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Construction and Building

Construction and Building Materials 22 (2008) 17801788

MATERIALS
www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Physicalmechanical properties, and mesostructure of plain and bre reinforced self-compacting concrete
M.C. Torrijos
a

a,*

n b, R.L. Zerbino , B.E. Barraga

CONICET-LEMIT, Fac. Ing. UNLP, 52 entre 121 y 122, La Plata 1900, Argentina b UPC, Jordi Girona 1-3 M.C1, Barcelona 08034, Spain Received 29 November 2006; accepted 8 May 2007 Available online 12 July 2007

Abstract This study analyses the mesostructural homogeneity of plain and steel bre reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFR-SCC) to be used in slender elements of considerable height, avoiding the use of conventional reinforcement. Tests in the fresh state include the measurement of the rheological properties and self-compactability through engineering tests. Slender columns were lled with plain and SFRCSCCs (up to 50 kg/m3 of bres). In the hardened state, studies at the mesostructural level include the quantication through image analysis of the distribution of the coarse aggregate and bres along the height of the columns, and measures of modulus of elasticity, compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity. The physicalmechanical properties did not vary signicantly along the height of the columns, though a decrease was observed in the superior third of the elements, the compressive strength was the most aected parameter. The aggregate distribution was slightly more homogeneous in the case of bre concretes. The variation of the bre density along the columns was relatively high, with no identiable tendency. 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Self-compacting concrete; Steel bre reinforced self-compacting concrete; Aggregate distribution; Fiber density; Rheology; Ultrasonic pulse velocity

1. Introduction The elimination of vibration for the compaction of fresh concrete makes the use of self-compacting concrete (SCC) benecial in terms of cost reduction and improvement of the work environment. Furthermore, due to its intrinsic low porosity, SCC usually has high performance properties also in terms of mechanical behavior and durability. These properties could even be elevated improved if steel bers are incorporated, thus obtaining steel ber reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFR-SCC). As inherent characteristics, SCC has the capacity to ll the formwork and encapsulate the reinforcement, with no blocking or segregation of its components, consolidating
*

Corresponding author. Tel.: +54 221 4831142/4; fax: +54 221 4250471. E-mail address: celestetorrijos@hotmail.com (M.C. Torrijos).

by its own weight, with no need of vibration [1]. In this manner, the owability, passing ability and the resistance against segregation are the essential properties of SCC. However, as it can be foreseen, the rst two characteristics are in opposition to the last one [2]; it is clear that the SCC matrix should be suciently viscous to avoid segregation of the coarse aggregate but have sucient mobility to assure an appropriate lling of the element. Rheological studies on fresh SCC have shown that to achieve self-compacting characteristics, an adequate combination of shear stress and plastic viscosity is necessary. If the viscosity is too low, an increase of shear stress is recommended to avoid segregation. On the other hand, if viscosity is too high, a low shear stress would be necessary [3]. Thus, an adequate balance of the fundamental rheological parameters, such as shear stress and plastic viscosity, govern the behaviour SCC. The development of SFR-SCC has

