EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON MIX

DESIGN OF PUMPABLE
CONCRETE
TABISH IZHAR
13/CE/408
Dept. of Civil Engineering
UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF
DR P ROY

What is Pumpable
Concrete?
WHAT ACI DEFINES ? [1]
WHAT IS CODE DEFINES ? [2]

Why Pumpable Concrete?

Faster Concrete Placement
Less labour and
safety
Cost of project
Concrete Pouring
Accuracy

Objective
To give precise guidelines on
mix design of pumpable
concrete which will not only
ensure slump and strength but
also it is pumpable.

Indian Standard on Pumpable

Concrete

IS code for pumpable

concrete ?
How mix design of pumpable
concrete done? [4]
Is that enough?

ACI on Pumpable
Concrete [1]
ACI code for pumpable
concrete proportioning?
Why different code for
pumpable concrete?
What parameters have been
considered?

Role of Admixtures in
Pumping Concrete [6]

Scenario before development

of admixtures
Boon after development of
admixtures

Admixtures commonly
used for pumpable
concrete
Mid range Water-reducing
admixtures
High range Water- reducing
admixture or super-plasticizer
Retarding admixtures

Problems During Concrete

Pumping

Blockage of pipe may occur in

two condition: [7]
i). When water escapes
through the
mix.
ii). When fines content is too
high.

Concrete blockage in pipe line during pumping [7]

Points Missed In IS MIX Design

Code

Is Slump test enough? [3]

No consideration on cement.
No discussion about its
pumpability.
What admixture & when to use.

Real Paste Content [8]

Solution for pumpability testing
problems.
What is real paste content?
How it is estimated?
Paste for filling voids.
Paste for providing 1mm layer in
pipe.

Relative amount of paste required for a 1 mm thick

lubricating layer in the pipe (adapted from
Chapdelaine [9])

Lab Material Test

Results
Coarse Aggregate: S.G = 2.69
: Nominal size = 20 mm
Fine Aggregate : S.G = 2.62
: Zone = 2
Admixtures: 1. Mid range water reducer
: S.G = 1.16
: Max. water reduction 5 %
2. Mid range water reducer
: S.G = 1.16
: Max. water reduction 15 %
3. High range water reducer and retarder
: S.G = 1.22
: Max. water reduction 25 %
Porosity of Aggregate phase : 24.47 %
Paste amount for sliding layer : 100 mm pipe = 4 %
: 75 mm pipe = 5.8 %

Fresh Concrete with 125 mm

slump

125 mm slump

Finishing of the cubes casted

Cracks developed during

compression test

Successful Mix Designs

Grade of concrete -W/C- % of admixture Water

reduction = Avg. Compressive Strength = Paste content

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

M25-0.46-0.8-5
M25-0.47-0.6-10
M25-0.48-0.6-10
M30-0.45-1-10
M30-0.43-1.2-5
M30-0.44-0.8-11

=
=
=
=
=
=

32.55 N/mm2
32.4 N/mm2
31.65 N/mm2
38.51 N/mm2
38.80 N/mm2
38.36 N/mm2

= 32.84 %
= 30.77 %
= 30.51 %
= 31.46 %
= 31.69 %
= 31.34 %

Inference
M 25 grade can be achieved at any
W/C ratio within its range.
High range water reducer must not
be used for W/C ratio of 0.46-0.50.
Low range water reducer for W/C
ratios 0.44 - 0.46 must be avoided.
Use of Low range water reducer
does not produce result for M30
grade with nominal cement content.

Conclusion and
Further Plan
Considering the time and
popularization of pumping of concrete.
There is definite need to standardize the
mix design method of pumpable concrete.
My further plan will be to work on M25, M30
, M 35 grade of concrete in more detail.
Further to understand the effect of paste
content with strength and if its value is too
high than required. Following the plot of
graphs between water reduction with
strength while having slump of 125 mm.

Resources
[1] ACI 304-2R, Specification on placing Concrete by
Pumping
Methods
[2] IS 456-2000, Code of practice for plain and
reinforced concrete.
[3] Nataraja, Computer aided concrete mix
proportioning, The Indian Concrete Journal, SEPTEMBER
2010
[4] IS 10262:2009, Code for concrete mix proportioning
[5] The Aberdeen Group, 1991, Publication # C910834
[6] The Aberdeen Group, 1972, Publication # C720057
[7] M.S. Shetty, Concrete Technology,Revised Edition
2011,pp- 259
[8] Understanding the Pumpability of Concrete,
Engineering
Conferences International ,Canada, ECI
Digital Archives, 2009

[9] CHAPDELAINE, F. (2007) tude

fondamentale et pratique sur le pompage
dubton. Ph.D. Thesis, Laval University, Quebec,
Canada (in French).

THANK
YOU