In practice, self-compacting concrete (SCC) is considered as a simple extension of conventional vibrated concrete (CVC) when pumping is concerned. The same equipment, materials, pumping procedures and guidelines used for CVC are applied when pumping SCC. On the other hand, it has been clearly shown that the rheological properties and the mix design of SCC are different than CVC. Can the same pumping principles employed for CVC be applied for SCC? This paper compares the some published results of pumping of CVC with those for SCC. A first striking difference between pumping of CVC and SCC is the flow behaviour in the pipes. The flow of CVC is a plug, surrounded by a lubricating layer, while during the flow of SCC, part of the concrete volume itself is sheared inside the pipe. As a result, the importance of viscosity increases in case of SCC. Due to the low yield stress of SCC, the behaviour in bends is different, but quite complex to study. Due to the lower content of aggregate and better stability of SCC, as it is less prone to internal water migration, blocking is estimated to occur at lower frequency in case of SCC.
展开▼
