from

the mix is absorbed by the
aggregate, some is lost by evaporation,
and some is removed by initial chemical reactions.
The reduction of water content will cause Slump Loss

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 Cohesion and
Segregation
• Concrete with good workability
ought to be cohesive, should not
segregate
• Segregation can be defined as
separation of constituents of a
heterogeneous mixture so that
their distribution is no longer
uniform. Tendency for
– Sand-cement mortar to separate from
coarse aggregate
– Cement paste to separate from fine
TEC Services. (2017). Concrete Petrography
aggregate Laboratory. Retrieved October 25, 2017 from
http://youtu.be/aHNxq-Eda0c http://www.tecservices.com/Testing/ConcretePetrog
raphyLaboratory.aspx

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 Bleeding (Water Gain)
• A special form of segregation in which some of
the water in mix tends to rise to the surface of
freshly placed concrete

• Create a porous and weak layer of non-durable

concrete and zones of poor bond between
cement paste and large aggregate particles or
reinforcement

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 Bleeding
• Cause by
– Lack of fines (300 mm and below)
– High free water content
– Water reducing admixture overdose
• Control of bleeding
– Increasing cement fineness or using
SCM (i.e. pozzolans)
– Increasing hydration rate (C3A)
– Reducing free water content
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