El hormigón autocompactable. Propiedades y métodos de caracterización

Self-Compacting ? Concrete. Properties and Methods of Characterizacion

Self-Compacting concrete (SCC) is a concrete that is able to flow within the formwork, passing through the reinforcement without blocking and consolidating under its own weight without the need of vibration. This is obtained by suitable fluidity, viscosity and cohesion of the concrete. The evaluation of these aspects is important for the design of the material and controlling the quality of the fresh concrete. The paper presents a brief state-of-the-art of these approaches and procedures showing, on one hand, that the mix design is normally empirical and there is no proper method for SCC. On the other hand, the characterization meets the novel demands required of these concretes, which supposes a substantial change in philosophy with respect to ordinary concretes.