Special Concreting Techniques - Presentation Transcript

1. 2. Special Concreting Techniques Unit-8 Syllabus Pumped Concrete, Shortcrete, underwater concrete, pre -placed concrete, Vacuum dewatered concrete, hot and cold weather concreting, ready mixed concrete. 3. Special Concreting Techniques Pumped Concrete: A concrete which can be pushed through a pipeline is called pumpable concrete. The Concrete mix is designed in such a manner that it does not wedge while flowing and its friction at the inner wall of the pipe line does not become very high. Pumpable concrete emerging from a pipeline flows in the form of a plug which is separated from the pipe wall by a thin lubricating layer consisting of cement paste. The water in the paste hydraulically linked with the interparticle water layer in the plug. Fig shows the flow of concrete under pressure. For continuous plug movement, the pressure generated by the flow resistance must not be greater than pump pressure rating. However, if w/c ratio is high, the concrete becomes too saturated and water is forced out of the mix, creating an increase in flow resistance and a possible blockage of concrete. Thus, a very stiff concrete is not pumpable and also a concrete with w/c ratio is also not pumpable. It is interesting to note that if a concrete is pumpable, it implied that it is a good concrete. 4. 5. 6. Pumped Concrete The Flow of Concrete Under Pressure Reason for Blockage of Concrete There is two much frictional resistance due to nature of the ingredients of the mix. Water is being forced out of the mix creating bleeding and blockage by jamming. Design mix for Pumpable Concrete The mix of pumpable concrete is proportioned in such a way that it is able to bind all the ingredients together under pressure from the pump avoiding segregation and bleeding. The mix also facilitates the radial movement of sufficient grout to maintain the lubrication film on the internal face of the pipeline wall. The mix should also be able to deform while flowing through bends. To achieve this, the proportions of fines, i.e. cement and fine particles below 0.25 mm size particles below 300 is of prime importance. The quantities of fine particles between 350 to 400 kg/ m3 are considered necessary for pump able concrete. The slump of pumpable concrete is kept at 75 mm to collapse range and the diameter of the pipeline is at least 3 to 4 times the maximum size. 8. Pumps and Pipeline Pumping of concrete through steel pipelines is one of the successful methods of transporting concrete. Pumped concrete has widely been used in the construction of multi-storied buildings, bridges and tunnels. The equipment consists of a heavy duty, single acting, horizontal piston pump of special design. The concrete is fed from the hopper into the pump cylinder largely by gravity, but is assisted by the vaccum created on the suction stroke of the piston and forced into the pipeline on the pressure stroke. The pipeline is completely filled and concrete moves uniformly cohesive and fatty mix will feed more readily than harsh and dry mix. Concrete pumps are normally available in capacities ranging from 15 m3 / h to 150 m3 / h. The normal distance to which concrete can be pumped is about 400 m, 80 m vertically. Bends in the pipeline reduce the effective pumping distance by approximately 10 m from each 90 0 bend , 5m for a 45 0 bend and 3m for a 22.5 0 bend. 9. Concrete Pumps

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10. Shortcrete or Guniting Shortcrete or Gunite is a mortar or a fine concrete that is pneumatically transported through a hose and projected on to a surface at a hi gh velocity. This system is called by

different names in different countries such as Blastcretes, guncrete, Jet-crete, nucrete, spraycrete etc. though the principle is essentially the same. This system is very well suited for construction of lightly reinforced, thin sections, Shortcrete is more economical than conventional concrete because of less formwork requirements, requiring a small portable plant for manufacturing and placement. The force of the jet impacting on the surface compart the material. Sometimes set accelerators are used to assist overhead placing. The newely developed Redi -set cement can also be used for shortcreting process. 