Cellular sprayed concrete for simple and economic remixing

The development of various supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) and chemical admixtures, makes the manufacturing of high-performance shotcrete possible. The most important SCM in high-performance shotcrete is silica fume because of its effect on pumpability, high-strength and durability which lies in its Pozzolanic reaction. Furthermore, the very small particle size of silica fume reacts more quickly than other SCMs and acts as a filler which contributes to the nano-sized porosity occurring in the interfacial transition zone. On the other hand, because of the extremely small particle size of silica fume, it is used as a pre-blended type with a Portland cement for a better distribution of silica fume in concrete. This results in a high cost material. If it is possible to distribute the very fine silica fume in a ready-mixed concrete, this would results in a very simple and an economic way. A very innovative method, which was named as Cellular sprayed concrete, was developed. Cellular sprayed concrete is a process to produce a High-Performance Concrete (HPC) by adding cellular and silica fume in ready-mixed concrete. This method enable to distribute the very fine silica fume in a ready-mixed concrete. This paper describe on the very new and innovative concept and procedures of cellular sprayed concrete

Application of cellular sprayed concrete into two-lift concrete

Two-lift concrete paving involves placing two layers of concrete \u27wet-on-wet\u27 instead of the traditional method of using a single homogeneous layer of concrete. The thick bottom layer offers the opportunity to optimize the use of local aggregates, recycled materials to produce an economical, durable, and sustainable pavement system with the most desirable surface characteristics like improved skid resistance and reduced noise provided by the high-quality surface of the high-performance concrete. The time between placing layers is often no more than 30 minutes. Perhaps the challenge involved in the construction of two-layer concrete systems includes the additional costs and logistics required for two plants to produce different concrete mixtures and two slip-form paver for paving both of bottom and top layers. A very simple and economic method for remixing an ordinary Portland cement concrete (OPC) into a high performance concrete (HPC) at a job site was developed, which is called \u27Cellular sprayed concrete\u27. Cellular sprayed concrete is produced by incorporating a preformed foam and fine powders in a ready mixed concrete and is conveyed under pressure through a pneumatic hose or pipe and projected into place at high velocity, with simultaneous compaction. This method can solve the problem of two batch plants and two pavers in 2LCP construction. \u27Cellular sprayed concrete\u27 enable utilizing a single batch plant for constructing 2-lift concrete pavement instead of 2 batch plants. This paper describes an extra ordinary application of sprayed concrete into concrete pavement

Plastic Shrinkage Properties of Natural Fiber Reinforced Shotcrete

Recently, natural hemp fibers have been developed for use in wet or dry mix shotcrete instead of conventional synthetic fibers made from petroleum. Synthetic fibers, which is mainly in polypropylene, has been used for controlling an initial shrinkage cracking in concrete, however, the effect was poor showing a severe plastic shrinkage cracking. Plastic shrinkage cracking is a nonstructural crack that occurs due to the surface drying of concrete in a plastic condition due to rapid evaporation of bleeding water. The volume reduction due to plastic shrinkage and the resulting tensile stress exceeds the tensile strength of the concrete. In particular, plastic shrinkage cracking occurs mainly in large surface area members. It may be evolved from the surface to a considerable depth, or in the case of a very thin structure, it may go all over the depth of the member. In addition, since it is long enough to be easily distinguished by naked eyes and cracks are generated widely, it is not aesthetically pleasing and anxiety about the stability of the concrete can be increased. Also, the plastic shrinkage crack accelerates penetration of chloride and moisture, causing corrosion of the reinforcing bar, and durability of the concrete is lowered. The theoretical effect of natural fibers on plastic shrinkage cracks is that when natural fibers are mixed into concrete, they become wet by absorbing the water. Then, in the pumping, water in the wet natural fiber is supplied to the concrete by the pumping pressure to increase the pumpability. Re-absorbing the water after spraying increases the adhesion and build-up thickness. The absorbed water could be supplied to the shotcrete and resulted in reducing a plastic shrinkage and dry shrinkage. This paper investigates the plastic shrinkage properties of shotcrete containing natural fibers. A series of experimental program were conducted to analysis the theoretical background and to select the optimized natural fiber content

Application examples of a very economic way of cellular sprayed concrete on retaining wall and artificial rock

An economic slope structure construction method for landscape was developed, which utilized the cellular sprayed concrete for high performance shotcrete. This can improve the performance of shotcrete material, maximize the construction advantages of shotcrete and further harmonize with the surrounding environment. This may solve various problems such as efficient slope stabilization of large-scale slopes from natural disasters that occur annually due to climate change, the necessity of disaster prevention and restoration technologies, existing slope maintenance and reinforcement construction methods for weathering. This construction method maximizes the economic feasibility by manufacturing a high-performance cellular shotcrete using an ordinary ready mixed concrete and concrete pump car. Cellular shotcrete is produced by incorporating cellular and mineral admixtures in the process of remixing and dispersing the mineral admixture in an ordinary ready mixed concrete at a job site. High strength and high durability are secured by using high-performance cellular shotcrete without using accelerators. Speed and safety are improved by adopting a concrete pump car reaching a far way on the slope without formwork in the top-down and bottom-up method. In addition, this technique can highlight nature-friendly scenery since it is a construction method that comprehends natural rock shapes and colors, by carving various natural rock patterns on the placed high-performance shotcrete before the thickness is adjusted and before it hardens. After curing for a certain period of time, a coloring agent like stain is sprayed on the surface to develop color by neutralization reaction

Predicting Pumpability and Shootability of Crushed Aggregate Wet-Mix Shotcrete Based on Rheological Properties

