Concrete Workability: CE F230 Civil Engineering Materials

CE F230
Civil Engineering Materials
BITS Pilani Concrete Workability

Pilani Campus
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Workability of Concrete
Effort required to manipulate a concrete

mixture with a minimum segregation.
Poor workability vs good workability

http://youtu.be/tqP1DDYt2Gk
http://youtu.be/C9g5fAkpWNA

Two Main Components of
Workability
Consistency describes the ease of flow.

ACI. The relative mobility or ability of freshly mixed
concrete or mortar to flow
Cohesiveness or stability describes the

tendency to bleed or segregate.

Factors Affecting Workability
 Water content
 Aggregate type and grading
 Aggregate/cement ratio
 Presence of admixtures
 Fineness of cement
 Time
 Temperature

Effect of Water Content on
Slump
•Reduces strength
•Segregation
•Bleeding
Too much water is not good!

Effect of Agg. Shape on Slump

Effect of Agg. Size on Slump
Slump decreases as specific surface area of aggregate increases (smaller size),

since this requires a greater proportion of water to wet aggregate particles, thus
leaving a smaller amount of water for lubrication.
Influence of
Aggregate to
Cement Ratio on
Workability
For a constant w/c

ratio, an increase in the
agg/c ratio will
decrease the
workability
Higher Vebe time (V-B)
corresponds to lower
workability

Effect of Admixtures on
Workability
 The principal admixtures affecting improvement in
workability of concrete are water-reducing and air-
entraining agents as well as fly ash.
 The extent of increase in workability is dependent on the
type and amount of admixture used and the general
characteristics of the fresh concrete
Flow of cement paste (w/c = 0.25)

Effect of Temperature on
Workability
On a hot day, the water

content would have to be
increased for a constant early
workability to be maintained

Effect of Time on
Workability (Slump Loss)
Some water from the mix is absorbed by the

aggregate, some is lost by evaporation, and
some is removed by initial chemical reactions.
The reduction of water content will cause
Slump Loss

Cohesion and Segregation
Concrete with good workability
ought to be cohesive, should
not segregate
Segregation can be defined as
separation of constituents of a
heterogeneous mixture so that
their distribution is no longer
uniform. Tendency for
Sand-cement mortar to separate
from coarse aggregate
Cement paste to separate from
fine aggregate
http://youtu.be/aHNxq-Eda0c BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Bleeding (Water Gain)
A special form of segregation in which some of

the water in mix tends to rise to the surface of
freshly placed concrete
Create a porous and weak layer of non-durable

concrete and zones of poor bond between
cement paste and large aggregate particles or
reinforcement

Bleeding
Caused by Control of bleeding

Lack of fines (300 mm and Increasing cement fineness or
below) using SCM (i.e. pozzolans)
High free water content Increasing hydration rate (C3A)
Water reducing admixture Reducing free water content
overdose
Workability Tests
Slump test
Compacting factor test
Vebe test

Slump Test (ASTM C 143):
Principle
The slump test is a measure of the

behaviour of a compacted inverted cone of
concrete under the action of gravity. It
measures the consistency or the wetness
of concrete.

Slump Test: Apparatus
and Procedure
Use inverted cone http://youtu.be/Hmo7tMsRD1g
Fill it up with three

layers of equal volume
Rod each layer 25
times
Scrape off surface
Cone lift away vertically
Slump measurement: Unit: mm
Downward movement
of the concrete
Developed in US by Chapman, 1913
Types of Slump

Compacting Factor
Test: Principle
The compacting factor

test measures the degree
of compaction resulting
from the application of a
standard amount of
work, i.e. constant
potential energy to kinetic
energy

Compacting Factor Test:
Apparatus and Procedure
Upper hopper is filled with concrete
Bottom door of upper hopper is then
released and concrete falls into lower
hopper
Bottom door of lower hopper is released
and concrete falls into cylinder
Excess concrete is cut and net weight
of concrete in known volume of cylinder
is determined
The density of concrete in cylinder is
now calculated, and this density divided
by density of fully compacted concrete
is defined as Compacting Factor 227
http://youtu.be/SRo2vYw_QPI BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Vebe Test (ASTM C 1170):
Principle
The Vebe test measures
the remolding ability of
concrete under vibration
It is assumed energy
required for compaction is
a measure of workability,
and this is expressed in
Vebe seconds, i.e. time
required for remolding to
be complete

Vebe Test: Apparatus and
Procedure
A slump cone is placed and filled in the
center of the cylinder
After removing the slump cone, a glass
plate is set atop the
fresh concrete
Time for the concrete
to remold is recorded
http://youtu.be/8n2wpCwYtq4

Comparison of Workability
Tests
 Slump test is suitable for concrete of medium to

high workability
 Compacting factor test is more sensitive and
accurate than slump test, especially for concrete
mixes of medium to low workability
 Vebe test is a good laboratory test, particularly
for concrete of very low workability

Suggested Values of
Workability of Fresh Concrete
for Different Placing Conditions
Values of workability
Degree of Compacting factor, max.

Placing condition Vebe time, slump for 20
workability size of agg. mm agg.
10 mm 20 mm 40mm
Hand compaction of heavily reinforced High Vebe N/A

0.95 0.95 0.95
sections (flowing) 125-150 mm slump
Concreting of lightly reinforced section
Medium 5-2 s Vebe time,
by hand or vibration of heavily reinforced 0.88 0.90 0.92
(plastic) 25-75 mm slump
sections
Concreting of lightly reinforced sections

with vibration; road pavements and slabs Low 10-5 s Vebe time,
0.82 0.84 0.85
with hand-operated vibrators and (stiff plastic) 5-50 mm slump
vibration of mass concrete
Concreting of shallow sections with Very low 20-10 s Vebe time,

0.75 0.78 0.80
vibrations (stiff) 0-25 mm slump
Concreting by intensive vibrations with Extremely low 30-20 Vebe time

0.65 0.68 N/A
vibropressing, centrifugation etc. (very stiff) Slump N/A

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CE F230

Civil Engineering Materials

BITS Pilani Concrete Workability

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Effort required to manipulate a concrete

Poor workability vs good workability

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Consistency describes the ease of flow.

Cohesiveness or stability describes the

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Too much water is not good!

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Slump decreases as specific surface area of aggregate increases (smaller size),

For a constant w/c

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Flow of cement paste (w/c = 0.25)

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

On a hot day, the water

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Some water from the mix is absorbed by the

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

A special form of segregation in which some of

Create a porous and weak layer of non-durable

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Caused by Control of bleeding

Compacting factor test

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

The slump test is a measure of the

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Fill it up with three

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

The compacting factor

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

 Slump test is suitable for concrete of medium to

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Degree of Compacting factor, max.

Hand compaction of heavily reinforced High Vebe N/A

Concreting of lightly reinforced sections

Concreting of shallow sections with Very low 20-10 s Vebe time,

Concreting by intensive vibrations with Extremely low 30-20 Vebe time

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

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