0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2007.05.008

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been reported by few authors [46]. It has been observed that the incorporation of steel bres modies the rheological parameters of concrete [7]. Considering concrete as a composite material, it is usual to study the properties of the material from dierent levels of observation, i.e. micro-, meso-, and macro-levels. At the mesostructural level, concrete is assumed as a composite material formed by a mortar matrix, the aggregate fraction larger than 5 mm, the interfacial transition zone, and bres if dealing with FRC. With regard to SFRC, recent works report the importance of a homogeneous distribution of the bres [8] and its eects under uniaxial and exural tension [9,10]. The importance of the homogeneity of the material is evident for any application, since it will aect the material properties. Particularly, an important inuence of the mesostructure on the mechanical and durability-associated transport properties of concrete has been identied [11,12]. However, this acquires a major signicance in the case of SCC, where the correct lling and compactness in the hardened state will specically depend on the rheological properties of the material in the fresh state. The objective of this study is to analyse the mesostructural homogeneity of plain and SFR-SCC for use in slender elements of considerable height, such as foundation and retaining walls, columns, building panels, etc. As it can be foreseen when thinking in SCC as a suspension of coarse aggregate in a mortar matrix, this type of elements could induce segregation. The use of steel bres was considered to contemplate the possibility of avoiding the conventional reinforcement in this type of applications, either partially or totally. Results of physical properties in the fresh state include fundamental rheological parameters obtained with a concrete BML viscometer, and self-compactability measures from engineering tests such as slump-ow, V-funnel, and J-ring. In the hardened state, studies at the mesostructural level include the quantication through image analysis of the distribution of the coarse aggregate and bres along the height of the application-oriented slender elements. The studies are supported by measures of modulus of elasticity, compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity, as a traditional non-destructive method to evaluate concrete homogeneity. 2. Experimental program To study the tendency of segregation in plain and steel bre reinforced self-compacting concrete, slender in height elements were chosen, i.e. round columns of 150 mm diameter and 2500 mm height. The prototype columns were lled with a plain SCC and two SFR-SCCs obtained from the same batch; incorporating 25 and 50 kg/m3 of bres. Two columns were lled with each of the three mixes. Results in the fresh state include the yield stress and plastic viscosity, slump-ow, V-funnel time, and J-ring blocking coecient. In the hardened state, the density of

coarse aggregate and bres along the height of the columns was calculated by the analysis of images taken from horizontal cuts. The ultrasonic pulse velocity, modulus of elasticity and compressive strength were measured on 150 300 mm cylinders cut along the height of the columns. 3. Materials and fabrication process The concrete making materials involve four fractions of crushed limestone aggregates; 02 mm and 05 mm sands, and 512 mm and 1218 mm gravels. A blended cement conforming CEM II 32.5 R, a limestone ller and a policarboxilate type superplasticizer. Hooked-ended steel bres were 50 mm in length and 1 mm diameter. The nal mix proportions of the component materials are indicated in Table 1. Concrete with the specied composition but without the superplasticizer and ller was delivered by a ready-mix concrete plant. Once at the laboratory, the mix proportions were completed adding the limestone ller and the superplasticizer and mixing all the components during 10 min at the maximum drum speed of the mixer truck. The mixer capacity was 6 m3 and the total volume of concrete was 2 m3. This fabrication process led to a good quality SCC. The rheological properties and self-compacting parameters were measured on the obtained SCC. Subsequently, two of the columns were slowly and steadily lled in one layer by means of a 0.20 m3 bucket. Fig. 1 shows the arrangement of the tubular columns prior to lling. In parallel, three 40 l buckets were being lled with the obtained SCC, to which the equivalence of 25 kg/m3 of steel bre were incorporated to fabricate the SFR-SCC 25. After homogenizing the brous mix by means of a laboratory-scale concrete mixer, the rheological and self-compactability tests were carried out and two columns were lled with SFR-SCC 25. The same process was repeated, 50 min after the introduction of the superplasticizer, incorporating the equivalence to 50 kg/m3 to other three 40 l buckets, to obtain SFR-SCC 50. Cylinders of 150 300 mm were extracted from each mix for the evaluation of the standard 28 day compressive strength.
Table 1 Mix proportions (kg/m3) Concrete Cement I 32.5 R Filler Water Sand 02 mm Sand 05 mm Gravel 512 mm Gravel 1218 mm Plasticizer (retarding eect) Superplasticizer Steel bres 0 SCC SFR-SCC 25 334 100 164 602 337 447 328 5.7 7.0 25 50 SFR-SCC 50

