Investigating the Rheological Properties of Ultra-High Strength Concrete Made with Various Superplasticizers

Ultra-High Strength Concrete (UHSC) is a high-strength and highly ductile material formulated to provide compressive strengths exceeding 130MPa. UHSC materials typically have a very low water-to-cementitious ratio (w/cm), which requires the use of superplasticizers to disperse the fine particles and to make the material workable for placing, handling and consolidating. Common examples of superplasticizer compositions include Polynaphthalene Sulfonate (PNS), Polymelamine Sulfonate (PMS) and Polycarboxylate Ether (PCE) based polymers. This study focuses on assessing the impact of various superplasticizers on the compressive strength and rheological performance of a UHSC mixture. Four different types of superplasticizers were used; two different PCE based superplasticizers from a leading manufacturer, one PNS superplasticizer, and one PCE superplasticizer, both of which were provided by a local chemical provider. Specific properties assessed were the superplasticizers' viscosity, concrete workability through the mortar-spread test, concrete rheology, and 7, 14, and 28 day compressive strengths. Two mixtures were produced with two w/cm (0.20 and 0.15), which would subsequently increase the amount of HRWRA needed, from 34.7L/m3 to 44.5L/m3. The results show that both name brand PCE superplasticizers produce a higher spread, lower viscosity, and a higher compressive strength at all ages tested up to 28 days than the two local superplasticizers. Additionally, the rheology test demonstrated that the name brand PCE superplasticizers, and UHSC produced with such superplasticizers, had a lower viscosity at all angular speeds than the local superplasticizers counterparts.