Transfer and anchorage bond behaviour in self-compacting concrete

Abstract

Self-compacting concretes (SCC) provide solutions to the problems facing precast concrete construction, enhancing competitiveness, reducing turnaround times and improving final product quality. SCC is fast becoming a key product for the future development of the precast pre-stressed concrete industry.The present paper compares the bond performance of SCC and traditional concrete (TC). The bond performance results confirm the viability of SCC in precast pre-stressed concrete manufacture, despite a slightly higher loss of pre-stressing force and slightly greater anchorage lengths in SCC with a low water/cement ratio. No differences in transfer or anchorage length were detected,however, when high strength TC and SCC were compared. The ECADA test method proved to be well suited to detecting the differences between the concretes analyzed.