Trade Journals for the Concrete Industry

High-Performance Self-Compacting Concrete (HP SCC) has many advantages in terms of casting, noise reduction, and aesthetics of concrete faces. HP SCC is used to manufacture reinforced or prestressed concrete products like beams (Figure 1), thin plates (Figure 2), columns, etc. For prestressed products, the knowledge of the short-term and long-term performances in terms of Young’s modulus, creep, and shrinkage is of great importance. The paste content of HP SCC usually varies from 35% to 45% by volume, whereas it is generally less than 35% for conventional vibrated concrete. To increase the potential of HP SCC in an industrial process, the specific features of HP SCC must be properly understood. Self compacting concretes with compressive strengths of between 40 and 110 MPa have been designed for this study. The aim is to obtain a better understanding regarding to the mechanical and physico- chemical behaviour of HP SCC. The influences of the main parameters (paste volume, compressive strength, types of addition) on creep and shrinkage were quantified..