This study aims to estimate the pumpability and shootability of wet-mix shotcrete (WMS) made with crushed aggregates and various admixtures such as silica fume, fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), metakaolin, and steel fiber based on rheological properties. The IBB rheometer was employed as an apparatus to measure the rheological properties of freshly mixed shotcrete such as flow resistance and torque viscosity. Results have shown that the use of silica fume and metakaolin led to satisfactory pumpability, whereas mixtures with fly ash and steel fiber failed to meet the pumping criteria at normal pump pressure. The build-up thickness, an indicator to represent shotcrete shootability, was predicted to vary between 68 and 218 mm, demonstrating that the use of admixtures resulted in a wide spectrum of shootability. In particular, the use of metakaolin was found to substantially increase the predicted build-up thickness only with a small replacement. The findings of this study are expected to be used as an easy-to-use guideline for estimating pumpability and shootability of WMS when no compliance testing data is available

Carotid Intimal-Medial Thickness Is Not Increased in Women with Previous Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

BackgroundGestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is known to increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Measuring the carotid artery intimal-medial thickness (CIMT) is a non-invasive technique used to evaluate early atherosclerosis and to predict future cardiovascular diseases. We examined the association between CIMT and cardiovascular risk factors in young Korean women with previous GDM.MethodsOne hundred one women with previous GDM and 19 women who had normal pregnancies (NP) were recruited between 1999 and 2002. At one year postpartum, CIMT was measured using high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography, and oral glucose tolerance tests were performed. Fasting glucose, glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), insulin levels and lipid profiles were also measured. CIMTs in the GDM and NP groups were compared, and the associations between CIMT and cardiovascular risk factors were analyzed in the GDM group.ResultsCIMT results of the GDM group were not significantly different from those of the NP group (GDM, 0.435±0.054 mm; NP, 0.460±0.046 mm; P=0.069). In the GDM group, a higher HbA1c was associated with an increase in CIMT after age adjustment (P=0.011). CIMT results in the group with HbA1c >6.0% were higher than those of the normal HbA1c (HbA1c ≤6.0%) (P=0.010). Nine of the patients who are type 2 diabetes mellitus converters within one year postpartum but showed no significant difference in CIMT results compared to NP group.ConclusionHigher HbA1c is associated with an increase in CIMT in women with previous GDM. However, CIMT at one year postpartum was not increased in these women compared to that in NP women

Differential Proteome Profiling Using iTRAQ in Microalbuminuric and Normoalbuminuric Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a long-term complication of diabetes mellitus that leads to end-stage renal disease. Microalbuminuria is used for the early detection of diabetic renal damage, but such levels do not reflect the state of incipient DN precisely in type 2 diabetic patients because microalbuminuria develops in other diseases, necessitating more accurate biomarkers that detect incipient DN. Isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) were used to identify urinary proteins that were differentially excreted in normoalbuminuric and microalbuminuric patients with type 2 diabetes where 710 and 196 proteins were identified and quantified, respectively. Some candidates were confirmed by 2-DE analysis, or validated by Western blot and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). Specifically, some differentially expressed proteins were verified by MRM in urine from normoalbuminuric and microalbuminuric patients with type 2 diabetes, wherein alpha-1-antitrypsin, alpha-1-acid glycoprotein 1, and prostate stem cell antigen had excellent AUC values (0.849, 0.873, and 0.825, resp.). Moreover, we performed a multiplex assay using these biomarker candidates, resulting in a merged AUC value of 0.921. Although the differentially expressed proteins in this iTRAQ study require further validation in larger and categorized sample groups, they constitute baseline data on preliminary biomarker candidates that can be used to discover novel biomarkers for incipient DN

Rheological Behavior of High-Performance Shotcrete Mixtures Containing Colloidal Silica and Silica Fume Using the Bingham Model

There have been numerous studies on shotcrete based on strength and durability. However, few studies have been conducted on rheological characteristics, which are very important parameters for evaluating the pumpability and shootability of shotcrete. In those studies, silica fume has been generally used as a mineral admixture to simultaneously enhance the strength, durability, pumpability, and shootability of shotcrete. Silica fume is well-known to significantly increase the viscosity of a mixture and to prevent material sliding at the receiving surface when used in shotcrete mixtures. However, the use of silica fume in shotcrete increases the possibility of plastic shrinkage cracking owing to its very high fineness, and further, silica fume increases the cost of manufacturing the shotcrete mixture because of its cost and handling. Colloidal silica is a new material in which nano-silica is dispersed in water, and it could solve the above-mentioned problems. The purpose of this research is to develop high-performance shotcrete with appropriate levels of strength and workability as well as use colloidal silica for normal structures without a tunnel structure. Thereafter, the workability of shotcrete with colloidal silica (2, 3, and 4%) was evaluated with a particle size of 10 nm and silica fume replacement (4 and 7%) of cement. In this study, an air-entraining agent for producing high-performance shotcrete was also used. The rheological properties of fresh shotcrete mixtures were estimated using an ICAR rheometer and the measured rheological parameters such as flow resistance and torque viscosity were correlated with the workability and shootability. More appropriate results will be focusing on the Bingham model properties such that the main focus here is to compare all data using the Bingham model and its performance. The pumpability, shootability, and build-up thickness characteristics were also evaluated for the performance of the shotcrete. This research mainly focuses on the Bingham model for absolute value because it creates an exact linear line in a graphical analysis, which provides more appropriate results for measuring the shotcrete performance rather than ICAR rheometer relative data