11. Shortcrete or Guniting 12. Shortcrete or Guniting 13. The various applications of shortcrete are: Thin overhead, vertical or horizontal surface. Swimming pools and prestressed tanks. Canal and tunnel lining. Repair of damaged concrete. Overlays on concrete roads. Refractory lining works. At present two different processes are employed for shortcreting, namely, Dry-mix process Wet-mix process 14. Dry-Mix Process The various stages involved in the dry-mix process are as follows: The cement and sand are throughly mixed. The mixture of cement-sand is fed into a special air-pressurized mechanical feeder termed as Cement gun. The material is carried by compressed air through the delivery hose to a special nozzle. The nozzle is fitted with a perforated manifold through which water is introduced under pressure and intimately mixed with other ingredients. The mortar is jette d from the nozzle at high velocity onto the surface to be shortcreted. Any alteration in the quantity of water can be easily accomplished by the nozzle man 15. Advantages of Dry-mix Process The dry-mix process is preferred for light weight aggregates concrete . The lower w/c ratio obtained with the dry process probably accounts for the lesser creep, higher strength and greater durability of concrete. The dry process equipment can covey the material to a distance of 300 m to 500 m horizontally and 45 to 100 m vertically. 16. Wet Mix Process In this process, cement, sand, small sized coarse aggregate and water are mixed before entering the chamber of delivery equipment. The Ready Mixed Concrete (RMC) is received into a feeding chamber from which the concrete is blown by compressed air at a pressure of 5.5 to 7 atmosphere through a rubber hose. Equipments are available which can place concrete at the rate of 3 to 9 cubic metre per hour. Additional air is injected at the nozzle to increase the velocity and improve the gunning pattern. 17. Under Water Concrete Placing concrete under water: Special precautions should be taken whenever concrete is to be placed under water. Such a concrete should have cement content 450 kg/m3 of concrete and a slump of 10 to 17.5 cm. The methods used for placing concrete under water are: Bagged Concrete Bottom dump bucket Tromie Grouted aggregate Concrete pump. 18. Under Water Concrete Bagged Concrete: In some situations gunny bags are filled about 2/3 rd. full with dry or semi-dry mixture of cement, fine and coarse aggregate. They are lowered into the water and placed carefully in a header and stretcher fashion like that of brick masonry construction with the help of divers. This method does not give satisfactory concrete, as the concrete mix will be full of voids. 19. Bagged Concrete 20. Under Water Concrete Bottom Dump Bucket: Other method of placing concrete under water or in a trench filled with the bentonite slurry is by bottom dump bucket method. In the bottom dump bucket method concrete is taken through the water in a water tight bucket or box. On reaching the final position the bottom of the bucket is made to open by some mechanism and the whole concrete is dumped slowly

in water. There are chances of washing away of some quantity of cement when concrete is dumped from the bucket. 21. Bottom Dump Bucket 22. Tremie The most satisfactory method of placing concrete under water is by the use of tremie pipe. In this method, a tramie pipe of 200 mm to 250 mm diameter is used. The length of pipe can be easily increased or decreased by using couplings. A funnel is provided at the top end pipe to facilitate pouring of concrete. The bottom end is closed with a plug or thick polyethylene sheet to prevent entry of water into the pipe. 23. Tremie The pipe is lowered and made to rest at the point where the concrete is going to be placed. The concrete having a very high slump of about 15 to 20 cm is poured into the funnel. When the whole length of pipe is filled up with the concrete, the tremie pipe is lifted up and a slight jerk is given by a winch and pulley arrangement. When the pipe is raised and given a jerk the plug is forced out and the concrete gets discharged. After concreting has started the lower end of the tremie should be kept as deeply submerged in the previously placed concrete to prevent entry of water into the pipe from bottom end. The tremie should be lifted slowly to permit the concrete to flow out, care being taken not to loose the seal at the bottom. In this way, concrete work is progressed without stopping till the concrete level comes above the water level. 24. Tremie 25. Tremie 26. Grouted Aggregate Another method of placing concrete under water is the grouting of pre -packed aggregate. Coarse aggregate is dumped in the forms to assume full dimension of the concrete mass. Cement mortar grout is injected through pipes, which extend up to the bottom of the aggregate bed. The pipes are slowly withdrawn as grouting proceeds. The grout forces the water out of the forms and fills the interstices in the aggregate. This method, however, has been used very little. For plugging the well foundation this method is often adopted. 27. Concrete Pump Concrete pumps and pipes can also be used for placing concrete under water. The pipeline is plugged at the end and lowered until it rests on the bottom. Pumping is then started, when the pipe is completely filled, the plug is forced out, the concrete surrounding the lower end of the pipe seal the pipe. The pipe is held in this position until the pressure becomes too great. Then, the pipe is withdrawn and the operation is repeated. This process is repeated until concrete reached the level above water. 