558 ACI Materials Journal/November-December 2008

ACI MATERIALS JOURNAL TECHNICAL PAPER

ACI Materials Journal, V. 105, No. 6, November-December 2008.
MS No. M-2007-352 received October 12, 2007, and reviewed under Institute
publication policies. Copyright 2008, American Concrete Institute. All rights reserved,
including the making of copies unless permission is obtained from the copyright proprietors.
Pertinent discussion including authors closure, if any, will be published in the September-
October 2009 ACI Materials Journal if the discussion is received by June 1, 2009.
Quality control of rheological properties is proving to be critical
for the success of high-performance concretes such as self-
consolidating concrete (SCC). Yet, there are no widely accepted tests
that can quickly and accurately determine these properties.
Currently, the slump-flow test is used to assess workability
qualitatively. However, fundamental parameters such as yield
stress and viscosity provide a more complete view of workability
through a rheological description. Previous studies have shown a
correlation between the final spread of the slump-flow test and
yield stress; the same holds for cement paste and mini-slump-flow
test. This study intends to demonstrate a relationship between the
time to final spread and viscosity for cement pastes. Although the
study concerns cement paste, this information can help pave the
way for an ultimate relationship for concrete. With this relationship,
the slump-flow test will be able to provide adequate quality control
measures for todays high-performance concrete mixtures.
Keywords: cement paste; rheology; slump; spread-time; viscosity; yield
stress.
INTRODUCTION
Research on the rheology of both cement paste and
concrete is showing to be very important in improving
mixture designs that take advantage of different processing
techniques during construction. As further understanding of
the rheological properties increases, the information can be
applied to tailor mixture compositions to specific requirements
imposed by the casting process and structural design to attain
desired fresh- and hardened-state performance. Self-
consolidating concrete (SCC) is a perfect example.
However, confident promotion of new technology in the
construction industry, such as SCC, can only occur if proper
quality control methods are developed.
Currently, simple tests such as the slump-flow test are
used to assess quality control of SCC workability. Yet, as
SCC mixtures are refined and tailored for specific applications
such as slipform paving,
1
low-formwork pressure castings,
2
and fiber-reinforced mixtures,
3
the flow test, as it is currently
used, does not provide adequate information to determine
whether or not a mixture is acceptably workable.
Workability or flowability of cement paste or concrete can
be effectively characterized by the yield stress and viscosity.
The yield stress is the stress necessary to initiate flow,
whereas viscosity is the resistance to flow once the fluid is in
motion. These two parameters can be related using the
Bingham law as shown in Eq. (1)
=
0
+ (1)
where is the shear stress,
0
is the yield stress, is the
plastic viscosity, and is the strain rate. When plotted on
strain-rate, shear-stress axes, the result is a straight line with

