Self Compacting Concrete

Self compacting concrete is a concrete which compacts itself, there is no further compaction required for self compacting concrete. Making concrete structures without vibration, have been done in the past. For examples, placement of concrete under water is done by the use of tremie without vibration. Mass concrete, and shaft concrete can be successfully placed without vibration. But the above examples of concrete are generally of lower strength and difficult to obtain consistent quality. Modern application of self-compacting concrete (SCC) is focussed on high performance, better and more reliable and uniform quality.

Recognising the lack of uniformity and complete compaction of concrete by vibration, researchers at the University of Tokyo, Japan, started in late 1980’s to develop Self compacting concrete. By the early 1990’s, Japan has developed and used SCC that does not require vibration to achieve full compaction. By the year 2000, the SCC has become popular in Japan for prefabricated products and ready mixed concrete. The utilisation of self compacting concrete started growing rapidly.

Self compacting concrete has been described as “the most revolutionary development in concrete construction for several decades”. Originally developed in Japan to offset a growing shortage of skilled labour, it has proved to be beneficial from the following points,

1. Faster construction,
2. Improved durability,
3. Reduction in site manpower,
4. Better surface finish,
5. Easier placing,
6. Safer working environment.