Numerical Modeling Of Flow Test Of Self-Compacting Concrete

Self-Compacting Concrete(SCC) has been applied widely with its perfect workability since 1980s. Highly flowable mixes may be selected for the ease of casting in the case of lack of tools evaluating the influence of the properties of SCC, the shape and size of structures, the position of rebars and cast technique. Experiments can be applied to evaluate the influences with a high cost. Computational modeling of flow can be used for simulation of flow test and form filling of SCC. Numerical modeling can be a tool for understanding the rheological behavior and a tool for mix design of SCC.The workability of Self-Compacting Concrete is studied in the paper with computational fluid mechanics code FLOW-3D.The fresh concrete is considered as homogeneous fluid, and a 3D Bingham model with two parameters-yield stress and viscosity- is used to describe the fluid behavior of the concrete. Slump test, L-box test and U-box test are simulated and compared with experiments to study the influences of water/cement ratio, sand ratio and superplasticizer.With proper rheological parameters the numerical modeling can not only complement the experiments, but can also vividly describe the procedures of flow tests, which can help to study the properties of SCC. Experiment options such as the friction boundary of instructions and rebars can also be considered.Both simulations and experiments show that the water/cement ratio, sand ratio and superplasticizer would significantly influence the workability of fresh Self-Compacting Concrete, as well as the rheological parameters- yield stress and viscosity which will be deeply studied.Much labor and materials could be saved with the help of numerical modeling. Also, simulation can complement the experiments to understand the rheological properties and the workability of SCC.