Self Compacting Concrete - Properties and Application

Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) is a new generation concrete that is highly workable and doesn’t need compaction effort after casting. SSC is very useful where there is congested reinforcement provided and where there is very little space for needle vibrators.

Constituents of Self Compacting Concrete

Cement – We can use ordinary cement of 43 grade or 53 grade to produce SCC.
Aggregates – The size of aggregates to be used in SCC is limited to 20 mm.
Admixtures – Viscosity modifiers and super plasticizers are used in Self Compacting Concrete. This produces highly flowable concrete.
Water – The role of water is for hydration of the cement in the mix.

Properties of Self Compacting Concrete

Low Segregation and Bleeding Thow being highly workable Self Compacting Concrete exhibits low segregation and bleeding because of viscosity modifiers.
High Workability If concrete is having low workability then it will not compact it self. High workability is what makes concrete self compacting.
High Flowability
This property ensures zero voids in the structural member. That means concrete will fill the formwork fully.

Benefits of Self Compacting Concrete

Self Compacting Concrete eliminates the need of manual compaction with needle vibrators.
The permeability of concrete decreased when using SCC.
We can use highly dense reinforcement.

Applications of Self Compacting Concrete

SSC is used for repair, restoration and rehabilitation of structures.
Use in structures with complicated reinforcement details.

Tests on SSC

Self Compacting Concrete possesses three properties. Namely high workability, super flowability, and segregation resistance.
Thus to ensure these three things there are three types of tests on SCC done.