Rheological behaviour of self-compacting micro-concrete

Abstract

The rheological behaviour of Self-Compacting Micro-Concrete (SCMC) mixtures has been investigated within the scope of this paper. Rheological measurements have been performed using a novel rheometer equipped with a ball measuring system. Three SCMC mixtures with the same water/cement (W/C) ratios (0.44 by weight) and cement/limestone powder (1/1 by weight) with different High Range Water Reducing Admixtures (HRWRA) contents (1, 1.2 and 1.4% by weight of cement) have been tested. For comparison purpose, three conventional cement paste mixtures with varying W/C ratios (0.30, 0.325 and 0.35) were also prepared. Flow parameters such as yield value and plastic viscosity have been measured along with shear thickening or thinning behaviour. Furthermore, thixotropic behaviour of the various mixtures have been measured using hysteresis areas. Finally, advanced rheological properties of micro-concretes and cement pastes have been compared and discussed. While cement pastes investigated in this study possessed high yield values (34–217 Pa) and very low viscosities (5–19 Pa.s), comparatively high viscosities (17–45 Pa.s) and low yield values (0–47 Pa) have been obtained from SCMCs. The high viscosity of micro-concretes improves the solid holding capacity of this composite. According to flow curve analysis, cement paste mixtures and SCMCs exhibited shear thinning and shear thickening characteristics, respectively.