Theory and Testing Methods of

Self-Consolidating Concrete
(SCC)
CEE 8813
03/14/07
Felix Kim

What is Self-Consolidating Concrete?

„ “A highly flowable, yet stable concrete that

can spread readily into place and fill the
formwork without any consolidation and
without undergoing significant separation”
(Khayat, Hu and Monty, 1999)

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Benefits

„ No vibration needed
„ Less labor needed
„ Low noise-level in the plants and construction
sites.
„ Easier to pump
„ Faster construction
„ Improved quality and durability
„ Higher strength

Comparison

Normal Concrete SCC

„ Slump flow: 8 ~ 11 in „ Slump flow: 24 ~ 30 in
„ Vibration required „ No vibration needed
„ Somewhat self-leveling „ Self-leveling
„ No segregation „ No segregation

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Tight Spacing

Concrete pour on 02/26/07 (Kalkan, 2007)

Video

Concrete pour on 02/26/07 (Kalkan, 2007)

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3 Characteristics

„ Filling ability
Ability to flow under its own weight both horizontally
and vertically upwards without honeycombing
around any shape
„ Passing ability
Ability to flow freely through dense reinforcement
without blocking
„ Segregation Resistance
Ability to maintain homogenous mix during and after
placement, without separation of aggregate from the
past, or water from solids
(Petersson et al., 2002)

Flow ability vs. Segregation Resistance

„ Difficult to achieve both flow ability

and segregation resistance

Flow ability

Segregation Resistance

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Mix Design

„ Coarse Aggregate content: 28 – 32 %

„ Mortar fraction: 61%-68%
„ Sand / Aggregate Ratio: 48%-57%
„ Cementitious: 700-840 lb/cu yd
„ Water: 290-310 lb/cu yd
„ Admixtures: Viscosity Modifying Admixture
(VMA), Superplasticizer (PolyCarboxylate)
(Knight and Grace, 2002)

Aggregate Fraction

„ Coarse Aggregate
content: 28 – 32 % SCC
„ Mortar fraction: 61%-
W Paste Sand Gravel
68%
Air
„ Sand / Aggregate
W P Sand Gravel
Ratio: 48%-57%
Conventional
Concrete

(Okamura and Ouchi, 2003)

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High Paste Volume

„ Increases flow ability by reducing inter

particle friction
„ Increases heat generation
„ Larger drying shrinkage
„ Substitution of SCM can partially solve this
problem – Fly Ash for heat reduction, Silica
Fume for strength
(Ng et al., 2006)

Aggregate Gradation

„ CA/Tot. Vol. governs the flow ability

„ Gradation needs to be considered when
spacing is close to Max. Size Aggr. (MSA)
„ ¾” CA < 3/8” CA < FA (Ng et al., 2006)

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Aggregate Gradation

„ 25%-32% CA (reduce
blocking)
„ Aggr. gradation is very
% crucial
e te
cr
Se
p
To

1” ¾” ½” 3/8” Sand Pan

(Knight and Grace, 2002)

Viscosity and Flowability

τ0 - Yield value (Pa)
„ Viscosity - Measure of
μ - Plastic viscosity (Pa-s)
resistance of fluid to
deform under shear
Shear o
„ Yield shear stress – stress, τ τ =τ0 + μ γ
required shear stress to
initiate the flow μ
Superplasticizer
τ0 1
τ0
o
Rate of shear, γ

(Grace Construction Products, 2002)

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Superplasticizer

„ Steric Repulsion
„ PolyCarboxylic

Viscosity
Superplasticizer

Water

Flow ability

(Okamura, 1997)

Shear Friction
CA
„ Shear stresses
increases when the mix
goes through a close τ Mortar

spacing because of σ
higher probability of
σ
inter praticle collision τ
(Sonebi and Bartos,
2002)

(Okamura, 2003)

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Effect of Fine Aggregate on Deformability

CA
τ Large

Sand content

τ Mortar Small

σ σ
σ
Crushed sand
τ τ River sand

Land sand

σ
(Okamura, 2003)

Blocking
Normal Concrete

Low CA content
High paste volume
“Passing ability”

SCC

(Knight and Grace, 2002)

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Segregation Resistance

„ Powder Method (Fly Ash)

„ Viscosity Modifier Method
- Hydrolyzed starches, Bipolymers (welum
gum)
- New generation Superplasticizer - Highly
flowable mix with cohesion
- Molecular structure of VMA facilitates the
removal of large amount of water by physical
adsorption (Mehta and Monteiro, 1993)

Stoke’s Law and Segregation Resistance

„ Yield stress – low

D 2 g ( ρ1 − ρ 2 )
enough to flow V=
„ Viscosity – low enough 18μ
to flow but high enough
to prevent segregation
V = velocity
μ = vis cos ity
D = diameter
ρ = density

(Grace Construction Products, 2002)

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Bleeding

„ Reduce strength
„ Stiffness
„ Bond to reinforcing bars
„ Durability

SCC Hardened Properties

„ As good as or better than normal concrete

„ Compressive and Tensile Strength
- 28 day strength higher than normal concrete
„ Durability
- similar to conventional superplasticized
concrete
„ Shrinkage
- similar to other high cementitious material

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Slump Flow Test (ASTM C-1611)

„ The most commonly

used test
„ Filling ability,
Segregation resistance
„ Slump flow = (d1+d2)/2
„ 20 ~ 26 in
recommended
„ VSI

Slump flow test performed on 02/26/2007

at GaTech Lab (picture taken by Felix Kim)

Slump flow

„ The test judges the capability of concrete to

deform under its own weight against the
friction for the surface with no other external
restraint present (Sonebi and Bartos, 2002)

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Visual Stability Index (VSI)
Very Subjective!

(Horta, 2005)

J-Ring (ASTM C-1621)

(d1 + d 2 )
J − Ring flow =
2

Blocking = slump flow – J-ring flow

Passing Ability

(Horta, 2005)

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Column Segregation Test (ASTM C-1610)

„ Lab test rather than

field test
Top
⎡ CA − CAT ⎤
S = 2⎢ B ⎥ ×100, if CAB > CAT
⎣ CAB + CAT ⎦
S = 0, if CAB ≤ CAT Bottom
Static Segregation only

Column Segregation Test

(ASTM, 2006)

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Proposed Method

„ Direct relationship

depth (Pd)
between SI and Pd (Bui segregation

Penetration
et al., 2002)
„ Dynamic and Static
Segregation Segregation Index (SI)
No segregation
„ El-Chabib and Nehdi
Pd
„ Dr. Struble has
proposed a similar test
method that ASTM is
considering

Proposed Method

SI-Static

SI-dynamic (El-Chabib and Nehdi, 2006)

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Future Research

„ Development of Prediction Model (ANN)

„ Optimum mix design

Question ???

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