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equidistant, which leaves a net spacing of 56.5 mm between rebars. In the V-funnel test, the time for the concrete to ow out of the funnel is measured (Tv). The V-funnel used in this study has a height of 450 mm, with straight canal of 150 mm height at the inferior part. The rectangular cross section varies from 515 75 mm at the top, to an opening of 75 65 mm at the vertical canal. 4.2. Hardened state Firstly, a visual inspection of the surface nish was carried out after demoulding, to account for the appearance of air bubbles and/or any other type of defects. Afterwards, the columns were transversally sawed to study the variation of the concrete properties along the height. Two types of samples were extracted from each column; seven cylinders of 300 mm length and eight slices of 20 mm thickness intercalated between cylinders. Fig. 2 shows the sawing sketch to obtain the samples. The evaluations carried out on every cylinder of 300 mm length include:  surface nishing,  weight, height, diameter, and unit weight in the dry conditions,  ultrasonic pulse velocity using a PUNDIT equipment with a frequency of 54 kHz, and  compressive strength and modulus of elasticity. The following evaluations were carried out on the 20 mm thick slices after polishing one of the cut planes to improve the digital scanning of the cross section and facilitate the counting of bres and the visual analysis of the distribution of aggregate and bres:

Fig. 1. Arrangement of the prototype columns.

4. Test methods 4.1. Fresh state The SCC rheological properties, i.e. yield stress and plastic viscosity, were measured by means of a BML Viscometer 3 on concrete samples of approx. 20 l in volume. The viscometer measures the torque and rotation velocity at increasing and decreasing velocities, and calculates the yield stress (s0) and plastic viscosity (l) in accordance to the Bingham model. The software includes an additional step in which it veries the tendency of concrete to segregate, at an intermediate rate. Self-compactability was characterised by the most usual test methods, such as slump-ow to measure owability and segregation resistance, V-funnel for owability and passing ability, and J-ring for passing ability. Note that up to date, self-compactability cannot be evaluated by just one test method, usually requiring the combination of two or three tests for an adequate assessment. At the same time, it is useful to compare results from dierent tests that measure the same property. The considered tests methods are described in [1315]. In the case of the slump-ow test, the time to reach a spread of 500 mm (T50) and the nal spread (Df) are measured. In the J-ring test, the maximum spread (DfJ) is measured and afterwards the dierence in spread between the slump-ow and J-ring calculated, DD = Df DfJ. The ring used for the test includes 13 rebars of 16 mm diameter set

Height

2.50 m 7-8 2.25 m 6-7 1.92 m 5-6 1.59 m 4-5 1.26 m 3-4 0.93 m 2-3 0.60 m 1-2 0.27 m 0-1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Fig. 2. Sawing sketch and samples.

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 The density of coarse aggregate at each cross section; mm2 of aggregate/mm2 of cross section. Only the aggregates with at least one dimension over 5 mm at the cut plane were considered for the counting. To avoid wall eects, the analysis was carried out on a circular concentric nucleus of 100 mm diameter. Once the images of the cut planes were digitally scanned, the perimeters of the aggregate particles were dierentiated, and the delimited areas quantied by means of image analysis software. This procedure allows analysing the variation of the distribution of the coarse aggregate. As an example, Fig. 3 shows the aggregate distribution in the cross section of one of the SCC columns, at midheight.  The density of steel bres was calculated as the number of bres per mm2 of cross section. The bre counting was carried out manually, considering only a concentric circular area of 90 mm diameter, which was divided into an inner 60 mm diameter central nucleus adjacent to an outer 30 mm thick ring, as shown in Fig. 4. In this way, any possibility of a non uniform distribution of bres in the actual cross section was taken into account. It is known that bres could adopt a 2D preferential orientation, particularly in the case of compaction by vibration [8,10]. In this case, due to the fact that all the analysed faces have the same orientation, it is possible to study the variations by comparing the density of bres at dierent heights.

Fig. 4. Fiber distribution in a HAC-25 section.

