International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET)
Volume 10, Issue 04, April 2019, pp. 1700–1707, Article ID: IJCIET_10_04_178
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ISSN Print: 0976-6308 and ISSN Online: 0976-6316
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DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF SELFCOMPACTING CONCRETE
Elena Vitalyevna Bazhina
Ph.D. in Technical Sciences, Assistant Professor, Department of Hydraulics and
Hydrotechnical Engineering, Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Power Plant
Construction, National Research Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, Moscow,
Russian Federation
Grigory Mikhailovich Kudryavtsev
Senior Lecturer, Department of Hydraulics and Hydrotechnical Engineering, Institute of
Hydraulic Engineering and Power Plant Construction, National Research Moscow State
University of Civil Engineering, Moscow, Russian Federation
Daria Dmitrievna Saidakova
Department of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical engineering, Institute of Hydraulic
Engineering and Power Plant Construction, National Research Moscow State University of
Civil Engineering, Moscow, Russian Federation
Aleksandr Vladimirovich Strelchenko
Department of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Hydraulic
Engineering and Power Plant Construction, National Research Moscow State University of
Civil Engineering, Moscow, Russian Federation
Revan Rakhmanovich Rustamov
Housing and Utility Complex Department, Institute of Environmental Engineering and
Mechanization, National Research Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, Moscow,
Russian Federation
Vitaly Yuryevich Ermakov
Institute of Construction and Architecture, National Research Moscow State University of
Civil Engineering, Moscow, Russian Federation
Sergey Vladislavovich Trofimov
Institute of Construction and Architecture, National Research Moscow State University of
Civil Engineering, Moscow, Russian Federation
Andrey Gennadievich Ishnazarov
Institute of Construction and Architecture, National Research Moscow State University of
Civil Engineering, Moscow, Russian Federation
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Development and Application of Self-Compacting Concrete
ABSTRACT
For the construction industry there is a place for the development and
implementation of resource-and energy-efficient building materials, innovative
technologies for their production. So, in modern monolithic construction, high-tech
concrete mixes are increasingly being used, capable of filling formwork (form),
including densely reinforced and with complex geometry, while maintaining cohesion
and homogeneity - self-compacting concrete (SCC) without the use of any external
mechanical impact. Along with high workability such concretes are characterized by
rapid rates of curing, high physical and mechanical characteristics.
Key words: concrete, SCC, microsilica, self-compacting concrete, superplasticizers.
Cite this Article: Elena Vitalyevna Bazhina, Grigory Mikhailovich Kudryavtsev,
Daria Dmitrievna Saidakova, Aleksandr Vladimirovich Strelchenko, Rustamov Revan
Rakhmanovich, Vitaly Yuryevich Ermakov, Sergey Vladislavovich Trofimov, Andrey
Gennadievich Ishnazarov, Development and Application of Self-Compacting
Concrete, International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology 10(4), 2019, pp.
1692–1699.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/issues.asp?JType=IJCIET&VType=10&IType=4
1. INTRODUCTION
The development and improvement of the technological process of the production of concrete
mixtures, the molding of reinforced concrete structures from them are influenced by two key
factors: on the one hand, the production of more strong and durable concrete, on the other the reduction of labor and energy costs in its production.
Over a long period, these two factors remained contradictory, since to obtain highstrength, durable concrete, their compositions were designed with a low value of watercement ratio, which leads to the production of hard concrete mixtures that require increased
energy costs during mixing, as well as during installation and vibration compaction forms.
This significantly increases the complexity of the process. At the same time, the possibility of
obtaining highly mobile concrete mixes was provided mainly by increasing the mixing water
consumption, which, in turn, leads to a decrease in the strength and durability of concrete.
These contradictions were largely resolved by the development of effective plasticizers
and superplasticizers in the mid-70s of the last century. Their use in concrete compositions
made it possible to obtain highly mobile (cast) concrete mixes and concretes with high
physicomechanical and performance characteristics on ordinary Portland cement and
aggregates due to two main effects: plasticizing and water reducing [1-3]. At the same time,
along with obvious advantages in the practice of obtaining highly mobile concrete mixes,
there were a number of disadvantages. Thus, most superplasticizers had a slowing effect on
the hardening and hardening of the concrete mix, especially at high dosages. Often,
superplasticizers of the first and second generations did not provide the required persistence
of workability of concrete mixes during transportation to the place of molding for 60-90
minutes. When pumping concrete mixtures with concrete pumps to the place of installation at
a distance of more than 200-250 m, there were cases of their separation, which created
discontinuities in building structures. From this point of view, the granulometric composition
of the mineral part of concrete must meet the requirements for pumped concrete mixtures [4].
According to [1], during the deformation of a concrete mixture of a dense structure created by
continuous granulometry of aggregates, its particles can ―roll‖ over each other without being
stuck in voids.
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Elena Vitalyevna Bazhina, Grigory Mikhailovich Kudryavtsev, Daria Dmitrievna Saidakova,
Aleksandr Vladimirovich Strelchenko, Rustamov Revan Rakhmanovich, Vitaly Yuryevich
Ermakov, Sergey Vladislavovich Trofimov, Andrey Gennadievich Ishnazarov
At the same time, decisive role in the development of technology of highly mobile
concrete mixtures was played by the scientific foundations of concrete modification by
multifunctional modifier additives, which were formed as a result of numerous studies and
confirmed by practice [5, 6]. With the advent of third-generation superplasticizers, the use of
highly dispersed silica-containing materials of technogenic origin, primarily Silica fume
(microsilica), the technology of concrete experienced a powerful qualitative leap. The optimal
combination of these modifying additives, and if necessary, combining with them other
organic and mineral materials, allows you to directionally control the rheological properties of
concrete mixtures, modify the structure of cement stone at the micro level so as to impart
properties that ensure high operational reliability of concrete structures [2, 7].
2. DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-COMPACTING CONCRETE
The implementation in world practice of unique projects (extended suspension bridges in
Japan and China, offshore platforms in Norway, high-rise buildings and structures) led to an
increase of the concrete requirements and concrete mixtures: the use of cast mixtures in large
volumes, ensuring their resistance to delamination during transportation over long distances
and molding, accelerated curing in the early stages of hardening.
As a result of the research work carried out by scientists at the University of Tokyo [8-11]
in the late 80s of the last century, a concrete composition was developed, which was so fluid
that it did not require Vibro Compaction — Self-compacting concrete (SCC) [12]. By selfcompacting are meant such concrete mixes that can fit into the formwork without vibration,
under the influence of their own weight, evenly distributed throughout its volume while
maintaining uniformity even with dense reinforcement, be able to free themselves from the air
contained in it [8, 13-18].
The creation of self-compacting concrete is primarily associated with the development by
Japanese scientists [19-21] and the introduction into practice of a new generation of
superplasticizers based on polyacrylates and polycarboxylates. A significant part in the
development of new generation superplasticizers (MAPEI) and concretes based on them took
the Italian scientists of the scientific school Mario Kollepardi [16, 17, 22, 23].
3. CLASSIFICATION OF SELF-LAYING CONCRETE BY
FERTILIZABILITY
The defining features of the SCC are its high workability, combining two characteristics that
are opposite in nature: low ultimate shear stress, which determines the high fluidity of the
mixture, and increased viscosity, which ensures the stability and cohesion of the mixture [24].
According to the data of [25], the ultimate stress to the shift of the SCC (less than 60 Pa) is
significantly less than that of ordinary concrete (100-1000 Pa), while plastic viscosity is
almost the same (20-200 Pa·s). The solution to this compromise problem provides:

- Filling ability - the ability of the SCC with unlimited fluidity to completely fill all voids in
the formwork under its own weight;

- Ability to overcome obstacles (passing ability) - the ability of the SCC to overcome an
obstacle in the form of narrow sections of the formwork and molding equipment, the gaps
between the reinforcement bars without stratification or blocking of large aggregate;

- Resistance to segregation - the ability of the SCC to remain uniform in composition without
stratification during transportation and molding.
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Development and Application of Self-Compacting Concrete
The filling capacity is provided by the increased deformability of the cement paste, which
is achieved by the use of effective superplasticizers, the optimal water binding ratio, the use of
mineral additives (fillers) with continuous granulometry [8, 13, 16, 19, 26, 27]. In this case,
dispersed particles with a size less than 90 microns in an amount of 500-600 kg/m3 ensure the
resistance of the concrete mixture to delamination [8, 13, 18, 19].
To increase the ability of the concrete mix to overcome obstacles, it is necessary, first of
all, to optimize the granulometric composition of aggregates, reduce the consumption of
coarse and increase the consumption of fine aggregate, limit the maximum grain size of the
aggregate and increase the content of cement paste, thereby providing coating of grains to
reduce friction [1, 4, 8, 13, 19, 28].
Depending on the purpose and scope, the following classification of self-compacting
concrete mixtures is adopted (Table 1) [13].
Table 1 Classification of concrete mixes for the production of self-compacting concrete
The name of the concrete mix
Flowability Slumpflow
Viscosity
Passing ability
Segregation resistance
Designation
SF1 (550-650 mm)
Purpose and scope of self-compacting concrete
Unreinforced or low reinforced concrete structures - floor
slabs, pipelines, lining tunnels, foundations.
SF2 (660-750 mm)
Most of the usual structures - columns, walls.
SF3 (760-850 mm)
Vertical elements, densely reinforced structures of
complex shapes, gunning.
VS1/VF1 (viscosity less Structures and products that are subject to high
than 8 seconds)
requirements for surface quality and do not require
additional processing.
VS2/VF2 (viscosity 9- Structures of a low class by strength. Due to the
25 seconds)
increased stratification, the thixotropic properties change
rapidly in a short period of time, which limits the
transportation distance.
PA 1
Vertical structures, house building, structures reinforced
in increments of 80 to 100 mm.
PA 2
The engineering constructions reinforced with a spacing
from 60 to 80 mm.
SR1 (segregation no
High-rise elements, with the exception of thin beams,
more than 20%)
vertical structures, reinforced with a spacing of 80 mm.
The maximum transportation distance is less than 5
meters.
SR2 (segregation no
Walls and thin-walled profiles, reinforced with spacing
more than 15%)
over 80 mm. The maximum distance of transportation is
more than 5 meters
4. CLASSIFICATION OF SELF-LAYING CONCRETE BY
COMPOSITION
At present, on the basis of the above-mentioned main characteristics of the SCC, concrete is
classified by three types [29]:
1) Powder type - a mixture with a low water-binding ratio and a high content of dispersed
materials to increase plastic viscosity;
2) Concretes with viscosity modifiers - as compared with the first type they require a greater
consumption of superplasticizers. There may be incompatibility problems viscosity modifier
with superplasticizers;
3) Combined type-powder type concrete with a small addition of viscosity modifier.
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Elena Vitalyevna Bazhina, Grigory Mikhailovich Kudryavtsev, Daria Dmitrievna Saidakova,
Aleksandr Vladimirovich Strelchenko, Rustamov Revan Rakhmanovich, Vitaly Yuryevich
Ermakov, Sergey Vladislavovich Trofimov, Andrey Gennadievich Ishnazarov
The main components of self-compacting concrete are the same as those used in the
production of ordinary concrete. The only difference is in their ratio, as well as in the use of
special additives, which, in fact, give concrete the ability to self-compacting. At the same
time, to achieve high technological and operational characteristics of self-compacting
concrete, more stringent requirements are imposed on production materials.
5. DISIGN OF COMPOSITIONS OF SELF-LAYING CONCRETE
In accordance with the recommendations of the European Federation of Specialist
Construction Chemicals and Concrete Systems [13], when designing a concrete composition,
it is more expedient to express the ratio of initial components not by weight, but by volume.
At the first stage, the ratios between the components are established on the basis of the typical
ranges of their content, providing the normalized values of self-compacting concrete mixture:

- The volume ratio of water / particulate material (cement, mineral additive, sand fractions
smaller than 0.125 mm) is from 0.80 to 1.10;

- The total content of dispersed materials - from 160 to 240 liters (400-600 kg per cubic
meter);

- Cement content - 350-450 kg/m3 (cement consumption more than 500 kg/m3 can increase
shrinkage and creep of concrete; consumption less than 350 kg/m3 can be acceptable only
when using other fine mineral fillers or pozzolanic additives);

- The content of coarse aggregate - from 28 to 35% by volume of the concrete mix; - watercement ratio is assigned based on the requirements of EN 206-1 (usually the water content
does not exceed 200 l/m3).
Professor H. Okamura [8-11] proposed a method for designing self-compacting concrete,
the main idea of which is that at the first stage cement paste and mortar are tested to
determine the compatibility of the superplasticizer, cement, fine aggregate and pozzolan
additive, and at the second stage it is tested test batch of SCC. The advantage of this method
is that it allows you to avoid a repetition of such time-consuming types of tests for the entire
concrete mix. However, among the shortcomings of the method, it should be noted, first of
all, that far from all factories of ready-mixed concrete are equipped with the necessary
equipment for research of the rheology of cement pastes and mortars, in particular rotary
viscometers.
On the other hand, Professor G.V. Nesvetaev [4] proposed a rather simple method for
estimating the rheological characteristics of cement paste: the dependence of the ultimate
shear stress of cement paste on the type and dosage of the additive for cement of a certain
chemical and mineralogical composition. For example, to obtain self-sealing mixtures of class
SF 1, the value of the ultimate shear stress should be no more than 10, and mixtures of class
SF 2 - no more than 8.
Taiwanese scientists [30] proposed a simplified method for designing the composition of
the SCC, which is based on the condition for achieving the maximum packing factor of coarse
and fine aggregate - (packing factor PF). The strength of the SCC is ensured by the
framework of aggregates glued together with cement paste in the hardened state, while the
technological properties of the mixtures are provided with cement paste in a freshly prepared
state. Obviously, the packing factor (PF) affects the content of aggregates in the SCC. A
higher PF value results in a higher content of coarse and fine aggregates, reducing the amount
of binder. Accordingly, the workability of the mixture, its ability to self-compacting, as well
as the strength of concrete under compression will decrease. On the other hand, a low PF
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Development and Application of Self-Compacting Concrete
value causes increased shrinkage of the concrete. The increased content of astringent paste
also affects the durability of the SCC and significantly increases its cost.
In this regard, when designing the composition of the mixture, it is important to choose
the optimal PF value, which would provide both requirements for the properties of the SCC
and economic factors.
6. CONCLUSIONS
Self-compacting concretes have a set of properties that can be attributed to high-performance
concrete (High Performance Concretes) and be viewed as an innovative material in modern
construction. In Japan, about 50% of new reinforced concrete structures are made from SCC,
in Europe they account for 7-10% of the amount of concrete produced. To a much lesser
extent, these concretes became widespread in the CIS countries, although even here there are
examples of their successful implementation, in particular, such unique structures were built
in Russia as: monolithic pile cap of M-7 pylon of the Russian Bridge in Vladivostok; the
foundation for the high-rise multifunctional complex "Lakhta-center"; experimental blocks of
the Sayano-Shushenskaya and Bureiskaya HPPs; LAES-2 reactor building; ring corridors of
the NVAES reactor, etc. [31]. The positive experience of using self-compacting concretes in
road construction, which provide improved quality of the roadway, increased construction
speed, reduced energy consumption and the complexity of the process, was noted.
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