Measuring the Change in Water-to-Cement Ratio in Fresh and Hardened Concrete
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Volume 34, Issue 4
Abstract
A key parameter in concrete is the water-to-cementitious ratio (). Unfortunately, it can be difficult to ensure the of a concrete mixture is within the specified limit(s) in either fresh or hardened concrete. An increase in will cause a decrease in strength and durability for the concrete structure. This work compares how the impacts fresh and hardened property measurements from the slump, unit weight, surface resistivity, compressive strength, and emerging test method called the Phoenix. The Phoenix test method determines the of concrete by utilizing heat to evaporate water from fresh concrete and the volumetric relationship of the sample to the concrete mixture. Fresh and hardened property testing is completed for eight trucks that were retempered with known amounts of water to investigate 31 different mixtures with from 0.28 to 0.54. The results show that only the Phoenix and the 28-day surface resistivity measurements are able to detect changes in the . However, the Phoenix shows great promise to be a new method to help producers develop consistent concrete with reliable hardened properties.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge funding from the Oklahoma Transportation Center, ODOT 2274. Special thanks to Remington Butler and Daniel Mayen for allowing field testing for this work. We would also like to thank David Porter, Zane Lloyd, Chad Feenstra, Chris Filip, Loren Emerson, Braden Boyd, Michael Dickey, Erinn McArtor, Chad Staffileno, Tyler Root, Nate Morris, and Jake LeFlore.
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Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 34 • Issue 4 • April 2022
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© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 19, 2020
Accepted: Aug 17, 2021
Published online: Jan 19, 2022
Published in print: Apr 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Jun 19, 2022
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