T

he Romans developed a
method of dewatering con-
c rete: they stuck brick and lava
chips into it; the chips pro t ru d e d
a b ove the surface and acted as
wicks to draw water from the con-
c re t e. Their litera t u re shows that
Vi t ruvius understood the adva n-
tages of lowe ring the waterc e m e n t
ratio.
In the United St a t e s, dewateri n g
of concrete by vacuum was patent-
ed in 1935 by K. P. Billner and all
subsequent development has been
based on his extensive ideas. Hi s
method was used in the 1940s and
early 1950s, with the last know n
p ractical application in the Un i t e d
States being in 1965.
Vacuum dewatering got a new
lease on life mainly after two or
t h ree Scandinavian firms succeed-
ed in simplifying the equipment
enough to make it practical for al-
most any builder. De w a t e ring can
p roduce the kind of improve m e n t
in compre s s i ve strength shown in
Fi g u re 1. In Sweden the method is
n ow used for 40 to 50 percent of all
f l o o r s. Its use in wall, column and
other construction is ra re.
How t he syst em works
The aim in vacuum dewatering is
to re m ove as much as possible of
the portion of the mix water intro-
duced for work a b i l i t y. The amount
g e n e rally is two to four times as
much as the amount re q u i red for
h yd ration of the cement. Water not
needed for hyd ration but left in the
c o n c rete after placing and finishing
is a drawback in that it leads to low-
er strength, a decreased rate of
s t rength gain, increased shri n k a g e
and creep and more susceptibility
to frost damage.
The Billner method seals off a
p a rt of the concrete surface with a
rigid plate or a flexible mat below
which vacuum is created in the con-
c rete slab. At m o s p h e ric pre s s u re
will then act on the plate or mat
with a considerable forc e, about
1,600 to 2,000 pounds per square
foot (8,000 to 10,000 kilograms forc e
Vacuum dewater ing
is back
Principles of a rediscovered technique for floor
construction
BY HARALD WENANDER
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
TREMIX AKTIEBOLAG
NACKA, SWEDEN
Const ruct i on i n progr ess on fl oor of 680,000-
square-foot Vol vo spare part s warehouse. Eve
vacuum uni t s were used because of t i ght
const ruct i on schedul e.
Fi gure 1. Compari son of st rengt hs of vacuum concret e and
Ent reat ed concret e. Test s per formed on nomi nal 4250 psi concret e
(300 ki l ograms) force per cubi c cent i met re wi t h i ni t al sl ump of 3
1
2
i nches (9 cent i met res) at Jydsk Technol ogi cal Inst i t ut e, Arhus,
Denmark.
per square metre) at the va c u u m
g e n e rally used. The concrete is
c o m p ressed and part of the surplus
water is squeezed out and sucked
away from the con
Crete surface by the va c u u m
p u m p. Fi g u re 2 shows the genera l
design of such a plate or mat. Ne x t
to the concrete surface is a filter,
usually made of nylon or glass fiber,
which pre vents the finest part i c l e s
of the concrete from following the
e x t racted water. On top of the cloth
is a shallow air chamber, genera l l y
f o rmed by some type of net betwe e n
the filter cloth and the airtight top
c over or plate. The mat or plate pro-
jects slightly beyond the filter cloth
on all sides and thus forms a seal
against the wet concre t e. The top
c over is connected to the va c u u m
p u m p.
In operation, the water squeeze d
out of the concrete passes thro u g h
the filter cloth into the space imme-
diately below the top cove r, move s
t ow a rd the suction inlet and is
sucked away to the vacuum pump.
The solid particles are pre s s e d
against each other with a pre s s u re
c o r responding to that caused by the
mat while the water and air are sub-
ject to va c u u m .
Us u a l l y, 15 to 25 percent of the
o riginal water content is extra c t e d .
The strength of the concrete in-
c reases because of the reduced wa-
t e r-cement ratio (though slightly
less than could be expected fro m
the reduced water-cement ratio be-
cause of an increase in the air pore
volume). The strength incre a s e
a c h i e ved in practical work is 25 to 40
p e rcent or more.
The vacuum cannot re m ove wa-
ter needed for hyd ration because
the capillary diameters in the ce-
ment paste decrease as the water-
cement ratio decre a s e s. This capil-
l a ry constriction begins at the
s u rface and then proceeds dow n-
w a rd. Where ver the water- c e m e n t
ratio decreases to about 0.30, capil-
l a ry diameter becomes too small to
p e rmit passage of water under the
magnitude of pre s s u re the system
i n d u c e s. Thus there is no danger
that the water-cement ratio will fall
b e l ow 0.30, which is well above the
minimum of 0.20 re q u i red for hy-
d ration of cement.
If the concrete contains a lot of
f i n e s, it will not let water thro u g h
readily and it may then be advisable
to start vacuum treatment with
less vacuum than normal so that the
w a t e r-cement ratio close to the sur-
face is not reduced too quickly,
t h e re by causing the capillaries to
close up pre m a t u re l y.
