On-Board Concrete Rheology Measurements Using an In-Drum Sensor System: Early Stages

Consistent quality in concrete production is an essential requirement in the ready-mix concrete industry. Insuring batch-to-batch uniformity is, in fact, an ever-present challenge. Moreover, modern concretes mixture designs often have complex behaviors in their fresh states, and yet the focus is on the slump (related to the yield stress) only, presenting an incomplete picture when one wants to assess the properties of various types of concrete. A second parameter known to be highly informative in this situation is the plastic viscosity of the fresh concrete. Few authors have assessed the potential of rheology measurements with a ready-mix truck. After a short introduction on sustainability, the aim of the first part of this conference paper is to offer a review of the different methodologies and results available on rheology measurements in/with a ready-mix truck. The second part is focused on the description of the in-drum sensor system used in this project. Finally, methodology and results about the slump evaluation with the in-drum sensor system are presented.