intercept and slope . The Bingham law is commonly used

for cement and concrete systems due to its simplicity and
ability to capture the major characteristics of flow.
The experimental determination of these parameters for
both cement paste and concrete has been a challenging
research topic in recent years. Different instruments and
protocols have been designed and calibrated for both laboratory
and field use,
4
but hardly any agreement between different
researchers can be found.
5
(Relationships have also been
proposed which allow the calculation of concrete rheological
properties as a function of the suspending fluid phase [either
cement paste or mortar] and of the volume concentration of
the different aggregate fractions.
6
) Nevertheless, it is highly
desirable to determine fundamental rheological properties of
fresh cement paste and concrete from simple field tests, as it
can ensure efficient quality control of high-performance
mixtures at the construction site. This requires a robust link
between measurements from field tests and parameters
measured in the laboratory.
As such, researchers have focused their attention on
relating fundamental rheological properties to results from
the widely used slump-flow test. This test, due to its
simplicity, would not be easily abandoned by the construction
industry in favor of a new one, even if this new test could
give more precise information.
Several recently published studies have shown a strong
correlation for both cement paste and concrete between the
final spread of a flow test and the mixtures yield stress.
These relationships have been developed empirically,
theoretically, and numerically
7-14
and typically include the
effect of density, gravity, and geometry, in addition to the
yield stress and spread. Specifically concerning concrete
mixtures, Wallevik
7
provided an experimental approach to the
relationship between the final diameter of a flow test and the
yield stress, which includes the effect of the density as well
as the matrix volume fraction and lubrication effect due to
the paste content. Also, Roussel and Coussot
8
add that the
incorporation of surface tension in these models may be
important for cement pastes with lower yield stress values.
Even though there has been much work on the relationships
between yield stress and final spread, there is scarce amount
of work concerning the correlation between viscosity and
any results that can be obtained from field tests. The importance
of establishing this correlation is clearly evident due to the
key role that viscosity plays in determining the static and
dynamic stability of fresh concrete.
15-16
As shown by Van
Title no. 105-M63
Identifying Viscosity of Cement Paste from
Mini-Slump-Flow Test
by Nathan Tregger, Liberato Ferrara, and Surendra P. Shah
559 ACI Materials Journal/November-December 2008
Bui et al.,
17
a minimum viscosity is required to avoid
segregation which also depends on the flow diameter as well
as the aggregate characteristics. This concept has also been
extended to fiber-reinforced self-consolidating mixtures.
18
The time for fresh concrete to reach a 50 cm (19.7 in.)
diameter (T50) during a slump-flow test and the flow-time
from a funnel device (V-funnel test) are generally thought to
be correlated to the viscosity,
19
but a wide range of variation
in these properties has been found in the literature, even for
similar mix compositions.
20
Other test equipment and protocols
have been proposed, such as the Falling-ball viscometer
21
and the Penetration Probe developed at UIUC.
22
Both
measure the viscosity on the principle that a solid body
moving through a fluid attains an equilibrium state when its
weight is equated by the buoyancy and drag force. The drag
force depends on the shape of the object as well as the material
response of the fluid, which includes both the yield stress and
viscosity. All things considered equal, higher yield stresses
will dictate when an object will come to rest in a fluid,
whereas the viscosity will dictate the rate of fall.
23
Roussel and Le Roy
19
investigated the use of the Marsh
cone as a test to determine both the yield stress and viscosity
of different cement pastes and grouts. Yet, limitations to the
practicality of the test include the facts that concrete cannot
be used (due to the small volume sample and nozzle openings),
and also that the method does not give reliable results for
mixes with very low viscosities. Concerning the latter, a
strong sensitivity to the precision of the flow-time measurement
has been detected,
24
which can even result in physically
meaningless negative values of the yield stress.
In the present work, the possibility to employ the mini-
slump-flow test to determine both the yield stress and the
viscosity of cement paste was experimentally investigated.
Several cement paste compositions with varying yield stress
and viscosity values were first tested to confirm the correlation
between the yield stress and the final spread. A relationship
was then sought, linking the viscosity to the time to reach
either a prescribed or the final spread. A numerical assessment of
the experimentally calibrated relationships was also introduced
through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling.
This study was carried out at the cement paste level, being
well understood that because fresh concrete can be regarded
as a suspension of aggregates in a fluid cement paste matrix,
the rheological properties of the latter play a major role in
