The Marsh cone: a test or a rheological apparatus?

The present study is concerned with the Marsh cone, a workability test used for specification and quality control of cement pastes and grouts. It is demonstrated here that, under several consistency and geometry conditions, the flow time reflecting “fluidity” may be calculated from the plastic viscosity and yield stress in the case of a Bingham fluid and from the cone geometry. A relation between the behaviour parameters and the flow time of fresh pastes tested is derived and experimentally validated. A practical application of these results is suggested. Lastly, the concept of a new test apparatus based on two cones is presented and tested on a single cement paste.