A recent thorough investigation at
the Lund Technical Un i versity in
Sweden shows that if vacuum dewa-
t e ring is continued for more than an
hour it is effective to a depth of as
much as 32 inches (80 centimetre s ) .
For practical purposes the water- c e-
ment ratio of the concrete can be re-
duced to a depth of about 12 inches
(30 centimetres) or in some cases 16
inches (40 centimetre s ) .
Changes i n concr et e duri ng vi-
brat i on
When a concrete slab is vibra t e d
t h e re is some relocation of its com-
ponent materi a l s. Coarse aggre g a t e
(unless it is lightweight) tends to
sink tow a rd the bottom of the slab;
the fines, cement and water move
t ow a rd the surf a c e. We l l - d e s i g n e d
mixes have much less tendency
than others to undergo such segre-
gation. With its larger pro p o rtion of
fines and higher water-cement ra t i o
the surface of a vibrated slab will be
l owe r
in compre s s i ve strength than the
rest of the slabthe opposite of
what is desired. If the concrete has
no further treatment, shri n k a g e
c racks will no doubt appear, and the
s u rface will dust, have little wear re-
sistance and be easily damaged by
f ro s t .
Changes i n concret e
duri ng vacuum t reat ment
The changes described here we re
o b s e rved at the Chalmers Un i ve r s i-
ty of Technology in Go t h e n b u rg ,
Sweden, during studies of va c u u m
Fi gure 2. Schemat i c
repr esent at i on of
vacuum pad.
t reatment of the following mix de-
s i g n :
Po u n d s Ki l o g rams
per cubic per cubic
y a rd m e t re
Ce m e n t
content 421 2 5 0
Co a r s e
a g g regate 1,685 1 , 0 0 0
Fi n e
a g g regate 1,314 7 8 0
Water 303 1 8 0
Initial water-cement ratio: 0.70
Slump: 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 centi
m e t re s )
Design strength: 3500 psi (250 kilo-
g rams force per square centime-
t re )
A vibration operation had in-
c reased the water-cement ratio to
0.83 at the surface and reduced it to
0.70 at the bottom. The cement con-
tent had been increased in the same
o p e ration to 506 pounds per cubic
y a rd (300 kilograms per cubic me-
t re) at the surface and decreased it
to 388 pounds per cubic yard (230
k i l o g rams per cubic metre) at the
b a s e.
Du ring vacuum treatment 59
pounds of the water content we re
e x t racted per cubic yard (35 liters
per cubic metre), or 19.5 percent of
the original water. The water con-
tent at the base was reduced to
about 244 pounds per cubic yard
(145 liters per cubic metre). At the
s u rf a c e, where the water content
had increased to 421 pounds per cu-
bic yard (250 liters per cubic metre )
d u ring vibration, it was decre a s e d
d u ring vacuum treatment to 219
pounds per cubic yard (130 liters
per cubic metre). Thus the effect of
the treatment was highest close to
the surface and gradually dimin-
ished tow a rd the base.
The influence of the va c u u m
t reatment on the concrete is quite
d ra m a t i c. Su rface quality had been
i m p roved by the increase in cement
content during vibration and the
d e c rease in water content duri n g
vacuum treatment. Wa t e r- c e m e n t
ratio at the surface had been low-
e red from 0.83 to 0.47. Co m p re s s i ve
s t rength was substantially in-
c reased, shrinkage was considera b l y
reduced and wear resistance was in-
c reased. These gains are further en-
hanced by mechanical floating and
t roweling of the surf a c e. St re n g t h
was calculated to have increased by
3980 psi (280 kilograms force per
s q u a re centimetre) at the surf a c e.
Data from West Ge rman tests are
s h own in Fi g u re 3.
The Chalmers Un i versity of Te c h-
nology group in Sweden also inve s-
tigated the perf o rmance of park i n g
decks subject to repeated cycles of
f re ezing and thawing and deicing
salt application. About 80 percent of
all decks investigated showed cra c k-
ing through the slabs sufficient to let
water through. None of the decks
which had been vacuum tre a t e d
s h owed any failure s, and the re p o rt
ends with the recommendation that
all parking decks should be va c u u m
t reated. This recommendation is
f o l l owed today.
Popul ari t y
In the Scandinavian countri e s
c o l l e c t i ve l y, vacuum dewatering is
estimated to be used for 30 to 50
p e rcent of all concrete floors. In
West Ge rmany alone it has been
used for more than 1,000 va ried pro-
j e c t s. It is accepted in most of We s t-
e rn Eu rope as well as in So u t h
A f rica, Iran, Iraq and Au s t ralia.
Fi gure 3. St rengt h gai n i n t he t op and bot t om par t s of a t est
sl ab. Dat a are from t est s at Hannover Techni cal Uni versi t y,
West Germany.
There will be exhibits of vacuum de-
watering equipment at the WORLD
OF CONCRETE Exposition in Hous-
ton, Texas, Febru a ry 23 to 26 (de-
scribed on page 58 of this issue).
The program will include a demon-
stration of one type of such equip-
ment.
PUBLICATION #C750040
Copyright 1975, The Aberdeen Gro u p
All rights re s e rv e d