governing the concrete flow. A better characterization and
understanding of the rheological behavior of fluid cement
paste is hence meant as the first step to study the basic flow
phenomena of fresh concrete.
RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
The control of rheological properties is crucial for the
development of high-performance concretes. Simple field
tests that provide reliable measures of these properties are
therefore strongly sought after by the construction industry
for efficient and robust quality control. The slump-flow test
is the most widely used test to assess concrete workability
and the slump-flow diameter has already shown to be related
to the yield stress of fresh concrete. As for the viscosity, its
correlation with a robust field-test measurement is required
to quantitatively assess the on-site ability of fresh concrete to
maintain its segregation stability during the casting process.
EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM
A series of cement pastes was prepared consisting of Type I
ordinary portland cement (OPC), Class C fly ash, and water
and a polycarboxylate superplasticizer (SP). The properties
of cement and fly ash are listed in Table 1 while Table 2
gives the details of the paste composition, formulated from
typical SCC mixtures. Variables have been combined to
form the test matrix shown in Fig. 1 to achieve a variety of
both yield stress and viscosity values. Three water binder
ratios have been employed, namely, 0.32, 0.36, and 0.40, and
three different dosages of SP, namely 0.35, 0.45, and 0.55%
by weight of solids, chosen within the range suggested by the
manufacturer. The fly ash volume replacement ratio was
kept constant at 30%.
For each paste composition, three nominally identical tests
were performed. The mixing protocol, detailed in Table 3,
was adapted from a study on the influence of mixing time.
25
After mixing, a mini-slump flow test was performed similar
to ASTM C1611, but using the mini-cone sketched in Fig. 2.
The test was carried out on a dry glass plate while recorded
by a video camera. Simultaneously, a sample of the cement
paste was taken to the rheometer to determine the rheological
properties. A rheometer with a concentric cylinder configuration
(0.8 mm [0.03 in.] gap) was used. The rheological protocol
is shown in Fig. 3: the cement pastes were subjected to a
Nathan Tregger is a PhD Student at the Center for Advanced Cement-Based Materials
(ACBM) at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. He received his BS in civil engineering
and BA in math from Lafayette College, Easton, PA, in 2003, and his MS in civil
engineering from Northwestern University in 2005. His research interests include
self-consolidating concrete, rheology, computational fluid dynamics, fracture and
failure of concrete, and slipform paving.
Liberato Ferrara is an Assistant Professor of structural analysis and design at
Politecnico di Milano, Italy, and has been a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at ACBM,
Northwestern University. His research interests include fiber-reinforced concrete, self-
consolidating concrete, modeling of concrete fracture in the framework of continuum
damage mechanics, and seismic behavior of precast concrete structures.
Surendra P. Shah, FACI, is a Walter P. Murphy Professor of Civil Engineering at North-
western University and the Director of ACBM. He is a member of ACI Committees 215,
Fatigue of Concrete; 440, Fiber Reinforced Polymer Reinforcement; 446, Fracture
Mechanics; 544, Fiber Reinforced Concrete; 548, Polymers in Concrete; 549, Thin
Reinforced Cementitious Products; and E803, Faculty Network Coordinating Committee.
His research interests include constitutive relationships, nondestructive testing, fracture
of concrete, durability, fiber-reinforced concrete, and self-consolidating concrete.
Table 1Physical compositions of cement
and fly ash
OPC Type I (ASTM C150-04) Fly ash Class C (ASTM C618)
Chemical data % Chemical data %
Silicon dioxide (SiO
2
) 20.1 Silicon dioxide (SiO
2
) 31.35
Aluminum oxide (Al
2
O
3
) 4.9 Aluminum oxide (Al
2
O
3
) 16.77
Ferric oxide (Fe
2
O
3
) 2.8 Ferric oxide (Fe
2
O
3
) 5.57
Calcium oxide (CaO) 64.3 Calcium oxide (CaO) 23.26
Magnesium oxide (MgO) 2.5 Magnesium oxide (MgO) 5.45
Sulfur trioxide (SO
3
) 2.4 Sulfur trioxide (SO
3
) 2.02
Loss on ignition 1.55 Loss on ignition 0.13
Insoluble residue 0.25 Moisture content 0.12
Free lime 1.52 Sodium oxide (Na
2
O) 2.07
Tricalcium silicate (C
3
S) 66 Potassium oxide (K
2
O) 0.31
Tricalcium aluminate (C
3
A) 8
Available alkali
(equivalent Na
2
O)
0.51
Available alkali
(equivalent Na
2
O)
1
Blaine specific surface,
m
2
/kg (ft
2
/lb)
352
(1719)
Percent passing at No. 325
mesh
98.7
Percent passing at No. 325
mesh
87.2
Density, kg/m
3
(lb/ft
3
)
3150
(197)
Density, kg/m
3
(lb/ft
3
)
2740
(171)
560 ACI Materials Journal/November-December 2008
pre-shear of 315 s
1
to break down the suspensions structure to
ensure a reference flocculation state. The cement paste was
allowed to rest for 1 minute and then it was subjected to a
hysteresis loop from 0 to 300 s
1
and back to 0.
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Rheometer tests: rheological properties
Shear stress and strain-rate data for each sample was obtained
from the rheometer tests. The yield stress was calculated by
fitting the initial portion (strain rate of 0 to 10
1
) of the
ascending curve to a modified Bingham law given by Eq. (2)
26
(2)
0
1 3

