Two-stage concrete: effect of silica fume and superplasticizers on strength

Two-stage concrete (TSC) is an innovative concrete that does not require vibration for placing and compaction. This paper presents the results of a research project to study the effect of silica fume and added superplasticizers on the compressive and tensile strength of TSC using various combinations of water-to-cement ratio and sand-to-cement ratio.

1. Introduction

Placing concrete in areas that are difficult to reach, such as concrete repairs or underwater applications, is one of the most challenging tasks for construction engineering due to the risk of segregation and bleeding or washout of concrete constituents. Thus, the quality of concrete is highly influenced by its placement technique [1][2][3]. When applying any of the placement techniques, the aim is to pour concrete into the formwork with minimum segregation, minimum honeycombing and maximum possible homogeneity of the concrete constituents in order to produce a concrete with...

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