7 PDF
7 PDF
7 PDF
(Department of Civil Engineering, BLDEAs V.P. Dr P.G Halakatti College of Engineering & Technology
Bijapur Karnataka, India)
2
ABSTRACT: This Paper reviews the recent studies which were carried out on Self Compacting Concrete
(SCC) and compare it with Normal Concrete (NC). Almost all countries in the world are facing an acute decline
in the availability of skilled labor in the construction industry, and hence the need of Special Concretes becomes
very essential in this world where the use of concrete is just next to the water. The word Special Concrete
refers to the concrete which meets the special performance and requirements which may not be possible by
using conventional materials and normal methods of concreting. Self Compacting Concrete is one of the type of
a special concrete which flows and consolidates under its own weight thereby eliminates the problems of
placing concrete in difficult conditions and also reduces the time in placing large sections and at the same time
giving high strength and better durability characteristics as compared to the Normal Concrete. This paper
discusses the various aspects of SCC including the materials and mix design, different test methods such as Vfunnel test, L- Box test etc., and also its performance characteristics and properties in the fresh and hardened
state.
Keywords Durability, SCC, Special Concrete, Superplasticizers, Viscosity.
I. INTRODUCTION
The demand of Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) is growing rapidly due to the shortage of skilled labors for
which it was originally developed mainly due the work of Okamura [1], it is also proved to be more economical,
durable and termed as high performance concrete [2]. The advantages of SCC make this concrete more desirable
all over the world which includes faster construction, reduces manpower, better finishes, easier placement,
better durability, thinner concrete sections, lesser noise levels, no vibration, safer working environment [3]. The
Concept of SCC originates from Japan in 1980s and the early developed Super Plasticizers were the main reason
which made it possible to flow and self consolidate. The use of SCC is rising steadily over the years because of
their advantages and many scientists and organizations carried out research on properties of SCC [4].
The quality of concrete construction is of utmost importance in order to have a durable concrete structure
and one of the reasons to make a durable structure is proper compaction which requires skilled labors but due to
shortage of skilled labors full compaction cannot be done which is shown in Fig 1. The solution to this is the use
of self compacting concrete which compacts in every corner of formwork.
Amount of aggregates used which are deviating from ideal shapes and sizes.
Type of superplastizer used.
Type of VMA.
Compatibility between cement, superplastizer, and VMA.
Aggregates
The shape and gradation of aggregates play an important role in producing a SCC. Much research has been
conducted in this area to produce SCC by using locally available aggregates. Rounded aggregates are much
preferred as they play an important role to achieve workability with lower cement content as compared to
angular aggregates, [5, 6, 7]. However, it is possible to produce a flowable concrete by using angular aggregates
by methods as suggested by OFlannery [8], and is tabulated in Table 1.
Table 1- Use of Shape Characterization of Aggregate
Conventional method
Aggregate
shape
Rounded
versus
crushed (subjective
assessment)
Flakiness index
Elongation index
Suggested method
Cubicity, sphericity, and roundness indices (based on
Flannery)
- Cubicity (Cubicity index Ic = 100XYZ/X3, where X, Y, and Z
are the dimensions of the aggregate) to indicate the likely
degree of potential compaction; values of index between 60 and
10 are cubic, between 30 and 60 indicate flakiness.
- Sphericity index to describe the polyhedral shape of the
particle
Adjustment in water
content by type of
aggregate rounded
or crushed
No recommendation
for flaky aggregate
Poor gradation of aggregates is also one of the causes which may affect the flowability of SCC and
using fillers, both inert and reactive may solve this problem [9, 10]. Because of unavailability of sand in present
days due to the environmental impact of mining river sand in India, alternative to fine aggregates or
artificial sand is being used much as a filler to produce SCC, but not much research has been carried out
on the effects of artificial sand on SCC till date. D. W. S. Ho [11] in his paper indicated the various
advantages of Quarry dust instead of limestone to use as filler.
SuperplasticizersHigh range water reducing admixture plays an important role in the desirable flow at low water
contents. Many researches [12, 13, 14] have been conducted in order to know the role of different types of
Superplasticizers to achieve Self Compacting Concrete.
These researches indicate that those
Superplasticizers based on steric hindrance require a lower dosage than with those which based on
electrostatic repulsion. Thus in India, the sulfonated condensates of naphthalene (SNF) formaldehyde
[15] is much preferable because of its low cost as compared to others.