crit
---------


exp

+ =
This equation was chosen so that the parameters could be
directly used in a future numerical study, the early results of
which will be shown in forthcoming paragraphs. (In the
numerical simulation, the velocity, not the stress, is taken as
the primary variable. As a result, the Bingham law takes a
piece-wise form, because it must determine the behavior
before and after the yield stress is reached. The modified
Bingham law combines these two relationships into one
continuous equation. This is particularly important for
numerical tools because infinite viscosities are avoided in
areas of the fluid where the yield stress has not been
exceeded.) A Gauss-Newton method was used to fit the yield-
stress
0
and critical strain rate
crit
, which determines the
transition to a constant viscosity, whereas the yield stress is the
corresponding stress (Fig. 4). Fitted data are listed in Table 4.
Viscosity is given as the slope of the shear stress versus
strain-rate curve. Because cement paste is shear thinning,
viscosity decreases with increasing strain-rates. Hence, when
designing a concrete mixture for segregation resistance,
viscosity should be calculated with reference to strain-rates
that will typically be experienced during mixing and casting.
As shown by Saak at al.,
27
who quoted a previous study by
Reed,
28
concrete processing operations typically consists of
low shear-rate operations (Fig. 5). Within the performed

Fig. 1Design matrix for cement paste mixtures.

Table 2Cement paste mixture designs
Mixture OPC, g (lb) Fly ash, g (lb) Water, g (lb) SP, g (lb)
wb32sp35 1120.1 (2.47) 417.6 (0.92) 492.0 (1.08) 5.4 (0.012)
wb32sp45 1120.1 (2.47) 417.6 (0.92) 492.0 (1.08) 6.9 (0.015)
wb32sp55 1120.1 (2.47) 417.6 (0.92) 492.0 (1.08) 8.4 (0.019)
wb36sp35 1055.2 (2.33) 393.4 (0.87) 521.5 (1.15) 5.1 (0.011)
wb36sp45 1055.2 (2.33) 393.4 (0.87) 521.5 (1.15) 6.5 (0.014)
wb36sp55 1055.2 (2.33) 393.4 (0.87) 521.5 (1.15) 8.0 (0.020)
wb40sp35 997.4 (2.20) 371.8 (0.82) 547.7 (1.21) 4.8 (0.011)
wb40sp45 997.4 (2.20) 371.8 (0.82) 547.7 (1.21) 6.2 (0.014)
wb40sp55 997.4 (2.20) 371.8 (0.82) 547.7 (1.21) 7.5 (0.017)
Table 3Mixing protocol
Time Task
0:00 Mix dry materials at low speed
1:00 Add water and superplasticizer
3:00 Scrape sides
4:00 Mix on high speed
6:30 Scrape sides
7:30 Mix on high speed
10:00 Test mixture
Fig. 2Geometry of mini-cone.
Fig. 3Rheological protocol.
Table 4Yield stress and critical strain-rate values
w/b SP/b, %
Yield stress
0
,
Pa (psi 10
3
)
Critical strain-rate
values
crit
, s
1
0.32 0.35 2.2561 (0.3272) 1.2194
0.32 0.45 1.4775 (0.2143) 1.1758
0.32 0.55 0.7531 (0.1092) 0.8823
0.36 0.35 1.5579 (0.2260) 1.0861
0.36 0.45 0.7917 (0.1148) 0.6741
0.36 0.55 0.4788 (0.0694) 0.6224
0.40 0.35 1.0780 (0.1564) 0.8179
0.40 0.45 0.4314 (0.0626) 0.5867
0.40 0.55 0.2489 (0.0361) 0.9474