5. Results 5.1. Fresh state Fig. 5 shows the aspect of the SCC after the slump-ow and J-ring tests. Table 2 presents the fresh properties of the concretes used to ll the columns. As it was explained above, it should be kept in mind that the dierent concretes were obtained from the same base batch. Thus, a lapse took place between the fresh state evaluation, lling of columns, and casting of cylinders for each of the concretes. During this lapse, the rheological properties of the material noticeably varied, which is clearly evidenced by the fresh state test results. In addition to the rheological and selfcompactability test results, Table 2 includes the measures of unit weight (cf) and temperature (T) of the fresh concrete, and the time elapsed between the end of the mixing process and the moment of testing. The testing and lling of the SCC columns took place during the rst 15 min. Afterwards, the three 40 l buckets were extracted and the SFR-SCC 25 was fabricated. Again all the testing was carried out and two columns were cast after approximately 30 min from the end the mixing of the base concrete. The same procedure was followed to obtain, test and cast the SFR-SCC 50. The whole process took about 50 min. As expected, the owability of the samples decreased with time. To evaluate this fact and dierentiate it from the possible loss of owability due to bre addition, an extra sample of the base concrete was extracted after 75 min (25 min after casting the SFR-SCC 50 columns), and tested to obtain the rheological properties and self-compacting parameters.

Fig. 3. Typical image used for the analysis of aggregate distribution corresponds to a mid-height cross section of a SCC column.

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Fig. 5. Evaluation of the fresh concrete: (a) slump-ow test and (b) J-ring test.

Table 2 Fresh concrete properties Concrete SCC SFR-SCC 25 SFR-SCC 50 SCC Time (h:min) 0:04 0:30 0:47 1:15 Df (mm) 610 560 390 310 T50 (s) 1.7 1.7 DfJ (mm) 595 530 T50J (s) 2.0 2.8 DD (mm) 15 30 TV (s) 5.8 10.5 12.8 13.0 s0 (Pa) 28 55 109 200 l (Pa s) 51.4 45.9 70.5 80.5 T (C) 20 22 22 22 cf (kg/m3) 2.370 2.420 2.360

Fig. 6 shows the torque vs. rotation velocity response obtained with the BML viscometer. As it can be seen, yield stress values trending to 0 are veried, which is a normal behaviour for SCC. These curves and the corresponding rheological parameters (see Table 2) conrm that the incorporation of 25 kg/m3 of steel bres did not substantially modify the rheological behaviour; only an increase of the yield stress is denoted, which is in accordance with previous published data [7,16] reporting an increase of s0 with bre incorporation. This increase of s0 is much more signicant in the case of SFR-SCC 50, were also an increase of the plastic viscosity is observed. However, in this case the loss of self-compactability can be also attributed to the rheological evolution of the base concrete, which is clearly demonstrated by the test results of the SCC at 75 min time. In this sense, these results alert on the necessity to control the casting time of SCC in practical applications. The results of self-compactability tests are in accordance with the measured rhelogical parameters; Df and DfJ decrease, and TV increases with time and bre content. Considering the maximum size aggregate and presence of bres, it is interesting to note that SFR-SCC 25 presented

a satisfactory passing ability, with DD values lower than 50 mm. In general, test results indicate that while measures on SCC and SFR-SCC 25 can be considered within acceptable ranges of self-compactability, SFR-SCC 50 did not reach such conditions, probably due to the time passed since the fabrication of the base concrete. However, considering the scope of this study, it was of interest to analyse in what manner such variation of the fresh concrete properties could aect the lling capacity and hardened properties. In this respect, note that cf slightly increased in the case of SFR-SCC 25 but decreased in the case of SFR-SCC 50, conrming a lower self-compacting capacity. 5.2. Hardened state Fig. 7 shows the surface nish of the columns. Though not strictly homogeneous around the perimeter, the nishing resulted satisfactory for the case of SCC and SFR-SCC 25. Interestingly, while one side of the tubes was practically free of defects, some air bubbles were observed on the opposite side, placed at 180. Though the external aspect of the columns cast with SFR-SCC 50 was acceptable, a large number of surface air voids was observed, especially at the upper end. It is worth to mention that the implemented casting conditions were not the optimum for SCC. Due to the relatively small diameter of the tubes (150 mm), pouring the concrete from the superior end does not allow the easy evacuation of the air during casting and self-compacting stages. The compaction of SCC is favoured when the contribution of the weight and pressure of the concrete is allowed, reason why it is generally recommended to ll these types of elements from the inferior end, not perturbing the air migration.

