Rheological properties of smart dynamic concrete containing different supplementary cementitious materials

Abstract

An experimental investigation into the rheological behavior of smart dynamic concrete (SDC) is presented in this paper. The investigation was aimed at quantifying the impact of the varying amounts of mineral admixtures on the rheology of SDC containing crushed sand as fine aggregates. Apart from the ordinary Portland cement (OPC), the supplementary cementitious materials such as fly ash (FA), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and micro-silica (MS) are used in different percentages keeping the mix paste volume and flow of concrete, constant. The instrument, ICAR (International Center for Aggregate Research) rheometer, employed in the present study for evaluating the rheological behaviour of the SDC is found to detect systematic changes in workability, cementitious materials, successfully. The concrete mix containing OPC and cementitious materials like FA, GGBS, MS demonstrates different rheological behavior. Average viscosity of eleven SDC mixes tested is found to be close to 60 Pa-s. The slump flow, T₅₀₀, V-funnel, L-box tests can be concurrently used for predicting the flow behaviors of SDC made with different cementitious materials. Traditional test methods of SCC testing such as flow, V-funnel are found to have good relationship with viscosity of mix. fly ash, GGBS and micro silica is observed to help to improve rheology with less stickiness as compared to pure OPC mixes. The fly ash, GGBS and micro silica can be used to reduce the yield stress without resulting in large variation in the plastic viscosity and improved the stability of the mixes.