28. Concrete Pump 29. Pre-Packed Concrete Prepacked concrete is a special technique of placing concrete under water. When tremie method or bottom dump bucket method are not feasible, this method is adopted. This technique, also called grouted concrete consists of placing the coarse aggregate only in the form and thoroughly compacting it to form prepacked mass. This mass is then grouted with the cement mortar of the required proportions. This process can be employed for both plain or reinforced cement concrete. This method is employed where the reinforcement is very complicated or where certain arrangements like pipes, conduits, openings are required to be incorporated in the concrete. This technique is employed in mass concreting, in bridges abutments and piers, well staining etc. 30. Pre-Packed Concrete 31. Vacuum Concrete Whenever thin section like slabs and walls have to be concreted , it is necessary to adopt a fluid mix with water-cement ratio 0.5 to 0.65 to facilitate the placing and compaction. Such a mix

will lead to a concrete of relatively low strength and poor abrasion resistance. In such situations vacuum treatment of concrete is a solution. A considerable part of excess water and air are removed by suction through a mat connected to a vaccum pump. An arrangement for vaccum treatment of concrete using suction through a surface mat connected to a vacuum pump is shown in fig. G enerally, higher workability and higher strength or very low workability and higher strength do not go hand in hand. This can be achieved in vacuum concrete. In this process, excess water used for higher workability, not required for hydration, and harmful in many ways to the hardened concrete. This excess water is withdrawn by means of vaccum pump immediately after placing of the concrete. The process when properly applied, produces concrete of good quality. 32. Vacuum Concrete 33. Vacuum Concrete The advantage of vaccum treatment are: It permits removal of formwork at an early age to be used in other repetitive work. The vaccum concrete bounds very well with old concrete. There is considerable increase in strength and quality of concrete. The resistance to we ar and abrasion is increased. Application: Production of precast plain and reinforced concrete elements in mass production in factories. Construction of thin concrete walls, partition wall and slabs, Resurfacing and repair of road prevented. 34. Vacuum Concrete 35. Cold-Weather Concrete The production of concrete in cold weather introduces many problems such as delay in setting and hardening, damage to concrete in plastic condition due to the formation of ice lenses. Hence, it is essential to maintain the temperature of the concrete above 5 0 C. it is generally accepted that there is little cement hydration and strength gain if concrete is frozen and kept frozen below 10 0 C. Therefore, fresh concrete must be protected against disruptive expansion by freezing until adequate strength has been gained. Without external heat sources, heat of cement hydration in large and wellinsulated concrete members may be adequate to maintain satisfactory curing temperature. It may be noted that lower concrete temperatures are permitted for massive sections because the amount of heat generated is very large. The effect of cold weather on concrete are as follows: Delay Setting: The rate of hydration of cement depends upon the ambient temperature. If the ambient temperature is low, hydration process will go slow and concrete takes a longer time to set and to develop strength. The setting period necessary before removal of formwork is thus increased. The rate of progress of work will be slow. Although the initial strength of concrete is lower, the ultimate strength will not be severely affected. 36. Cold-Weather Concrete Freezing of concrete at early age: When the temperature of concrete falls below freezing point, the fee water held in the plastic concrete freezes. Due to freezing of water, concrete expands and hydration of cement will be stopped. This will result in considerable loss of strength Freezing and Thawing: When concrete is subjected to alternate cycles of freezing and thawing, its durability is greatly impaired. It has been found that even one cycle of freezing and thawing during the pre-hardening period may reduce the compressive strength to 50 % of what would be expected for normal temperature concrete. Stresses due to temperature differential: In case of mass concreting in cold weather there will be a large temperature differential due to high temperature inside the mass, which may promote micro cracking and has a harmful effect on durability of concrete. 37. Cold-Weather Concrete Recommended Practice and Precautions: Sele ction of suitable type of cement: Cements contain higher percentage of C3S and comparatively lower percentage of dicalcium silicate (C2S), hydrates fast and gives out more heat of hydration and early strength. Rapid hardening cements, extra rapid hardening cement or high alumina cement are such cement that can be used. Temperature control of ingredients: In sub-zero temperature concreting pre-heating of concrete has

