Material Properties of Self-Flowing Concrete

In this study the properties of self-flowing concrete, in which flow was >600 mm, containing fly ash were experimentally investigated and compared with those of ordinary concrete. For five types of self-flowing concrete mixtures and three types of ordinary concrete mixtures several tests, such as flow test, slump test, O-funnel test, box test, L type test, and setting time test, were carried out to obtain the properties for flowability and workability of fresh concrete. The mechanical properties of hardened concrete were also investigated in terms of compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, stress-strain relation, creep, and drying shrinkage. In fresh concrete it was found that self-flowing concrete had excellent workability and flowability compared to ordinary concrete, and volume ratio of coarse aggregate-to-concrete greatly influenced flowability and workability. Self-flowing concrete also had good mechanical properties at both early and late ages with compressive strength reaching as high as 40 MPa at 28 days. The creep of self-flowing concrete investigated was greater than that of ordinary concrete at early ages, and drying shrinkage was much higher.