10

Torque (N.m)

8 6 4 2 0 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5


SCC-0-5 min SFR-SCC-25-30 min SFR-SCC-50-50 min SCC-0-75 min

Rotation velocity (rpm)


Fig. 6. Torque vs. rotation velocity response from the BML viscometer.

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Fig. 7. Surface nish.

To study the variation of the physical and mechanical properties of the SCCs along the column, Fig. 8ad present the variation in height of the unit weight, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), compressive strength (fc) and modulus of elasticity (E), respectively. These properties were measured on the 150 300 mm cylinders cut along the height of the columns (see Fig. 3). Each point plotted in Fig. 8 represents the mean value of the two columns for each concrete type; SCC, SFR-SCC 25 and SFR-SCC 50. As a reference, the vertical line indicates to the overall average of each type of concrete. Fig. 8a shows that the unit weight values were somewhat higher for SCC than for SFR-SCC 25, indicating higher

compaction in the rst case. The higher unit weight of SFR-SCC 50 is attributed to the presence of a considerable amount of bres. However, in this case the unit weight remarkably decreased with height, indicating a lower compaction. SFR-SCC 50 showed the maximum unit weight variations, but it must be noted that, at the same time, the dierences along the height with respect to the overall average value were lower than 1%. It can be seen from Fig. 8b that the ultrasonic pulse velocity was slightly higher in the case of SCC, followed by SFR-SCC 25 and SFR-SCC 50, with mean values equal to 4.96, 4.94 and 4.86 km/s, respectively. A low variation along the height of the columns was observed, with dier-

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Fig. 8. Variation of the physicalsmechanicals properties with height: (a) unit weight, (b) ultrasonic pulse velocity, (c) compressive strength and (d) modulus of elasticity.

ences of 1%, 3% and 2% with respect to the overall mean values for SCC, SFR-SCC 25 and SFR-SCC 50, respectively. Fig. 8b also shows lower values of the UPV at the upper end of the columns with respect to its inferior part, as it would also be expected in the case of conventional concrete due to the eects of bleeding. In the case of SFR-SCC 50, a clear decrease of the overall mean value can be observed. The variations of the UPV between the three concretes can be justied considering the dierences in the level of compaction achieved, as it will be seen next. It can be observed from Fig. 8c and d how the lower compaction of the upper part of the columns produced a decrease of the compressive strength, fc, and modulus of elasticity, E. This variation was observed for the three concretes. After being kept in the moulds for 20 days (tubes before cutting) and stored outside during winterspring season, at the moment of testing the cut cylinders had an age of ve months, and the mean values of compressive strength were equal to 52.6, 53.9 and 52.7 MPa for SCC, SFR-SCC 25 and SFR-SCC 50, with average reductions

of 11%, 14% and 15%, both respectively. As a reference, the standard 28 day compressive strength measured on 150 300 mm cylinders was 50.0, 45.2 and 42.5 MPa for SCC, SFR-SCC 25 and SFR-SCC 50, respectively. The modulus of elasticity also indicates a lower stiness at the superior zone (Fig. 8d), again produced by the lower compaction in that part of the columns, which is consistent with the compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity and unit weight measures. On the other hand, the variation of E is notably small, with values not exceeding a 2% for the case of SCC and SFR-SCC 25. As expected in the case of SFR-SCC 50, the variations of the E value were higher, reaching a 4%. It is interesting to note that instead of the typical slight increase of the modulus of elasticity due to bres, the E value decreases 1% and 1.5% for SFR-SCC 25 and SFR-SCC 50 with respect to the plain SCC. This dierences are remarkably small and lower than the standard variability normally accepted for concrete properties. The distribution of the coarse aggregate and bres along the height of the columns was considered for the study of