found to be very effective. It would be easier to heat the mixing water. The temperature of the water should not exceed 65 0C as the flash set of cement will occur when the hot water and cement come in contact in the mixers. Therefore, the heated water should come in contact with the aggregates, and not the cement, first, aggregates may be heated either by closed steam coils under the stock pile or by hot air blowers. Fine aggregate can also be heated on hot plates. The temperature of ingredients should be so decided that the resulting concrete sets at a temperature of 10 0C to 20 0 C 38. Cold-Weather Concrete Electrical heating of concrete mass: Concrete mass can be heated using AC current, if cheap power is available. Electricity is conducted through reinforcing bars or mats. Sometimes special electrode are carefully positioned for uniform heat generation. But, electrical heating reduces the strength of concrete by about 20 % because of loss of water and temperature stresses. Use of Insulating formwork: The hydration of cement generates considerable quantity of heat during first 3 days of hydration. Such heat can be gainfully conserved by using insulating formwork covers, like timber, clean straw, tarpanlines, blankets, plastic sheetings etc. Admixtures of anti -freezing materials: Normally, accelerating admixtures are used to fasten the hydration of cement. Accelerators also work as antifreezing agents. The most commonly used accelerator is calcium chloride. Many specifications restrict the use of CaCl 2 upto 3 % by weight of cement. For fear flash set and loss of long term strength. 39. Cold-Weather Concrete Use of air entraining agents: It has been found that the air -entrained concrete has higher durability than that of ordinary concrete under freezing conditions. Weaker concrete with airentrainment is more durable under freezing condition than that of strong concrete without air entrainment. Air entrainment, modify the pore structure of the concrete and improves the resistance to frost attack. Delayed removal of formwork: Because of the slower rate of gain of strength during the cold weather , the formwork is required to be kept in place for longer time in usual concreting practice. Placing and curing of concrete: Before placing the concrete, all ice show frost should be completely removed from the surface of formwork. During freezing conditions water curing is not applicable. Low pressure wet steam curing may be useful.. Covering the concrete surfaces: During cold weather, all concrete surfaces shall be covered as soon as the concrete has been placed in order to prevent the loss of heat and to help prevent freezing. The concrete surfaces may be covered plastic sheets, tarpaulins, clean straw blankets etc. 40. Cold-Weather Concrete 41. Hot-Weather Concreting Concreting in hot weathers specially in tropical countries and desert areas, where the temperature above 40 0 C are reached, poses some problems. High temperature and reduced relative humidity are the main climatic factors affecting concrete. In India, most of the areas are in tropical regions. The procedure of concreting in hot-weather is set out in IS: 7861: 1975 42. Hot-Weather Concreting The effect of hot-weather are as follows: Rapid rate of hydration: A higher temperature results in a more rapid hydration leading to quick setting, thus reducing the handling time of concrete and also the strength of hardened concrete. With the increase in the temperature of concrete, the workability of concrete decreases and water demand increases. The addition of water without proper adjustment in the mix proportions adversely affects the ultimate quality of concrete. Rapid evaporation of mixing water: As mentioned earlier, due to high ambient temperature, the water mixed with the concrete to give the required workability will be lost by evaporation. Therefore, workability of concrete will be reduced. Such concrete cannot be properly compacted and it will result in reduction in strength. The rate of evaporation depends on the ambient temperature, relative humidity and wind speed. 43. Hot-Weather Concreting

