Thixotropic Effects During Large-scale Concrete Pump Tests on Site

Author(s):Geert De Schutter
Paper category: Proceedings
Book title: Proceedings of International Conferences (ICACMS) Advances in Construction Materials and systems Vol 2
Editor(s): Manu Santhanam, Ravindra Gettu, Radhakrishna G. Pillai, Sunitha K. Nayar
ISBN: 978-2-35158-194-0
e-ISBN: 978-2-35158-191-9
Publisher: RILEM Publications SARL
Publication year: 2017
Pages: 26-32
Total Pages: 7
Language : English

Abstract: During recent years, the fundamentals of pumping fresh concrete have been intensively
studied worldwide. New insights have been gained concerning the important role of the
lubrication layer near the surface pipe. The influence of rheological properties of the fresh
concrete, like yield stress, viscosity, and shear thickening behavior, is now well understood,
and can be fairly accurately modelled. One major challenge is found in the potential effect of
thixotropy while pumping fresh concrete, especially in case the pumping operation is
temporarily paused and resumed after a while. Due to thixotropic effects, restarting the
pumping operation can be a very challenging task. This paper reports on a large-scale
concrete pump test on a construction site, specifically focusing on the risk of thixotropy.
Fresh concrete has been pumped in a horizontal closed-loop pumping pipe with a total length
of 600 meter. In steady-state pumping conditions, the pumping operation was very
successful, and in agreement with the expectations. However, the thixotropic effects,
occurring during a short stop of the pumping operations, showed to provoke major problems
while trying to resume pumping. The lessons-learnt helped to define a successful pumping
procedure for this major construction site.

Online publication : 2017
Publication type : full_text
Public price (Euros) : 0.00