Evaluation of Pervious Concrete Workability Using Gyratory Compaction
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 21, Issue 12
Abstract
Portland cement pervious concrete (PCPC) is increasingly used across the United States, and this has prompted various entities to begin the process of developing standardized test techniques. A major issue with placing PCPC is the inconsistencies in concrete workability between mixtures developed in the laboratory and in the field. It is therefore urgent to properly determine workability of pervious concrete and to ensure that the designed concrete mixtures are suitable for particular compaction methods and field conditions. This paper describes a new test method for characterizing PCPC workability—the gyratory compaction test method. A modified Superpave gyratory compactor (SGC) is employed in the present study. Two PCPC workability parameters are defined from the gyration compaction curve: (1) workability energy index, which describes initial concrete workability and (2) compaction densification index, which describes the resistance of the tested mixture to further compaction. The effects of binder content and water-to-cement ratio as well as effect of concrete mixing time on PCPC workability are studied. Based on the test results, values of the workability parameters for concrete with various degrees of workability are specified.
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Acknowledgments
This study was sponsored by the National Concrete Pavement Technology Center (CP Tech Center) at Iowa State University through the Sponsored Research Fund and by Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the RMC Research and Education Foundation. Various admixtures were donated by Master Builders. The cement was donated by LaFarge and the aggregate by Hallett Materials. The writers acknowledge the assistance of Dr. R. Christopher Williams of Iowa State in obtaining the required asphalt material background and Mr. Tom Brovald of Test Quip, LLC for assistance modifying the gyratory compactor. The opinions, findings, and conclusions presented here are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of the research sponsors.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 21 • Issue 12 • December 2009
Pages: 764 - 770
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Jul 13, 2007
Accepted: Jul 2, 2009
Published online: Nov 13, 2009
Published in print: Dec 2009
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Manoochehr Zoghi
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