ABSTRACT
Self-consolidating or self-compacting concrete, often abbreviated SCC, may be one of the most significant concrete technology developments in many years. Because of its characteristic fresh properties, it has the potential to dramatically alter and improve the future of concrete placement and construction processes. In 1999, at the first RILEM symposium on SCC, held in Stockholm, Sweden, Ake Skarendahl suggested that with equipment advances, the use of sec could allow automation of certain segments of the industry such as precast concrete production. 1 Although further equipment developments, particularly in the area of production control equipment, are still necessary, to some degree this evolution has begun. New precast production plants, in Europe and the United States, have been designed around the use of SCC.2.3 As will be seen in later chapters of this book, the use of sec may lead to labor and construction time savings, and result in architectural finishes that may not have been possible with conventional concrete. In addition to influencing project results and spurring developments around manufacturing plant design, sec has advanced interest in other areas of materials science. For example, rheology, defined as the science of the deformation and flow of matter,4 has become a much more talked about area of interest. Although this science was applied to concrete before the development of SCC,5 the rheological properties of concrete were not widely discussed among material suppliers, concrete producers and contractors. Concrete rheology was relegated to mostly academic and research discussions. With the defining characteristics of SCC being its fresh, flow properties, however, sec has become the type of concrete to which the principles of concrete rheology can be applied. The growing interest in SCC, and a practical understanding of its flow properties, have advanced the practical user's interest in concrete rheology and its application to conventional slump concrete.