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2.5 2.0

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50

60

70

80

0.3
2

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Number of aggregates

Aggregates density (cm /cm )

Fig. 9. Variation of the number and density of aggregates with height: (a) and (b), respectively.

the mesostructure. Fig. 9 shows the number and density of aggregates (square area of aggregates/square area of concrete) corresponding to the average value for the two columns of each concrete. As in the previous evaluations, the vertical line indicates the overall average. The number and density of aggregates did not vary more than a 20% from the overall average value. This variation, which is considerably higher than the variations observed in the case of the physicalmechanical properties in general, does not seem to be associated to an eect of the height but to the own variability of the concrete and/or of the method of analysis. It can be observed that the variations of the aggregate distribution were slightly higher in the case of SCC than in the SFR-SCC columns. From this point of view, bres can contribute to enhance the stability of the system and avoid segregation. In rheological terms, though the yield stress increased almost a 100% for SFR-SCC 25 with respect to SCC and that a slight viscosity decrease was observed for the 25 kg/m3 bre concrete, the combination of rheological parameters was still adequate to achieve self-compacting characteristics. On the other hand, the

self-compacting capacity of SFR-SCC 50 was remarkably reduced. However, the unfavourable eects of the lack of compaction do not signicantly aect the physical mechanical properties and homogeneity of SFR-SCC 50. Fig. 10a shows the variation of the density of bres (number of bres per mm2) in the horizontal cuts of the SFR-SCC 25 and SFR-SCC 50 columns. The variation of the bre density along the columns is rather high for both bre dosages, with values reaching a 50% with respect to the overall average. A decrease of the bre density in the upper zone can be observed, which is particularly notable in the case of SFR-SCC 50. There is no signicant dierence between the mean densities of bres in the 60 mm diameter central nucleus and the 30 mm thick adjacent ring, as it can be seen in Fig. 10a and c, respectively. The mean values are consistent with the increase of bre content from SFR-SCC 25 to SFR-SCC 50. 6. Conclusions This work has analysed the variation of physical mechanical properties of SCC and SFR-SCC along the

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Fig. 10. Variation of the density of bers with height: (a) entire section, (b) inside de nucleous and (c) inside de ring.

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height of slender columns, and related such variations to the mesostructure of the material. The study was part of a preliminary test program aimed to evaluate the material homogeneity that can be achieved when plain and steel bre reinforced SCC is used in slender elements of considerable height, such as columns, foundation and retaining walls, building panels, etc. The utilised SCC and SFR-SCCs allowed a trouble-free lling of the mentioned prototypes (150 mm diameter 2500 mm height). The base SCC was capable of sustaining the incorporation of 25 kg/m3 of steel bres without substantial variations of the rheological parameters or self-compactability measured through engineering type tests methods. The surface nish was satisfactory in the case of SCC and SFR-SCC 25. Only some minor air bubbles were observed for those cases, which could be avoided by implementing a more favourable manner of lling, i.e. upwards. The more aected surface nish was that of the SFR-SCC 50 elements, were a signicant amount of air voids were observed. However, it should be remarked that this concrete was out of the recommended ranges of self-compactability at the moment of casting. The physicalmechanical properties did not vary significantly along the height of the columns, though a decrease was observed in the superior third of the elements. The variation of the unit weight of the fresh concrete and ultrasonic pulse velocity reached maximums of 1% and 3%, respectively, even in the case of SFR-SCC 50 that cannot be considered to be self-compacting. The eects of the lower compaction at the upper zone aected the compressive strength to a greater extent, where reductions up to 15% were registered. While a reduction of the modulus of elasticity also took place in superior part, the variations were not as signicant as in the case of compressive strength, with a maximum decrease of 2% when the concrete had self-compacting characteristics, and reaching a maximum of a 4% in the case SFR-SCC 50. The mesostructural studies indicate that the variations of aggregate distribution along the height did not follow a particular patron. The observed variations, though higher than those observed for the physicalmechanical properties, are not signicant and can be considered typical for concrete. The aggregate distribution was slightly more homogeneous in the case of bre concretes, which implies that bres may provide stability or resistance against segregation to SCCs. The variation of the bre density along the columns is relatively high for both of the bre dosages considered, with values reaching a 50% with respect to the overall aver-

age. A decrease of the bre density in the upper zone was observed, which is particularly notable in the case of SFR-SCC 50. No notable variation in the transversal distribution of bres was observed in the cross section analysis. References
[1] Skarendahl A, Petersson O, editors. Self-compacting concrete: state of the art report of RILEM TC 174-SCC, Report 23, RILEM Publishers, Cachan, France; 2000. [2] Koyata H, Comman CR. Workability measurement and developing robust SCC mixture designs. In: Shah SP, editor. Second north American conference on the design and use of self-consolidating concrete (SCC) and the fourth International RILEM Symposium on self-compacting concrete. Addison, IL, USA: Hanley Wood Publishers; 2005. p. 799805. elsson I, Wallevik OH. In: Wallevik O, Nielsson I, editors. [3] N Rheologycal evaluation of some empirical test methods preliminary results proceedings of the 3rd international RILEM symposium Reykjavik, Iceland. RILEM Publishers PRO 33; 2003. p. 5968. n B, Gettu R, Zerbino R, De La Cruz C, Bravo M. [4] Barraga n de hormigones autocompactables reforzados Desarrollo y aplicacio n B, Ramos G, con bras de acero. In: Aguado A, Agullo L, Barraga a de Estructuras de Hormigo n, Barcelona, ISBN: editors. Tecnolog 84-87691-31-5; 2004. p. 10714. [5] Gru newald S. Performance-based design of self-compacting bre reinforced concrete, Ph.D. Thesis, Technische Universiteit Delft; 2004. Tekniska [6] Groth P. Fibre reinforced concrete, Ph.D. Thesis, Lulea Universitet; 2000. L. Experimental study of the [7] Pasini F, Garcia T, Gettu R, Agullo properties of owable ber reinforced concretes BEFIB 04. In: Proceedings of the sixth international RILEM symposium, vol. 1; 2004. p. 27988. var H, Barraga n BE. Study of the [8] Gettu R, Gardner DR, Sald distribution and orientation of bers in SFRC specimens. Mater Struct 2005;38:317. n BE, Gettu R, Martn MA, Zerbino RL. Uniaxial tension test [9] Barraga for steel bre reinforced concrete a parametric study. Cement Concrete Compos 2003;25(7):76777. n BE. Failure and toughness of steel ber reinforced concrete, [10] Barraga cnica de Catalun Ph.D.Thesis, Universidad Polite a; 2002. [11] Wang K, Jansen DC, Shah SP, Karr A. Permeability study of cracked concrete. Cement Concrete Res 1997;27(3):38193. [12] Aldea CM, Shah SP, Karr A. Permeability of cracked concrete. Mater Struct 1999;32. [13] EFNARC, Specications and guidelines for self-compacting concrete. http://www.efnarc.org/pdf/SandGforSCC.pdf, 1999. [14] Concrete Society, self-compacting concrete a review, Technical Report N 62, Camberley, UK. http://www.concrete.org.uk; 2005. [15] EPG guidelines, the European guidelines for self-compacting concrete specication, production and use. http://www.efnarc.org/pdf/SCCGuidelinesMay2005.pdf; 2005. D, Mindess S. Rheology of fresh concrete: principles, [16] Beaupre measurement, and applications. In: Skalny J, Mindess S, editors. Materials science of concrete V. USA: American Ceramic Society; 1998. p. 14990.

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