TY - JOUR A1 - Schmidt, Wolfram A1 - Brouwers, H.J.H. A1 - Kühne, Hans-Carsten A1 - Meng, Birgit T1 - Effects of the characteristics of high range water reducing agents and the water to powder ratio on rheological and setting behavior of self-consolidating concrete JF - Advances in civil engineering materials N2 - To design robust self-consolidating concrete (SCC) for various environmental conditions, it is essential to understand the relevant mechanisms that control the flow performance. This paper depicts how high range water reducing agents (HRWRAs) interact with clinker and hydration phases, and it discusses the important role of the charge density of polycarboxylic HRWRAs in the way the rheology is affected. Based on the rheometric investigations on SCC mixture compositions with different water to powder ratios (w/p) and observations of their pastes' Vicat setting times, the study shows that increasing charge densities of the HRWRA and decreasing w/p reduce the flow retention and have lesser retarding effect on the setting. Based on the test results and discussions optimization procedures for the mixture composition and the HRWRA modification are suggested to achieve optimized performance for varying environmental situations and highest robustness for specific conditions. KW - Polycarboxylate KW - HRWRA KW - Robustness KW - Rheology KW - Self-consolidating concrete PY - 2014 DO - https://doi.org/10.1520/ACEM20130094 SN - 2165-3984 VL - 3 IS - 2 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - ASTM International CY - West Conshohocken, Pa., USA AN - OPUS4-30388 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -