Design of a New Rheometer for Concrete

Abstract A new concrete rheometer has been presented including its concept, actual design, working principle, calibration, and repeatability. Resistance offered by vertical wall of cylindrical container to concrete has been taken into consideration to represent actual flow condition of concrete during shearing. An expression for total shear stress has been derived whereby shear stress versus torque and overall shear strain rate versus rotational frequency relationships have been established for the given geometry of the rheometer. A magneto-rheological fluid has been tested with the present rheometer and the results have been compared with the test results obtained by HAAKE RS1 rheometer to validate the present analytical approach. Repeatability tests were conducted with different concrete mixes and results were found to be reasonable.