Concrete Technology

Lecture 5
PROPERTIES OF FRESH CONCRETE
Contents
 Fresh Concrete
 Workability
 Segregation
 Bleeding
 Workability Tests
Fresh Concrete
 Fresh concrete or plastic
concrete is a freshly mixed
material which can be moulded
into any shape.
 The relative quantities of
cement, aggregates and water
mixed together, control the
properties of concrete in the
wet state as well as in the
hardened state
 The first 48 hours are very
important for the performance
of the concrete structure.
 It controls the long-term
behaviour, influence fc’
(ultimate strength), Ec (elastic
modulus),creep, and durability
Workability
 A concrete is said to be workable if it is easily transported, placed,
compacted and finished without any segregation
 The strict definition of workability is the amount of useful internal
work necessary to produce full compaction.
 The useful internal work is a physical property of concrete alone and
is the work or energy required to overcome the internal friction
between the individual particles in the concrete
 Theoretical W/C ratio (0.38) does not produce ideal conditions for
maximum compressive strength of concrete. 100% compaction is an
important parameter to be considered in controlling the strength of
concrete.
 Normally a higher W/C ratio than theoretical W/C is required for
full compaction.
Consistency
 Another term used to describe the state of fresh concrete
is consistence, which is the firmness of form of a substance
or the ease with which it will flow. In the case of concrete,
consistence is sometimes taken to mean the degree of
wetness; within limits, wet concretes are more workable
than dry concretes, but concretes of the same consistence
may vary in workability
 Consistency is a general term, while job every requires
particular workability.
 However, If a mix is too wet, segregation may occur with
resulting in excessive bleeding.
 On the other hand, if a mix is too dry it may be difficult to
place and compact, and segregation may occur because of
lack of cohesiveness and plasticity of the paste.
Factors Affecting Workability
 Workable concrete is one which exhibits very little
friction between particles
 The factors which help concrete in achieving a more
lubrication effect to reduce internal friction and to
achieve full compaction are discussed in next slides.
Factors Affecting Workability
 Water Content
 Aggregate/Cement Ratio
 Size of Aggregates
 Shape of Aggregates
 Surface Texture of Aggregate
 Grading of Aggregate
 Admixtures
Factors Affecting Workability (Cont’d)
 Water/Cement Ratio: It is the most important factor affecting
the workability of concrete. The higher the water content per cubic
meter of concrete, the higher will be the fluidity of concrete, which
is one of the important factors affecting workability.
 For controlled concrete it is preferred to keep W/C ratio constant,
and not add extra water just to make concrete more workable.
Instead other options should be tried first.
 Aggregate/Cement Ratio: The higher the aggregate/cement ratio,
the leaner is the concrete. In lean concrete, less quantity of paste is
available for providing lubrication, per unit surface area of aggregate
and hence the mobility of aggregate is restrained. On the other
hand, in case of rich concrete with lower aggregate/cement ratio,
more paste is available to make the mix cohesive and fatty to give
better workability
Factors Affecting Workability (Cont’d)
 Size of Aggregate: The bigger the size of the aggregate, the less is
the surface area and hence less amount of water is required for
wetting the surface and less matrix or paste is required for
lubricating the surface to reduce internal friction. For a given
quantity of water and paste, bigger size of aggregates will give higher
workability
 Shape of Aggregate: Round shaped or cube shaped aggregate is
more workable because for the given volume or weight it will have
less surface area, frictional resistance and less voids than angular or
flaky aggregate. This explains the reason why river sand and gravel
provide greater workability to concrete than crushed sand and
aggregate.
 Shape of aggregate is an important parameter in controlling the
workability of concrete in case of high strength concrete of W/C
less than 0.25.
Factors Affecting Workability (Cont’d)
 Surface Texture: The influence of surface texture on
workability is again due to the fact that the total surface area
of rough textured aggregate is more than the surface area of
smooth rounded aggregate of same volume. Also smooth
rounded aggregates have less inter particle friction and thus
show better workability compared to rough textured
aggregates.
 Grading of Aggregates: This is one of the factors which w
ill have maximum influence on workability. A well graded
aggregate is the one which has least amount of voids in a given
volume. Other factors being constant, when the total voids are
less, excess paste is available to give better lubricating effect.
With excess amount of paste, the mixture becomes cohesive
and fatty which prevents segregation of particles
Some Important Points Regarding
Workability.
 The porosity and absorption of aggregate is important
consideration because some water added is absorbed by
aggregate, hence affecting workability.
 Lightweight aggregate tends to lower workability.
 A high volume of coarse aggregate to fine aggregate can
result in segregation and lower workability.
 Fineness of cement also increases the water demand.
Cohesion and Segregation
 In considering the workability of concrete, it was pointed out
that concrete should not segregate, i.e. it ought to be cohesive;
the absence of segregation is essential if full compaction is to
be achieved.
 Segregation is when the coarse and fine aggregate, and
cement paste, become separated. A good concrete is one that
is homogenous mixture of constituents. Segregation may
happen when the concrete is mixed, transported, placed or
compacted
 Segregation makes the concrete
I. weaker
II. Less durable
III. and will leave poor surface finish
Segregation
To Avoid Segregation
 Check the concrete is not 'too wet' or 'too dry'.
 Make sure the concrete is properly mixed. It is important
that the concrete is mixed at the correct speed in a transit
mixer for at least two minutes immediately prior to
discharge.
 The concrete should be placed as soon as possible.
 When transporting the mix, load carefully.
 Always pour new concrete into the face of concrete
already in place.
 Use of Certain Workability agents, Pozzolanic material and
air entraining agents can significantly reduce Segregation
 Avoid Excessive compaction by vibration of too wet mix.
To Avoid Segregation
 If placing concrete straight from a truck, pour
vertically and never let the concrete fall more
than one-and-a-half meters.
Bleeding
 Bleeding, known also as water gain, is a form of
segregation in which some of the water in the mix tends
to rise to the surface of freshly placed concrete.
 This is caused by the inability of the solid constituents of
the mix to hold all of the mixing water when they settle
downwards.
 Bleeding is predominantly observed in a highly wet mix,
badly proportioned and insufficiently mixed concrete. In
thin members like roof slab or road slabs and when
concrete is placed in sunny weather show excessive
bleeding.
Bleeding (Cont’d)
Bleeding (Cont’d)
 Bleeding is not completely harmful if the rate of
evaporation of water from the surface is equal to the rate
of bleeding.
 Early bleeding when the concrete mass is fully plastic, may
not cause much harm, because concrete being in a fully
plastic condition at that stage, will get subsided and
compacted.
 It is the delayed bleeding, when the concrete has lost its
plasticity, that causes undue harm to the concrete
 As a result of bleeding formation of cement water paste
on surface known as ‘Laitance’ is likely to occur. This can
be prevented by delaying finishing operations.
Bleeding (Cont’d)
 Bleeding is an inherent phenomenon in concrete.
 All the same, it can be reduced by proper proportioning and
uniform and complete mixing.
 Bleeding can sometimes cause reduced bond especially in case of
flaky aggregates or in case of reinforcement. This can be taken care
of by re-viberation of aggregate.
 Use of finely divided pozzolanic materials reduces bleeding by
creating a longer path for the water to traverse.
 Use of air-entraining agent is very effective in reducing the bleeding.
 It is also reported that the bleeding can be reduced by the use of
finer cement, cement with high alkali content or higher percentage
of Tri calcium silicate. Rich mixes are less susceptible to bleeding
than lean mixes.
 Bleeding is not harmful if the rate of evaporation of water from the
surface is equal to the rate of bleeding.
Workability Tests
 Slump Test
 Compaction Factor Test
 Vebe Test
 Flow Table Test
 Ball Penetration Test

 Assignment: Write a note on the above mentioned