Time evolution of rheology of cement pastes affected by mixture design and mixing procedure

Abstract

Robustness is defined as the capacity of cement-based materials to retain fresh properties when subjected to either small variations in the constituent elements or small changes in the mixing procedure. Compared to normal concrete, self-consolidating concrete (SCC) may show less tolerance to those changes. Most robustness studies focus on initial rheological properties or workability, but concentrate less on the evolution of these properties within the first hour(s). This paper presents the results of an investigation aimed at evaluating the change of yield stress and plastic viscosity with time of cement pastes with SCC consistency, which is mainly affected by variations in the water content and the adding time of the superplasticizer. A change in water content also influences the initial rheological properties, and these differences are amplified over time. The difference due to the different adding time of the superplasticizer is, however, reduced or even reversed over time.