Concrete Rheology

Summary

Concrete Rheology - is the study of how well fresh concrete flows.

Technical Information

Because concrete is a composite material with so many variables in its composition, it is very difficult to derive an analytical method to predict how any given fresh concrete mix will flow. This is what people studying concrete rheology aim to do.

In the past, many ‘one point’ tests have been developed to determine the workability of concrete, one example of which is the slump test. A one point test measures how fresh concrete will behave in a very specific situation under very specific conditions. Whilst they can be useful to give a general idea of how stiff a concrete is, it has been found in practice that mixes which are indistinguishable by a one point test can behave very differently in practice.

Because many construction processes depend on how well concrete can be made to flow (pumping, pouring, compaction etc.), concrete rheology is an important area of research for the future. If a breakthrough allows for concrete mixes to be precisely designed for an optimal balance between workability of fresh concrete and strength of the hardened concrete, the efficiency of the concrete construction industry as a whole could be much improved.