Rheological characterization of cement paste: association of complementary techniques

Abstract

The adaptability to different classes of material (concrete, mortars, fiber-cement, etc.) and methods of application (injection, pumping, spraying, casting, extrusion, etc.) is an essential feature of cement pastes. Each material or application system requires a set of characteristics of the fluid pastes. Therefore, an adequate rheological test to characterize rheological behavior should identify all the required properties for each situation. The main problem associated with this approach is the lack of a single technique able to perform a thorough characterization. As an alternative, this work proposes to evaluate the behavior of a cement paste by associating traditional flow and oscillatory rheometry, with the less explored squeeze-flow testing method. The results showed that a single technique cannot evaluate the fundamental properties nor simulate the mixing, transport and application methods. Complementary techniques were necessary to identify the rheological behavior under different requirements.