TY - CONF A1 - Schmidt, Wolfram A1 - Uzoegbo, H.C. A1 - Bella, N. A1 - Rongai, G. A1 - Kühne, Hans-Carsten A1 - Diergardt, T. ED - Diouri, A. ED - Khachani, N. ED - Alami Talbi, M. ED - Ait Brahim, L. ED - Bahi, L. T1 - Cement testing in Africa - Conclusions from the first africa-wide proficiency testing scheme T2 - CMSS 2013 - International congress on materials & structural stability - Building up sustainable materials & constructions (Proceedings) N2 - African cement inffastructure is quite complex. Apart from Northern Africa and South Africa in particular, cement plants are scarce resulting in highly unstable cement pricing. Clinker and cement are imported from overseas, e.g. from Portugal, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, and China. Imports are typically determined by the lowest price, and as a result the countries of origin of products vaiy regularly yielding large scatter of properties. Quality control and a good quality infrastructure are thus of utmost importance for the safety of the popuiace, an issue, which is actually often neglected. With funding of the German Metrology Institute (PTB) and Support of the SPIN project, a proficiency testing scheme for cement testing according to EN 196 was set up for African laboratories. Proficiency testing schemes, also called round robins. are interlaboratory performance comparisons allowing participants to evaluate themselves against pre-established criteria. Thev are a powerful tool to help laboratories improve their performance as well as demonstrate their competences to accreditation bodies or Customers. 26 laboratories from 20 nations, 18 of which from Africa, participated. The BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing acted as coordinator and provider of the scheme. The aim of the round robin was to interpret the submitted data further beyond the pure statistic analyses. The data provided a positive picture of the performance of the participants in general, but it also exhibited a number of technical fields that need improvement. The paper provides the general results of the scheme and analyses identified strengths and weak points based on the submitted and non submitted data as well as on discrepancies from the EN 196 procedures during measurements. The application of EN Standards for material testing is critically discussed and since quality infrastructure is also always an issue between industrial and political stakeholders, suggestions for the mitigation of the identified shared problems are given. T2 - CMSS 2013 - International congress on materials & structural stability - Building up sustainable materials & constructions CY - Rabat, Morocco DA - 27.11.2013 KW - Viscosity modifying agent KW - Metakaolin KW - Diutan gum KW - Welan gum KW - Rheology PY - 2013 SN - 978-9954-32-689-3 SP - 1 EP - 5 AN - OPUS4-30042 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Sonebi, M. A1 - Khatib, J. A1 - Schmidt, Wolfram ED - Diouri, A. ED - Khachani, N. ED - Alami Talbi, M. ED - Ait Brahim, L. ED - Bahi, L. T1 - Influence of the type of viscosity-modifying admixtures and metakaolin on the rheology of grouts T2 - CMSS 2013 - International congress on materials & structural stability - Building up sustainable materials & constructions (Proceedings) N2 - The Viscosity-modifying admixtures (VMAs) contribute to the control of the rheology of grouts and are used to enhance plastic viscosity, cohesion, stability, and resistance to bleeding of cement-based systems. This paper reports the results of an investigation on the effect of type of VMAs, namely two types of diutan gums and a welan gum and metakaolin (MTK), plus a superplasticiser, on the rheology behaviour of cement grouts. All mixes were made with polycarboxylic superplasticiser at 0.6% and 0.9%. The dosages of VMAs were 0.05%, and 0.10%, with a fixed water-to-binder ratio of 0.40. The investigated fresh properties of the grouts included the mini-slump flow, plate cohesion, and rheology parameters: namely yield value and plastic viscosity. The rheological parameters were obtained using a vane viscometer. Control grouts (with and without superplasticiser and VMA) were also tested and compared to mixes containing VMAs. The results indicated that the incorporation of MTK reduced the fluidity and increased the plate cohesion and yield stress, and plastic viscosity due to the higher surface area of MTK. The diutan gum grouts improved the grout fresh properties and rheology compared to the welan gum grouts. T2 - CMSS 2013 - International congress on materials & structural stability - Building up sustainable materials & constructions CY - Rabat, Morocco DA - 27.11.2013 KW - Viscosity modifying agent KW - Metakaolin KW - Diutan gum KW - Welan gum KW - Rheology PY - 2013 SN - 978-9954-32-689-3 SP - 1 EP - 6 AN - OPUS4-30041 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -