Apparent power-law fluid behavior of vibrated fresh concrete: Engineering arguments based on Stokes-type sphere viscometer measurements

This paper focuses on the apparent rheological behavior of fresh concrete while being vibrated. Derived from copious investigations on the non-vibrated material, it is the widely accepted view in the concrete research community that fresh concrete behaves as a yield-stress fluid. On the other hand, only a limited number of investigations on the rheological behavior of vibrated concrete is available. As regards the latter, a Stokes-type sphere viscometer is employed in this paper. It is based on monitoring the drag force experienced by a hard sphere pulled with different constant velocities through the quiescent fluid, which may be vibrated throughout the experiment. Based on the so-obtained data with the prescribed velocities ranging from 2 to 100 mm/s, the apparent behavior of vibrated fresh concrete was identified to follow a shear-thinning power-law.