ACI Materials Journal/November-December 2008 561

rheological protocol, different strain-rate ranges were chosen
to calculate the viscosity, namely, 10 to 100 s
1
, 100 to 300 s
1
on the ascending branch, and 300 to 100 s
1
on the
descending branch (Fig. 6). Because a lower strain-rate is
typically experienced in the processes used for SCC
including the flow test, the range from 10 to 100 s
1
was
taken as the viscosity reported in this study.
29
This range
also exhibited slightly more consistent results than the other
ranges as shown in Table 5.
Mini-slump-flow tests: spreading parameters
From the camera recordings of mini-slump flow tests, a
spread evolution over time was obtained. To determine the
spread of a given picture or movie frame, the image was first
imported in MATLAB as a grayscale image, where each
pixel was assigned an image intensity ranging from 0 to 1,
where 0 represents black and 1 represents white. Afterwards,
each row of the image was scanned and the largest jumps in
intensity were determined. These jumps correspond to a
transition from a light object (the glass plate) to a dark one
(the cement paste) or vice versa. For example, the change in
intensity of the row highlighted by the horizontal dotted line
in Fig. 7(a) is shown in Fig. 7(b). These jumps were recorded
and eventually combined to form the edge of the cement
spread as shown by the circles outline in Fig. 7(a). The area
enclosed was then determined and the diameter could be
calculated. For movies, this procedure was performed for
each frame and the spread evolution over time was plotted,
as shown in Fig. 8. This technique is particularly useful for
spreads that may have irregular shapes, where taking diameter
measurements by hand might be misleading.
An advantage to determining the spread evolution is the
ability to point out the time it takes to reach any particular
diameter. Additionally, spread velocity plots can be derived
(Fig. 9) and the time for the cement paste to reach the final
spread can be taken as the time it takes for the velocity to
Fig. 4Modified Bingham law parameters.
Fig. 5Shear rates for typical concrete processing operations
(adapted from Reference 26).
Fig. 6Viscosities calculated over different strain-rate ranges.
(a)
(b)
Fig. 7(a) Camera image of spread with outline of edge
from computer analysis; and (b) difference in image intensity
for sample line in Fig. 7(a).
562 ACI Materials Journal/November-December 2008
reach zero. However, this may result in impractically large
times because the spread continues to move at a very slow
rate before coming to a complete stop. Furthermore, this
method is impractical for use in the field because, more
likely, it will be a human observer that will determine the
final time, and such small velocities cannot be easily
detected. As such, what were considered to be final times
from human observations were correlated with the data from
the camera analysis in order to determine a cutoff velocity.
This was chosen to be 0.030 cm/s (0.012 in./s), which was
found to correspond to the times at which the human
observer detected no more movement from the spread. A
plot of the human observer data versus the camera analyzed
data can be seen in Fig. 10. Note that the slope of the line is
nearly 1 (1.02).
The measured values of the final spread are scantly affected
by this velocity-cutoff procedure because the additional
increase in spread is very small due to the low velocity. Table 6
shows the results from the camera analysis, including the final
spread and the time to final spread.
DISCUSSION: CORRELATION
BETWEEN RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES AND
SPREADING PARAMETERS
Yield-stress and final spread
The trend of the yield stress versus the final spread
measured from the mini-slump-flow test is shown in Fig. 11.
A power-law fit is given by Eq. (3) to relate the yield stress

0
(in Pa) to the final diameter, D
f
(in cm), with an R
2
value
equal to 0.87

0
= 2.75 10
9
D
f
5.81
(3)
A comparison is also provided with a theoretical relationship
given by Okado et al.,
30-31
and recently refined by Roussel et
al.
8
to incorporate the effects of surface tension. The
relationships are given by Eq. (4a) to (4b)
(4a)
(4b)
where is the density of the fluid cement paste, g is the
gravity acceleration, and V is the volume of the specimen and
the constant , which appears in the correction term due to
surface tension, and depends on the fluid and the test surface.
The plot in Fig. 11 refers to the value = 0.005, suggested
by Roussel et al.
8
It should be noted that the range of yield

