An investigation into the occurrence of blowholes in concrete surfaces and of
various methods of reducing or eliminating them was conducted in Great
Britain.
Blowholes in Concrete Surfaces
BY M. S. THOMPSON
O ne of the first problems associ-
ated with any discussion on the
subject of blowholes is to find a
suitable standard of re f e re n c e
against which different types and
degrees of formation of blowholes
may be compared, and which may
form a basis for specification. The
failure to establish such a standard
can lead to much misunderstand-
ing between architect and contrac-
tor.
Ideally, the standard should take
the form of a series of large panels,
preferably full-sized sections of the
s t ru c t u re under discussion. When
this is impracticable, smaller panels
may be adequate, and failing this,
one-foot-square, full-sized pho-
tographs may be used. A set of 10
such photographs used by the
writer is reproduced in Figure 1.
When describing a quality of finish,
the percentage area of the surface
of the concrete covered by any one
or more “degrees of blowholing” is
stated.
The method of using pho-
tographs as a standard has been
adopted in preference to a number
of more sophisticated methods
which were based on the measure-
ment of diameters and areas of
holes. It is much simpler, and is gen-
erally satisfactory.
When all parties understand what
is meant by a good, indifferent, or
unacceptable finish, the way is clear
to discuss other aspects of the prob-
lem.
Blowholes are endemic in con-
c re t e, and a wise architect will not
specify finishes that are free of blow-
holes, unless he is willing to have
the holes filled in after the forms are
removed. Often the formation of a
moderate number of holes is not
objectionable, and the architect
may even welcome their appear-
ance as being characteristic of the
material with which he is working.
Blowholes are frequently less no-
ticeable than the so-called “making-
good,” which disfigures much ex-
posed concrete.
Nevertheless, it is sometimes de-
sirable, for example in the manufac-
ture of precast or site-cast walls or
floors which are to be papered or
painted without prior plastering, to
keep the number of blowholes to
the minimum at the casting stage,
unless their in-filling forms only a
small part of the making-good ne-
cessitated by other defects such as
honeycombing, grout runs, ridges
and other form marks.
Factors influencing
the formation of blowholes
Internal vibration. Se ve ral factors
influence the formation of blow-
holes, but the most critical consid-
eration appears to be the way in
which the concrete is placed and
compacted. By carefully observing
the details of these operations, it is
possible to forecast the locations at
which the incidence of blowholes
will be greatest. In practice, when
casting thin walls, it is often difficult
for even the concrete placer himself
to see exactly how the vibrator is po-
sitioned in relation to the concrete
at any given moment, and it is then
that real skill is required to achieve
good results.
The generally accepted correct
method of compaction, whereby
the immersion vibrators are kept a
little distance below the surface of
the concrete and both vibrators and
concrete are raised at the same time,
is soundly based. Unfortunately, ex-
cept when concreting columns or
short walls, a sufficient number of
vibrators is rarely available to follow
this practice, and spacers or other
obstructions spanning between the
forms often necessitate the frequent
withdrawal and reinsertion of vibra-
tors.
Inserting a vibrator into concrete
that is only partially compacted
tends to compact the upper layers
first, making the escape of trapped
air from below the surface more dif-
ficult. This operation, where neces-
sary, should be done rapidly. The vi-
brator should be inserted into
concrete which has been previously
compacted before fresh concrete is
placed above it.
The optimum period of vibration
depends on the type of vibrator, the
mix characteristics, and the config-
urations of form and reinforcement.
The important thing is to ensure
that some areas of concrete are not
ove rv i b rated at the expense of un-
dervibration elsewhere.
One situation that occurs fre-
quently is that illustrated in Figure
2. The vibrator is shown immersed
well down in a large heap of con-
crete, having been placed in that po-
Figure 1: Reference
photographs used
for comparing
surface finishes.
sition either before or after the heap
was deposited. It is left until the lev-
el of the concrete assumes the posi-
tion shown by the broken line, and
is then withdrawn vertically and rel-
atively quickly.
In flowing from left to right the
concrete at “A” will have expelled
much of the trapped air and will be
found to be relatively free of surface
holes when stripped, while at “B,”
where there has been less lateral
flow of concrete, air rising in the
vicinity of the vibrator has tended to
accumulate and be trapped, or may
even have been drawn in from
above. Blowholes will be more se-
vere at this point. They could have
been greatly reduced by moving the
vibrator over that area at a slight an-
gle to the horizontal.
A similar movement of the vibra-
tor will eliminate air which fre-
quently collects in the top six inch-
es of concrete in a wall. This layer
not only collects air rising from be-
low but, because it is usually the
wettest part of the casting and ap-
pears to reach a satisfactory state of
compaction more quickly than the
lower layers, it often gets the least
amount of vibration.
It may easily be imagined how
concrete of medium workability can
fall into a form in such a way as to
trap large amounts of air. This air
may be missed by the vibrator and
so give rise to other concentrations
of blowholes.
Wo rk a b i l i t y. Provided that suffi-
cient vibration is applied to com-
pact the concrete, the actual degree
of workability itself, as measured by
the usual tests, appears to have no
influence on the incidence of blow-
holes. Howe ve r, with a given
amount of vibration, a mix having
high workability will clearly reach a
given minimum air content more
quickly than will a less-workable
one, and the weight of the concrete
itself may contribute significantly to
the process of compaction. This
may partly explain why concrete
which is placed quickly in large
quantities, rather than in thin layers,
sometimes gives satisfactory results.
