SILICA FUME IN SHOTCRETE

The details are described of a study that demonstrated that all the three forms of silica fume, uncompacted, compacted low density, and compacted high density, can be readily batched, mixed, and applied in both the dry- and wet-mix shotcrete processes. In the wet-mix shotcrete process, incorporating silica fume in the mix resulted in signigicant increases in achievable thickness of build-up compared to plain portland cement shotcrete. In the dry-mix shotcrete process, silica fume use in the mix resulted in substantial increases in achievable thickness of build-up compared to the plain portland cement shotcrete. These and other study findings are presented and discussed.