44. The effect of hot-weather are as follows Rapid evaporation during curing: Hot weather requires early and a continuous effort for curing, particularly when 53 grade cement is used. If there is only lapse, the concrete surface dries up fast interrupts the continuous hydration. The subsequent wetting does not fully contribute to the development of full strength Air-entrainment: At higher temperature it is difficult to control the air content in air entrained concrete. For a given amount of air-entraining agent, hot concrete entrains less air than does concrete at normal temperatures. Increased tendency of cracking: Rapid evaporation of mixing water leads to plastic shrinkage cracking and subsequent cooling of hardened concrete introduces tensile stresses. 45. Recommended Practice and Precautions Cooling of Aggre gates: The temperature of the concrete can be kept down by controlling the temperature of the aggregates. Aggregates should be stockpiled in shade. Water can also be sprinkled on the aggregate before using them in concrete. The precooling of aggregates can be achieved at the mixing stage by adding calculated quantities of broken ice pieces as a part of mixing water, provided the ice is completely melted by the time mixing is completed. Heavy blowing of cold air over the aggregate just before it is batched i s desirable. Mixing Water: The temperature of the mixing water has the greatest effects on temperature of concrete, because the specific heat of water (1.0) is nearly five times that of common aggregate (0.22). Moreover, the temperature of water is easier to control than the other ingredients. Cooled water may be added to reduce the temperature of concrete. If the ambient temperature is very high, ice pieces are incorporated directly into the mixer. 46. Recommended Practice and Precautions Production and Deli very: The temperature of the ingredients of concrete should be maintained at the lowest practical levels so that the temperature of concrete is below 40 0 C at the time of placement. The concrete is mixed to the minimum required time. When ice is used it must be mixed to such an extent that all the ice gets melted. Reinforcement, formwork and subgrade should be sprinkled with cooled water just prior to placing the concrete. Concrete should be placed in comparatively thin layer and sufficient time must be allowed between successive lift. Immediately after finishing, the top of concrete must be covered by plastic sheets, tarpaulins, gunny bags etc. to prevent the loss of water by evaporation 47. Ready Mixed Concrete (RMC) A Concrete whose constituents are weigh t-batched at a central batching plant, mixed either at the plant itself or in truck mixers, and then transported to the construction site and delivered in a condition ready to use, is known as ready mixed concrete (RMC). This technique is very useful in congested sites or at diverse work places and saves the consumer from the botheration of procurement, storage and handling of concrete materials. Due to low cost, durability and its ability to be customized for different applications, ready mixed concrete is becoming more and more popular. The concrete quality in terms of its properties or composition and quantity or volume required for the particular application is specified by the customer. The use of ready mixed concrete is also advantageous when only small quantity of concrete are required or when concrete is placed only at intervals. Usually, the price of ready-mixed concrete is somewhat higher than of site mixed concrete, but this may often by saving in the cement content, site organization and supervisory staff. 48. Ready Mixed Concrete (RMC) There are three principal categories of ready -mixed concrete. The plant mixed concrete (central mixed concrete) The transit mixed concrete The shrink mixed concrete 49. Ready Mixed Concrete (RMC) In the plant mixed type, the mixing is done at a central batching plant and the mixed concrete is then transported, in special agitator truck. The agitator truck keeps the concrete moving along a circular path at about 2 to 6 revolutions per minute, so as to prevent segregation and undue stiffening of the mix. In the transit mixed or truck mixed type, the material are batched at a central

plant but are mixed in a mixer truck either in transit to the site or immediately prior to the concrete being discharged. Transit mixing permits a longer haul and is less vulnerable in case of delay. In case of shrink mixed type, the concrete is partially mixed at a central plant in order to increase the capacity of the agitator truck and mixing is completed end route. Truck mixers usually have a capacity of 6 m3, but 7.5 m3 trucks also exist. 50. Ready Mixed Concrete (RMC) The main problem in the production of ready -mixed concrete is maintaining the workability of the mix right up to the time of placing. Concrete stiffens with time and handling ready mixed concrete often takes quite a long while. The stiffening may also be aggregated by prolonged mixing and by high temperature. The safe time of haul is limited to 90 minutes or total number of revolutions of 300 revolutions whichever is less. However, agitating up to 6 hrs. need not adversely affect the strength of concrete, provided the mix remains sufficiently workable for full compaction. Since RMC is a manufactured product, specific control tests and evaluations are required during the manufacturing process to produce desired quality concrete.