Viscosity modifying agents (VMA)
VMA helps in reducing bleeding and thereby improves the stability of the concrete mixture. An
effective VMA can also reduce the powder requirement, yet maintaining the required stability. And also,
SCC almost always incorporates mineral admixture, to improve the deformability and stability of
concrete. As it is a well known fact that the VMAs are in use since a long time (Ex- for underwater
concreting) [16], they contain polysaccharides as active ingredient which controls the viscosity [17].
The compatibility between the cement and superplasticizers is an important issue to be
considered as the gypsum present in the concrete having low water content and superplasticizers dosage
may precipitate out resulting in loss of slump [18].
Discrete models- In this model, the bigger size aggregates acts as the base frame and the smaller size particles
fills the voids. The left over voids are filled with the finer particle and the chain goes on in decreasing order.
Empirical methods
Applicable; design tables
available
May be applicable
Particle packing
Applicable; validation
required
Applicable; validation
required
Statistical design
Applicable; not
widely used
Applicable
Test method
Material
Recommended values
Flowability /
Filling ability
Slump flow
Concrete
V funnel
Concrete
L box
Concrete
J - ring
Concrete
650 800 mm
Average flow diameter
6 12 sec
Time for emptying of funnel
0.8 1.0
Ratio of heights at the beginning and end of flow
0 10 mm
Difference in heights at beginning and end of flow
Passing ability
Expectation
Can take place
Higher
Higher
No difference for same
grade of concrete
Better
Durability
Reality
No difference (between SCC and
compacted concrete)
No significant difference
Higher
No difference
Better
Uniformity- Various researches have been conducted so far and many have reported that the performance of
SCC is not so different from a fully compacted conventional concrete. It was also observed that the in-situ
strengths from the cores of walls and columns were similar for the SCC and conventional mixes [29]. Zhu et al.
[30] studied further on this study by taking columns and beams on the uniformity.
Creep and shrinkage of SCC- The hydrated cement paste generally governs the creep and shrinkage of
concrete and because of more paste content (flyash), SCC have higher tendency to creep. However in a study B.
Persson [31], the strength, elastic modulus, creep and shrinkage of SCC and normal concrete does not differ
much except that the creep was more at the initial ages of SCC.
Keeping the cement content same as that of conventional concrete may reduce the creep and shrinkage.
It was also observed that SCC cracks more at time between (2-8 hours), [32]. Turcry et al. [33] reported that the
plastic shrinkage of SCC was two times higher than the normal concrete at the same evaporation rate. Thus with
low powder content, these cracks can be reduced.
Compressive and Flexural Strengths- Compressive strength was studied by Rols et al. [34]; Sari et al.[35];
Su,N., et al. [36]; Corinaldesi,V., et al. [37]; Nehdi & Ladanchuk,[38]; Sonebi,M.,[39, 40]; Persson, B., [41];
Kumar, P., et al. [42]. Compressive strength was reported at 1,7,28 and 90 days of cylinders 110 mm in dia and
Figure: 4 Compressive and Flexural Strengths of the concrete as a function of curing time from Corinaldesi et al.
2004
VI.CONCLUSION
Particularly in India, the use of Self-compacting concrete for routine construction is not much because
of the lack of awareness while in countries like Canada apart from Japan, SCC is used for the routine
construction and with research data available, an awareness can be spread in order to utilize the various benefits
of this material. It is not fully clear whether existing design codes for structural concrete can be practical in case
of self-compacting concrete. Use of viscosity modifying agents along with high-range water reducing agent are
very essential for flowability and segregation control. A better understanding of the rheology of SCC has made
it easier to know the functions of fines, superplasticizers, and VMA in SCC, and the compatibility between these
and gives the designers a clear understanding of the mechanical properties including stress strain characteristics
of SCC in its hardened state. No standard codes are available for the mix design of self compacting concrete
apart from few methods developed by the researchers and many institutions, RMC, companies are using their
own methods with one or other limitations. Thus some generalized method can be developed taking into the
consideration all the aspects.
REFERENCES
[1] H. Okamura, Self Compacting High Performance Concrete Ferguson Lecture for 1996, Concrete International, Vol. 19, No. 7, 1997,
pp. 50 54.
[2] H. Okamura, Self Compacting Concrete, Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology, Vol 1, No 1, April 2003, pp 5-15.
[3] Specification and Guidelines for Self-Compacting Concrete, EFNARC, Feb 2002. ISBN 0953973344.
[4] H. Okamura and M. Ouchi, Applications of Self-Compacting Concrete in Japan, Proceedings of the 3rd International RILEM
Symposium on Self-Compacting Concrete, O. Wallevik and I. Nielsson, Ed., RILEM Publications, 2003, pp. 3 5.