It is important to realize, howe ve r,
that when concrete with a high
workability is being placed, a poker
vibrator may merely level out the
concrete surface without necessari-
ly removing entrapped air. To be
sure that the air, which will give rise
to blowholes, is being removed,
bubbles must be seen bursting on
the surface of the concrete. If they
are not, it may be assumed that ei-
ther the vibrator is immersed too
deeply or that it is unsuitable for the
work at hand.
Mix proportions. Concrete mixes
that are richer in cement tend to
show rather fewer pinholes than do
leaner mixes of the same workabili-
ty, but the effect of the cement con-
tent on a mix made with a well-
graded aggregate appears to be
negligible. If the constituents of a
mix are proportioned to give the
best results from a normal stand-
point, it is probable that no adjust-
ments will affect the formation of
blowholes.
Howe ve r, many mixes which are
adequate to meet the specification
can be improved by an experienced
mix designer. It is well known to de-
signers that a change of as little as 3
percent in the sand content often
noticeably improves a mix, and
such a change can assist in reducing
blowholes under a given set of cir-
cumstances.
Fo rm wo rk. Provided that the
forms are clean and smooth, and,

Figure 2: Diagram shows effect of
placing heap of concrete in wall,
before and after vibrating. Blowholes
will occur at B but not at A.
with a few exceptions, are treated
with a reliable make of mold oil, any
influence that they may have ap-
pears to be a very secondary one. A
form lining which is really ab-
sorbent at the time of casting will
clearly reduce the size and number
of holes and may completely re-
move them, but such linings are
usually expensive or impracticable
for use on large projects.
Release agents. Mo l d - re l e a s e
agents often give different results
according to the thickness of appli-
cation, and various agents can pro-
duce a wide range of finishes. Labo-
ratory tests, in which the opposite
faces of a mold were treated with
different oils, have indicated that
the type of release agent generally
has little or no influence on the inci-
dence of blowholes in concrete cast
at normal tempera t u re s. Field re-
ports have sometimes suggested
o t h e rw i s e, but it is probable that
other factors were present in such
cases.
If, as is possible, an oil or the com-
bination of oil and form does allow a
somewhat better- t h a n - a ve ra g e
movement of air pockets up the
shutter face, the effect in practice
may simply be to coalesce the
smaller bubbles and so leave them
as larger ones above areas which are
relatively free of blowholes.
Some forming materials and re-
lease agents may produce what is
apparently a better finish by permit-
ting a thin film of grout to conceal
the blowholes, but this film is easily
broken and may be removed by
weathering.
Te m p e ra t u re . It is of interest to
note here that the temperature of a
form can have a marked effect on
the concrete finish. The casting of
concrete of high or medium worka-
bility behind a thin form that is ex-
posed to the cold can result in the
formation of small water- ru n s, as
seen in the upper half of photo-
graph 5 in Figure 1.
The lower surface temperature
delays the setting of the concrete
and increases the plastic settlement
and accompanying segregation of
water from solids, and any water va-
por present in the concrete con-
denses more on the colder surface,
thus increasing the liquid-water
content. If the form were sufficient-
ly insulated, this effect might be
avoided.
Sometimes, either with drier con-
cretes or higher ambient tempera-
tures, the pattern of water runs does
not emerge completely, and the on-
ly visible effect is a higher incidence
of pinholes. Howe ve r, temperature,
either of the mass of concrete or of
the surface, appears to have a negli-
gible effect on the incidence of
blowholes.
External vibration. As is apparent
from theoretical considerations, ex-
ternal vibration of the right frequen-
cy, amplitude and distribution, de-
pending on the mix characteristics
of the concrete and the design of the
formwork, is particularly effective in
reducing blowholes, when applied
in conjunction with internal vibra-
tion. Howe ve r, placing costs are
probably affected and the increased
vibration may necessitate the pro-
vision of stronger forms to resist the
greater pressure exerted by the plas-
tic concrete.
Lightweight-aggregate
concrete
Concretes made with lightweight
aggregates having high water ab-
sorption present additional prob-
lems. Experiments have shown that
if the aggregate is fairly dry when
mixed, air within the aggregate par-
ticles can be displaced by water
shortly after casting, causing more
blowholes than would occur in con-
crete of the same workability made
with fully saturated aggregate. It is
normally impracticable to saturate
stockpiles, but the use of good plac-
ing techniques will usually ensure
acceptable finishes.
Some lightweight-aggregate con-
cretes may also have rheological
characteristics which reduce the ef-
fective range of a vibrator more than
comparable gravel concretes. This
may be expected if the Vebe/slump
ratio of a lightweight concrete is less
than that of the equivalent normal-
weight concrete, but again, if a little
more attention is given to placing
and vibration, satisfactory results
will usually be obtained.
Conclusions
To summarize, no magical solu-
tion to the problem of blowholes
has yet been discovered. Both archi-
tect and contractor would be un-
wise to expect to produce concrete
surfaces that are completely free
from blowholes, but we l l - t ra i n e d
and experienced concrete placers
can usually achieve acceptable fin-
ishes which may sometimes even
approach perfection. The author ac-
knowledges the help of men on the
job who talked frankly about the
problem, and who were willing to
do a little experimenting.
This ar ticle originally appeared in
CONCRETE, the Journal of the Con-
crete Society, Februar y 1969, Vol-
ume 3, Number 2.
PUBLICATION #C700043
Copyright © 1970, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved