Concrete technology

Fresh Concrete

Fresh concrete : it is recent mixed concrete with a consistency of the mix be such that the
concrete can be transported, placed, compacted, and finished sufficiently easily and without
segregation.

Workability of Fresh Concrete

The properties of fresh concrete affect the choices of handling, consolidation, and
construction sequence. They may also affect the properties of the hardened concrete. The
properties of fresh concrete are short-term requirements in nature, and should satisfy the
following requirements:

1. It must be easily mixed and transported.

2. It must be uniform throughout a given batch, and between batches.
3. It must keep its fluidity during the transportation period.
4. It should have flow properties such that it is capable of completely filling the forms.
5. It must have the ability to be fully compacted without segregation.
6. It must set in a reasonable period of time.
7. It must be capable of being finished properly, either against the forms or by means of
troweling or other surface treatment.

Definition of workability
Workability of concrete is defined in ASTM C125 as the property determining the effort
required to manipulate a freshly mixed quantity of concrete with minimum loss of
homogeneity (uniform). The term manipulate includes the early-age operations of placing,
compacting, and finishing

or

Workability of fresh concrete can be defined as “the amount of mechanical work, or energy,
required to produce full compaction of the concrete without segregation.”

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 The effort required to place a concrete mixture is determined largely by the overall
work needed to initiate and maintain flow, which depends on the rheological
properties of the cement paste and the internal friction between the aggregate
particles, on the one hand, and the external friction between the concrete and the
surface of framework, on the other hand.

 Workability of fresh concrete consists of two aspects: consistency and

cohesiveness. Consistency describes how easily fresh concrete flows, while
cohesiveness describes the ability of fresh concrete to hold all the ingredients together
uniformly.

 Consistency can be measured by a slump-cone test, the compaction factor, or a

ball penetration compaction factor test as a simple index for fluidity of fresh
concrete.

 Cohesiveness can be characterized by a Vebe test as an index of both the

water-holding capacity (the opposite of bleeding) and the coarse-aggregate-
holding capacity (the opposite of segregation) of a plastic concrete mixture.

Measurement of workability
The most widely used test, which mainly measures the consistency of concrete, is called the
slump test. For the same purpose, the second test in order of importance is the Vebe test,
which is more meaningful for mixtures with low consistency. The third test is the compacting
factor test, which attempts to evaluate the compactability characteristic of a concrete mixture.
The fourth test method is the ball penetration test that is somewhat related to the mechanical
work.

 Slump test: the decrease in the height of the slumped concrete is called slump.
Different types of slump are available: true, shear and collapse.
 Compacting factor test: the degree of compaction, called the compacting factor
which is measured by the density ratio, i.e the ratio of the density actually achieved in
the test to the density of the same concrete fully compacted.
 Vebe test: its measures the properties of concrete under vibration. This test is a good
laboratory test, particularly for very dry mixes
 Ball penetration test: ASTM C360 covers the Kelly ball penetration test.

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Table 4.5. Test Methods Apropriate to Mixes of Different Workability According to BS

1881 : 1983

Factors affecting workability

1. Water content
 After adding water to a concrete mix, the water is absorbed on the surface of the
particles of the cement and aggregates. Additional water fills the spaces among the
particles and “lubricates” the particles by a water film.

 Decreasing the water content will result in a low fluidity. If the water content is too
small, the concrete will become too dry to mix and place.

 Increasing the amount of water will increase the amount of water for lubrication and
hence improve the fluidity and make it easy to be compacted. However, too much
water will reduce cohesiveness. This not only leads to segregation and bleeding, but
also reduces the concrete strength.

 The water content in a concrete is determined by w/c or w/b and cement or binder
content.

2. Cement content
 Cement content influences the workability of concrete in two ways:

 First, for given w/c ratio, the larger the cement content, the higher the total water
amount in the concrete; hence, the consistency of concrete will be enhanced.
 Second, cement paste itself plays the roles of coating, filling, and lubrication for
aggregate particles.

 In normal concrete, a considerably low cement content tends to produce a harsh

mixture, with poor consistency and, subsequently, poor finishability.

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 High cement content implies that more lubricant is available for consistency
improvement.

 Increasing the fineness of the cement particles will decrease the fluidity of the
concrete at a given w/c ratio, but will increase the cohesiveness. Concretes containing
a very high proportion of cement or very fine cement show excellent cohesiveness but
tend to be sticky.

3. Aggregate characteristics
Aggregates can influence the workability of concrete through their need for surface coating
and their friction and mobility during mixing, placing, and compaction. Maximum aggregate
size, aggregate/cement ratio, fine aggregate/coarse aggregate ratio, and aggregate shape
and texture are four aspects influencing the workability of concrete.

 The particle size of coarse aggregates: The larger aggregates have smaller surface
area than smaller aggregates with the same volume. Subsequently, the amount of the
paste available for lubrication is increased for concrete with large aggregates, and
consistency is improved. Hence, for a given w/c ratio, as the maximum size of
aggregate increases, the fluidity increases.

Moreover, very fine sands or angular sands will require more paste for a given
consistency; alternatively, they will produce harsh and unworkable mixtures at water
contents that might have been adequate with coarser or well-rounded particles.

In general, to get a similar consistency of concrete, more water is needed when

crushed sand is used instead of natural sands.

 The aggregate/cement ratio: A higher aggregate/cement ratio implies more aggregates

and less cement paste. Thus, the concrete consistency decreases with
aggregate/cement ratio increase due to less cement paste being available for
lubrication.

 Fine aggregate/coarse aggregate ratio: With an increase of the fine aggregate/coarse

aggregate ratio, concrete contains more fine aggregates and less coarse aggregates.
Thus, the total surface area of the aggregates increases, which leads to a higher
demand on the cement paste for surface coating. As a result, the consistency of
concrete decreases and the cohesiveness improves. Increasing the fine

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aggregate/coarse aggregate ratio is the most effective measure to increase the

cohesiveness of concrete.

 The shape and texture of aggregate particles: Cubical, irregular, granular, and rough
aggregates require more coating cement paste and have higher friction than spherical,
glassy, and smooth aggregates. As a general rule, the more spherical the particles, the
more workable is the concrete.

4. Admixtures

Both chemical and mineral admixtures can influence the workability of concrete:

 An air-entraining agent increases the paste volume and improves the consistency of
concrete for a given water content through the entrained air. The entrained air also
increases cohesiveness by reducing bleeding and segregation. Improvement in
consistency and cohesiveness by air entrainment is more pronounced in harsh and
unworkable mixtures, such as in mass concrete, which has low cement content.

 Water-reducing admixtures can improve the fluidity of concrete due to the dispersing
effect on cement particles and the releasing of entrapped water by cement clusters.
Similarly, when the water content of concrete mixtures is held constant, the addition
of water-reducing admixtures (plasticizer) will increase the consistency.

 Fly ash, when used as a partial replacement for cement, generally increases the
consistency at a given water content due to the spherical shape and glassy surface.

 When silica fume is used to replace part of the cement, it tends to reduce the amount
of water used for lubrication, due to its very large surface area and hence the need for
a water film coating.

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5. Temperature and time

 Freshly mixed concrete stiffens with time due to evaporation of the mixing water,
particularly when the concrete is directly exposed to sun or wind, absorption by the
aggregate, and consumption in the formation of hydration products. The stiffening of
concrete is effectively measured by a loss of workability with time, known as slump
loss, which varies with richness of the mix, type of cement, temperature of the
concrete, and initial workability.

 A high temperature reduces the workability and increases the slump loss because the
hydration rate is higher and the loss of water is faster at a higher temperature. In
practice, when the ambient conditions are unusual, it is best to perform actual site
tests to determine the workability of the mix.

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Segregation
A proper cohesiveness can ensure concrete to hold all the ingredients in a homogeneous way
without any concentration of a single component, and even after the full compaction is
achieved. An obvious separation of different constituents in concrete is called segregation, as
shown in Figure 3-6.

Segregation can be defined as concentration of individual constituents of a heterogeneous

(nonuniform) mixture so that their distribution is no longer uniform. In the case of concrete, it
is the differences in the size and weight of particles (and sometimes in the specific gravity of
the mix constituents) that are the primary causes of segregation, but the extent can be
controlled by the concrete proportion, choice of suitable grading, and care in handling.

Types of Segregation:
There are two forms of segregation:

1. In the first, the coarser particles tend to separate out because they tend to travel
further along a slope or to settle more than finer particles.
Note: With some gradings, when a lean mix is used, the first type of segregation may
occur if the mix is too dry; additio n of water would improve the cohesion of the mix.

2. The second form of segregation, occurring particularly in wet mixes, is manifested

by the separation of grout (cement plus water) from the mix.
Note: when the mix becomes too wet the second type of segregation would take place.

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