Fresh Concrete Quality Control

Prof. Madya Dr. Ahmad Ruslan Mohd. Ridzuan

Mahdi Eslami Moshkenani 2010683062

Introduction

 Since the early 20th century, the concrete industry

has recognized the need to monitor concrete
workability to ensure that concrete can be properly
placed and can achieve adequate hardened strength.
Ensuring the use of effective quality control measures
in concrete projects prevents the addition of concrete
to the project that fails to meet the regular standards
attributed to quality concrete.
 Workability

 Definition: property of freshly mixed concrete or

mortar that determines the ease with which it can be
mixed, placed, consolidated, and finished to a
homogenous condition.
 The term workability is broadly defined; no single test
method measures all aspects of workability.
 Cont’d

 When the slump test was developed in the early 20th century,
concrete researchers were just beginning to recognize the
importance of water content in predicting concrete strength
(Wig 1912; Abrams 1922).
 The slump test was quickly adopted because of its simplicity
(Abrams 1922).
 The concrete industry quickly realized the slump test’s inability
to represent workability fully and, within several years of the
introduction of the slump test, several attempts were made to
develop better, more complete tests (Powers 1968).
 Although numerous test methods have been
developed since the 1920s, not until research
established concrete as a Bingham fluid did the
principle of measuring concrete flow curves in
terms of shear stress and shear rate emerge
(Tattersall and Banfill 1983).
 Many of new test methods developed since the
establishment of concrete as a Bingham fluid have
attempted to measure yield stress and plastic
viscosity.
Class I Qualitative
To be used only in a general descriptive way
Workability, Flowability, Compactability, without any attempt to quantify
Finishability, Pumpability, etc.
Classes of Workability Measurement (Tattersall 1991)
Class II Quantitative Empirical
To be used as a simple quantitative statement
Slump, Compacting Factor, Vebe Time, of behavior in a particular set of circumstances
Flow Table Spread, etc.

Class III Quantitative Fundamental To be used strictly in conformity with standard

Viscosity, Mobility, Fluidity, Yield Value, etc. definitions
 most test methods for workability have traditionally been
split between single-point tests and multi-point tests.
 A single-point test measures only one point on the flow
curve and, therefore, provides an incomplete description
of workability. For instance, the slump test only provides
one point on the flow curve, namely, the yield stress.
 Multi-point tests measure additional points on the flow
curve, typically by varying the shear rate, in order to
provide a more complete description of concrete
rheology.
 Single-Point and Multi-Point Workability Tests for Concrete

Single-Point Tests Multi-Point Tests

-- Angles Flow Box Test
-- Compaction Factor Test
-- Compaction Test
-- Cone Penetration Test
-- Delivery-Chute Depth
Meter
-- Delivery-Chute Torque
Meter
-- Flow Table Test (DIN)
-- Flow Trough Test
-- Free Orifice (Orimet) Test
-- Fresh Concrete Tester 101
-- Intensive Compaction Test -- Vebe Consistometer
-- Inverted Slump Cone Test
-- K-Slump Tester
-- Kango Hammer Test
-- Kelly Ball Test
-- LCL Flow Test
-- Mixer Devices
-- Moving Sphere Viscometer
-- Powers Remolding Test
-- Proctor Test
-- Ring Penetration Test
-- Settlement Column
Segregation Test
-- Slump Test
-- Soil Direct Shear Test
-- Soil Triaxial Test
-- Surface Settlement Test
-- Thaulow Tester
-- Trowel Test
-- Vibratory Flow Meter
-- Vibropenetrator
-- Wigmore Consistometer
-- Bertta Apparatus
-- BML Viscometer
-- BTRHEOM Rheometer
-- CEMAGREF-IMG
-- FHPCM
-- IBB Rheometer
-- Modified Slump Test
-- Multiple Single-Point Tests
-- Powers and Wiler
Plastometer
-- SLump Rate Machine
(SLRM)
-- System and Method for
Controlling Concrete
Production
-- Tattersall Two-Point Device
-- Vertical Pipe Apparatus
-- Vibrating Slope Apparatus
 Single-point tests can provide a direct or
indirect measurement of yield stress, plastic
viscosity, or some other property.

 Multi-point tests typically measure yield stress

and plastic viscosity, or closely related values.
Workability test methods have also been classified in terms of
the type of flow produced during the test.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
divided existing rheology test methods into four broad
categories (Hackley and Ferraris 2001).
Category Definition
Confined Flow The material flows under its own weight or under an
Tests applied pressure through a narrow orifice.
Free Flow Tests The material either flows under its own weight,
without any confinement or an object penetrates the
material by gravitational settling.

Vibration Tests The material flows under the influence of applied

vibration. The vibration is applied by using a vibrating
table, dropping the base supporting the material, an
external vibrator, or an internal vibrator.
Rotational The material is sheared between two parallel surfaces,
Rheometers one or both of which are rotating.
Estimating Fresh Concrete Temperatures

 Because the temperature of concrete can affect workability, air

content, time of set, and rate of strength development, as well as
placement and curing procedures, accurate on-site temperature
measurement is an important element in any quality control
program.
 in hot weather, ready mixed concrete producers can use chilled
water, ice, or retarders when concrete temperatures approach 90
°F (32 °C).
 Conversely, in cold weather, the producer can add heated water or
accelerators when the concrete temperatures approach 40 °F (4
°C).
 Concrete temperatures for quality assurance are obtained
using procedures specified in ASTM C 1064, “Standard Test
Method for Temperature of Freshly Mixed Hydraulic-Cement
Concrete.”
 This method requires the use of a temperature-measuring
device capable of measuring temperatures ranging from 30
to 120 °F (0 to 50 °C), with an accuracy of ±1 °F (±0.5 °C),
when submerged at least 3 in. (75 mm) in a fresh concrete
sample for at least 2 minutes (or until the reading stabilizes).