Influence of particle packing density on the rheology of low cement content concrete

Optimizing concrete mixtures with regard to cement content is one of the most important solutions in sustainable concrete design. Workability o f these low cement content or ecological mixtures is very important. Eleven mortar mixtures are presented, which show how a higher packing density can be used to obtain mixtures that require less water. Higher packuig densities reduce the void volume between the particles and therefore decrease the amount of water necessary to fill this void volume. The reduced amount of water and lower water/cement ratio can be used to save a certain amount o f cement when concrete is designed for a fixed strength class.