Estimating rheological properties of cement pastes using various rheological models for different test geometry, gap and surface friction

Shear stress–shear rate flow tests were carried out on various cement pastes incorporating different mineral additions and chemical admixtures using various test geometries. Different gaps and friction capacity of shearing surfaces of the test geometries were employed in the flow tests. Rheological properties of cement pastes were calculated from the resulting flow curves using various rheological models. The Bingham, Modified Bingham, Herchel–Bulkley and Casson models were used to estimate yield stress. Plastic viscosity was estimated by the Bingham, Modified Bingham and Casson models, while the Williamson and Sisko models were used to estimate the theoretical viscosity at zero and infinite shear rates. It was observed that the rheological properties of cement pastes varied with the change of the test geometries and rheological models used for their calculation. The performance of rheological models in estimating the rheological properties of cement pastes, as expressed by a standard error, varied with the test geometries as well as with the composition of cement pastes. The paper highlights the difficulty in reconciling rheological results from different sources and the need for standardizing rheological test methods for rheological interlaboratory results to be critically analyzed and compared.