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Underwater concrete using Antiwashout admixture

The successful placement of concrete underwater depends on so many factors including a suitable optimised concrete mix. A highly flow able, low water to cement ratio concrete, manufactured with relatively high amounts of fine sand is usually a minimum requirement to produce successful underwater concrete. Additional recommendations for underwater concrete mix proportioning and placement can be found in ACI 304R (Guide for Measuring, Mixing, Transporting, and Placing Concrete) and ACI 546.2R (Guide to Underwater Repair of Concrete). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been actively involved in developing design and testing tools to aid the industry in the development of suitable mixtures for placing underwater concrete underwater. The two key documents produced to date are CRD-C 61-89A Test Method for Determining the Resistance of Freshly Mixed Concrete to Washing Out in Water (issued 12/01/1989) and CRD-C 661-06 Specification for Antiwashout Admixtures for Concrete (issued 03/01/2006). Code standards specification limits call for 58% maximum washout to reduce laitance. These limits are relatively easy to achieve in the lab, but under field conditions such limits are rather difficult to achieve. The use of an anti-washout admixture can be vital in simplifying the design approach in developing a mix design with the required level of washout resistance. Although an actual washout of 5 8% sounds like a large amount of material to be discharged into a body of water, Fig. A illustrates a weight loss can have a rather negligible effect on the make-up of the concrete mixture being placed.

without Antiwashout admixture and lack of fines (Approx. 45-50%) washout reduction after fines and mix optimisation (Approx.15-20%)

As per CRD-C 661-06 guidlines a control mix design be chosen such that that exhibits 1020% weight loss (washout). The test mixture (concrete containing the antiwashout admixture) must then be able to reduce the amount of washout to 50% or less, of the control to be classified as an antiwashout admixture. As with other concrete standards, such as ASTM C494, this specification is designed to ascertain whether a product exhibits performance characteristics suitable for use as an antiwashout admixture, and not to provide a universal underwater concrete mix design. For specific projects, maximum washout specifications will influence how the concrete is proportioned. Maximum antiwashout limits are typically 58%, depending on the perceived threat to the environment. 1

Reduction in concrete & fines washout to 6% and 3% respectively after Antiwashout admixture dosage optimisation

The concrete will typically have a high cementitious content, 400 kg/m3 or higher, and a maximum w/cm of 0.45 or less. Pozzolona are frequently used to improve flow characteristics and reduce potential for laitance. Fine aggregate contents are normally kept in range of 4555% by volume of total aggregate, and slumps run 69 in. (150230 mm) or even higher, if long flows are required. Air entrainment should be avoided unless the concrete will be exposed to freezing and thawing cycles. Thus, The antiwashout admixtures increases the viscosity of water-cement paste in the mix, resulting in an increased thixotropy of the concrete and an improved resistance to segregation. The magnitude of the effect produced is dependent on the admixture dosage and the molecular weight of the main component. It is discharged into the mixer at the same time as the other materials. Often it is difficult to adjust the mixture proportions to achieve desired design parameters for all properties of concrete. Consequently the properties of colloidal underwater concrete are controlled by the addition of Anti-washout and high range water reducers. Minimum water-cement ratios range from 0.36 to 0.40. Cement and fine aggregates contents are usually higher than corresponding mixes placed on land, and silica fume may also be used in conjunction with other materials to reduce seggregatation. The key to a non-dispersible concrete with self consolidating property is the successful optimisation of mix and Anti-washout admixture. The concrete may be pumped, skipped or tremied into place, alternatively it may be flowed down an incline. Free fall of highly workable concrete tends to result in turbulent flow which segregates the mix and increases water-cement ratio. It is therefore not recommended the concrete to free fall at high workability, even from the end of a tremie. Final mixture selection should be based, if possible, on test placements made under water in a placement box or in a pit that can be dewatered after placement. Test placements should be examined for concrete surface flatness, amount of laitance present, quality of concrete at the extreme flow distance, and flow around embedded items, if appropriate. Concrete placed under water can be expected to be of excellent quality, as curing conditions will be excellent and the compressive strengths of the rich mixtures will often range from 4000 to 8000 psi (28 to 55 MPa).

Conclusion
Anti-washout admixtures exhibits adequate antiwashout properties when tested according to CRD-C 661-06 and CRD-C 61-89A. However, since antiwashout performance is very much dependent on mix proportions, fineness of materials, w/c ratio, and slump, potential mix designs for a specific project should be tested, with actual job materials, to ensure that the antiwashout performance of the chosen concrete design meets the actual project specification. 2

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