ABSTRACT
The chapter looks at aspects of viscosity and fluidity from their fundamentals. In an effort to understand the effectiveness of each of the test methods, a brief review of the same along with possible modifications to understand at least some of the important characteristics is also presented. Incidentally this chapter presents a compilation of the various aspects covered in the literature in the researchers’ efforts to understand the green state characteristics of the self-consolidating compositions adopted by them. Looking at the wide variation of the material parameters utilized it is felt that the relationships between the different test methodologies can only be discussed with certain large enough data sets available from a few specific publications. These relationships are presented graphically and explained. The individual effects like segregation, shrinkage effects on setting times, and curing needs have also been discussed from the data available in the laboratory. There is a significant need to understand water requirements particularly in terms of the finer pozzolanic admixtures like silica fume. The effect of compositions and shrinkage and the need for appropriate transported placement is also emphasized. More importantly the significance of quality assurance and quality control for implementing the present-day self-compacting concretes at site and the possibility of using accelerated curing methods for such purposes are discussed.
