Passing Ability Tester for Self-Consolidating Concrete

Abstract

Passing ability is one of the most important workability properties of self-consolidating concrete (SCC) and self-consolidating fiber reinforced concrete (SCFRC). The popular J-ring apparatus which measures the passing ability indirectly in terms of the difference in drop levels or the unrestricted and restricted slump flow of SCC/SCFRC, could not determine the passing ability in a consistent manner. A simple, accurate, and practical passing ability tester (PAT) is proposed as a substitute to the conventionally used methods (J-ring, L-box, and U-box). PAT measures the passing ability directly and consistently by weighing the concrete that has passed through the reinforcing bar screen and expressing it as the percentage of the total concrete sampled. This paper presents the test results of various SCC/SCFRC mixes to verify the performance of PAT, including the correlation between the test results of PAT and J-ring.