0
7200gV
2
128
2
D
f
5
------------------------- =

0
7200gV
2
128
2
D
fl
5
-------------------------
D
f
2
4V
------- =
Fig. 8Diameter spread evolution over time.
Fig. 9Spread velocity evolution over time.
Fig. 10Comparison between human and computer times
(using a cutoff velocity) to final spread.
Table 5Viscosity values calculated for different
strain-rate ranges
w/b SP/b, %
(10 to 100 s
1
) ,
Pas (psis 10
3
)
(100 to 300 s
1
) ,
Pas (psis 10
3
)
(300 to 1000 s
1
) ,
Pas (psis 10
3
)
0.32 0.35 0.3278 (0.0475) 0.2297 (0.0333) 0.2210 (0.0321)
0.32 0.45 0.2786 (0.0404) 0.2400 (0.0348) 0.2191 (0.0318)
0.32 0.55 0.2329 (0.0338) 0.2080 (0.0302) 0.2162 (0.0314)
0.36 0.35 0.1984 (0.0288) 0.1573 (0.0228) 0.1573 (0.0228)
0.36 0.45 0.1763 (0.0256) 0.1446 (0.0210) 0.1446 (0.0210)
0.36 0.55 0.1509 (0.0219) 0.1251 (0.0181) 0.1171 (0.0170)
0.40 0.35 0.1286 (0.0187) 0.0949 (0.0138) 0.0949 (0.0138)
0.40 0.45 0.0926 (0.0134) 0.0713 (0.0103) 0.0713 (0.0103)
0.40 0.55 0.0729 (0.0106) 0.0568 (0.0082) 0.0568 (0.0082)
Average
coefficient of
variation, %
4.1385 4.2478 4.4659
ACI Materials Journal/November-December 2008 563
stress and viscosity values in this study are lower than those
investigated by Roussel et al.
8
in their research.
It can be observed that both sets of experimental data fall
within a reasonable distance from the theoretical relation-
ships, the validity of which is likely to be substantially
confirmed, even if it is difficult to see which one is better
matchedeither including or not including the surface
tension effects. For example, even though the experimental
data lies closer to the relationship given by Eq. (4a) not
including surface tension, the data seems to follow the same
trend as the relationship from Eq. (4b). It is not likely the
discrepancy is due to the neglect of surface tension because
the inclusion of surface tension would further increase the
disparity. One explanation for the discrepancies between
theory and experiment includes definition of the yield stress.
Different values of yield stress can be obtained for the same
cement mixture depending on the rheological protocol
used.
25
Another possibility is the influence of the spreading
surface where any friction or lubrication effects can change
the spreading behavior. Even the rate at which the cone is
lifted may play a part because inertial effects seem to be
more important for low viscosity fluids, such as the cement
pastes formulated from SCCs dealt with herein, and may
affect the final spread.
9
Viscosity and time to a prescribed spread
A correlation was first sought between the viscosity and
the time employed to reach a prescribed spread, as measured
from camera recording of mini-slump flow tests. This is
consistent with the current state of thought for SCC, for
which the time to reach a diameter of 50 cm (19.7 in.) during
the slump-flow test is believed to be an indicator of the
viscosity of fresh concrete.
Because the mini-slump-flow test involves a smaller
volume than the slump-flow test, an equivalent T50 must be
used. A 30 cm (11.8 in.) diameter spread was first chosen for
the mini-slump-flow test of fluid cement paste. As shown in
Fig. 12, a linear trend seems to hold (R
2
= 0.78), even if for
low viscosity fluids the measured time interval is too small
and cannot be measured with sufficient precision. If a larger
diameter is chosen, such as 35 cm (13.8 in.), the correlation for
the low viscosity cement pastes is improved (Fig. 13), but the
mixtures with higher viscosities are not guaranteed to reach
this spread, and the bilinear relationship still has a rather low
correlation coefficient (average of bilinear fit R
2
= 0.78).
Both of these relationships show an increase in time with
viscosity. An increase in viscosity results in a thicker fluid,
which will take longer to reach a given diameter. As the flow
progresses and the spread becomes much larger than the
height of the spread, however, a lower viscosity will allow
the fluid to continue with less resistance. Likewise, a lower
yield stress will allow the fluid to continue further before it
stops. As a result, for large spreads, a lower viscosity will
actually have a higher time to a given spread. A possible
Fig. 11Relationship between yield strength and final spread.
Table 6Final radius and time to final radius from
camera analysis
Final diameter D
f
, cm (in.) Time to final radius T
f
, s
36.19 (14.25) 20.83
41.74 (16.43) 34.83
47.27 (18.61) 48.50
39.02 (15.36) 21.33
43.32 (17.06) 33.67
48.50 (19.09) 47.83
40.81 (16.07) 20.83
47.40 (18.66) 37.17
50.51 (19.89) 39.67
Fig. 12Relationship between viscosity and time to a diameter
of 30 cm (11.8 in.).
Fig. 13Relationship between viscosity and time to a diameter
of 35 cm (13.8 in.).
564 ACI Materials Journal/November-December 2008
explanation of the low correlation coefficients in these
relationships may be that only the initial behavior is correlated,
and incorporating both behaviors may be necessary to create
a well-defined relationship.
Viscosity and time to final spread
In search of a more general and robust relationship, a
different approach was pursued and the correlation between
the viscosity and the time to the final spread was investigated.
The experimentally calibrated relationship is shown in Fig. 14.
This relationship depends on the water-binder (w/b) ratio and
the SP dosage. For all the three w/b sets, the time increases
with a decrease in viscosity. To normalize the relationship, the
time to final spread is plotted against the viscosity divided by
the yield stress similar to work done by Van Bui et al.
17
Unit-wise, this relationship is consistent because both axes
have units of time. This relationship is shown in Fig. 15.
Again, both data from the current study and previous study
are plotted. There exists a linear correlation between the time
to final spread (T
f
[in seconds]) and the viscosity-yield stress
ratio (in seconds), as given by Eq. (5)
(5)

0
---- 6.41 10
3
T
f
1.94 10
3
=
which can be solved for the viscosity
(6)
In terms of applicability, the relationship given by
Equations (4a) and (4b) can give the yield stress, whereas the
viscosity can be calculated from Eq. (6).
Numerical modeling
In this study, the fluid is numerically modeled using a
single-fluid approach performed by a commercially available,
finite-element based, computational fluid dynamics program.
The readers are referred to an overview on these types of
simulations by Roussel et al.
32
This finite-element algorithm
features time-dependent and free-surface abilities. The
mini-slump flow test was simulated with the relatively
coarse mesh shown in Fig. 16.
A two-dimensional, axisymmetric analysis was performed,
whereas the material properties were modeled using the
modified Bingham equation previously discussed (refer to
Eq. (2)). A Lagrangian method was used to simulate the free
surface. The simulation also implemented a contact scheme,
which models the interaction between the spreading of the
cement paste and the surface on which it is spreading.
Surface tension, although available, was not used in this
present study. The models simulate thirty seconds of flow.
From radial evolution plots, the final spread and time it takes
to get to the final spread can be calculated. The same velocity
cutoff was used as described in the experimental program
(0.030 cm/s [0.012 in./s]).
Figure 17 shows a spread evolution comparing both a
representative experimental test and numerical simulation.
The flow evolution shape is modeled consistently. In most of
the simulations, however, the final spread was underesti-
mated. The most probable cause of the discrepancy is the
mesh size. Ongoing studies are incorporating finer meshes.
Other possibilities include how the interface between the
fluid and substrate are modeled and whether or not slip is
included. Also, similar to explanations given before, how the
yield stress is defined and also effects of inertia may explain
underestimating of the numerical model.

0
6.41 10
3
T
f
1.94 10
3
( ) =
Fig. 14Relationship between viscosity and time to final
spread.
Fig. 15Relationship between viscosity/yield stress ratio
and time to final spread.
Fig. 16Mesh employed for numerical simulations.
ACI Materials Journal/November-December 2008 565
The results from numerical simulations have been plotted
along with experimental ones in Fig. 18(a) and (b). As a first
attempt in numerically simulating the slump behavior, it can
be seen that the results, which only deal with changes in the
yield stress, viscosity, critical strain-rate, and density, match
the experimental data fairly well. Further refinement of the
model is necessary to validate the relationship. As expected,
because surface tension effects have not been included in
numerical simulations, numerical data match the general
shape of the theoretical relationship disregarding surface
tension (Eq. (4b)).
CONCLUSIONS
This study has demonstrated a simple relationship
between the viscosity/yield-stress ratio and the time it takes
to reach the final mini-slump flow spread for cement paste.
In combination with past research detailing a correlation
between the mini-slump-flow spread and yield stress
(including the present study), these two basic rheological
parameters can be determined from the simple mini-slump-
flow test. Both experimental and numerical data were
compared, resulting in similar trends. Future work will
include testing wider ranges of yield stress and viscosity
(higher values in both cases), as well as different material
components (cement substitutes, clays, and VMA). Also, a
more refined CFD model will be developed in order to
compliment the experimental findings. Extension of these
results will also be pursued to reach the ultimate goal of
finding similar relationships for concrete. Toward this end,
the authors are currently pursuing relationships between
slump tests and segregation using the relationship between
viscosity and time to final flow.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research presented in this paper was funded by the Infrastructure
Technology Institute of Northwestern University and the Center for
Advanced Cement-Based Materials. Their financial support is gratefully
acknowledged. The second author wishes to acknowledge the financial
support of the Fulbright foundation, whose grant made his first stay at North-
western University possible, during which this study was initiated. The second
author would also like to acknowledge the support of Politecnico di Milano
for funding successive visits at ACBM for the completion of the work.
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