Abstract
The water-cement ratio of fresh concrete is recognized as the one factor that affects the strength and durability of an adequately compacted concrete mix. Although water-cement ratio is the predominant factor affecting strength of hardened concrete, currently no widely used, reliable method is available for measuring water-cement ratio in the field. A prototype device has been developed to measure the water-cement ratio of a plastic concrete mix. The method is based on the measurement of turbidity of water-cement slurry separated out of a concrete mixture by pressure sieving. Consistent results were obtained for air-entrained and non-air-entrained concrete. Statistical analyses of the test results have shown that this meter can measure the water-cement ratio of fresh concrete with an accuracy of ±0.01 on the water-cement ratio scale for a single test at a 90 percent confidence interval. The equipment will cost less than $10,000. If the method works as well in the field as it does in the laboratory, accurate determination of water-cement ratio could dramatically improve the ability of the concrete industry to ensure the quality of concrete construction.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.