BLEEDING OF FRESH CONCRETE

CONTAINING CEMENT
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS
ABSTRACT: Plastic cracking of concrete such as plastic settlement and plastic shrinkage cracking is
directly related to the bleeding of concrete, which is a natural time-dependent process in a fresh concrete
mix. A portion of the mixing water together with very fine materials finds its way to the surface of the
concrete during this process. The rapid rate of initial bleeding slows down with the elapsed time and the
bleeding process may continue to occur for a period up to 2 hours. When the concrete is placed by
pumping it is become necessary to have control over the bleeding capacity to achieve stable concrete
mixes under pressure. Both the bleeding rate and bleeding capacity of concrete are affected by the
amount of very fine materials in concrete as well as the mix compositions. This paper reports the results
of an extensive study on the effects of binder materials and the mix compositions on the rate of bleeding
and the bleeding capacity of freshly mixed concrete. The parameters used in this study were the water
content, superplasticer dosage, granulated blast-furnace slag as fine aggregate replacement, fly ash for
cement replacement, and fly ash as an addition material. The results obtained with a number of fresh
concrete mixes indicated the existence of a direct correlation between the bleeding capacity and the initial
bleeding rate. The empirical expression developed will be useful to predict the bleeding capacity based on
the initial bleeding rate.
1. INTRODUCTION
Bleeding of concrete may be considered as the physical migration of water towards the top surface. It
is not always favourable as it increases finishing times, produces laitance at the surface, decreases
strength, wear resistance and bond strength and causes poor bonds between successive lifts. However,
bleeding is also a necessary part of the life of the concrete. It replaces water lost by evaporation and
prevents concrete surface from drying out too quickly before it has attained sufficient tensile strength to
resist cracking. Plastic cracks form within 3 to 5 hours after the concrete is placed while the concrete is
still in the plastic state. Plastic settlement cracks occur only when there is a relatively high amount of
bleeding and settlement and there is a restraint to settlement in one form or another. Plastic shrinkage
cracking is basically caused by rapid drying of concrete surface when the rate of evaporation exceeds the
rate of bleeding (Lerch (1957)). Therefore, bleeding may be viewed as a necessary evil or a benefit
depending upon specific circumstances of the job site.
The results of an experimental investigation into the influence of binder materials and mix parameters on
the bleeding rate and bleeding capacity of concrete are reported. The parameters studied are: (a) water
content; (b) superplasticiser dosage; (c) fly ash as addition or substitution to cement; (d) ground
granulated blast-furnace slag as substitution to cement; and (e) granulated blast-furnace slag as
substitution to fine aggregate. Results correspond to the mixes with cement supplementary materials are
reported in this paper. The bleeding rate of the concrete mixes were monitored over up to 3 hours period
and the relationship between bleeding capacity and initial bleeding rate is proposed.
2. EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION
2.1 Materials
Either Type GP cement or Type GB cement (containing 35% or 62% ground granulated blast-furnace
slag, produced according to AS 3972, were used in producing the concrete mixes. Coarse aggregate
used was a combination of 20mm and 10 mm single sized crushed basalt. Combined coarse and fine
Napean River sands were used as fine aggregate. Commercially available low calcium NSW fly ash was
used to partially replace cement. Ground granulated blast-furnace slag from Australian Steel Mill Services

was used. The water absorption capacity of this slag was 0.8%. Superplasticiser, containing a
sulphonated polymer was used.

2.2 Mix Proportions

Commercially available Grade 32 control mix was used as the control mix and its mix compositions are
given in Table 1. In Series A, two additional water contents of 208 and 221 litres per cubic metre were
used. In Series B, fly ash was added to the control mix in proportions of 10, 20%, 30% and 40% of
cement by weight. In Series C, superplasticiser dosages of 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 times the recommended levels.
In Series D, fly ash and ground granulated blast-furnace slag were used to partially replace the cement.
The replacement levels when fly ash was used were 10, 20, 30, and 40% by weight. In the other hand,
Type GB cement containing 35% (slagment) and 62% (marine cement) slag contents were used. In
Series E, granulated blast furnace slag was used to replace the coarse sand in proportions of 25, 50, 75
and 100% by weight.
2.3 Batching, Mixing and Moulding of Fresh Concrete
Both fine and coarse aggregates were air-dry condition. The batch weights of these aggregates were
corrected for their moisture conditions below the saturated surface dry conditions. Concrete ingredients
were batched by weight. The aggregates were added first to the pan mixer followed by half 0f the required
water. Aggregates were briefly mixed. Then cement and rest of the water were then added. Concrete was
mixed for two minutes and left to stand for a further 2 minutes. When fly ash is used it was added together
with the cement and superplasticiser was mixed with water. Immediately after mixing, the fresh concrete
was used to cast 4 Nos. of 100mm cubes and 2 Nos. of 100mm diameter by 200mm cylinders for
compressive strength testing at 1 day and 28 days. The cast specimens were removed from the steel
mould after 24 hours and stored in water at 20oC. 2 Nos. of the cubes were tested immediately in direct
compression to determine its 1-day strength and the other cubes and cylinders were kept in water until
testing at the age of 28 days.
2.4 Testing of Concrete
Fresh concrete was tested for its wet density, slump and bleeding according to the Parts 3, 5 and 6 of
Australian Standard AS1012: Testing of Concrete, respectively. The slump test was carried out after 10
and 60 minutes after mixing was completed to assess the slump loss. The cubes were tested for their
compressive strength at the ages of 1 day and 28 days and cylinders were tested for their 28 days
strength in accordance with AS1012: Part 9. Bleeding test was undertaken within 10 minutes of
completion of mixing. Concrete was placed in a steel 254mm by 280mm high mould in two layers. Each
layer was vibrated on a vibrating table to compact the concrete. The mould was then placed at an angle
of 11 degree and covered and left to stand for the duration of the test. Tilting the concrete mould enabled
easy withdrawal of the bleed water from concrete. A pipette was used to draw off the bleed water at the
intervals of 30 minutes up to 3 hours. The collected water was weighed in an electronic balance to record
the weight of accumulated bleed water. Bleeding capacity is given by the following equation:
Bleeding capacity (%) = Q x M / (S x V x 10) (1)
where, Q is the total bleed water (ml); M is the total batch mass of concrete from which sample was taken
(kg); S is the mass of concrete in the test specimens (kg) and V is the free mixing water in the batch of
concrete (litre).

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Effect of Cement Replacement with Fly ash on Concrete Properties
Table 2 summarizes the properties of fresh and hardened concrete properties containing fly ash as a
replacement to cement up to 40% by weight. Figure 1 shows the development of bleeding with elapsed
time as a function of the fly ash content when it is used to replace cement in the control mix. Figure 2
shows the influence of fly ash content on the 28-day compressive strength of concrete.
The slump for the control concrete was 45mm and when cement was replaced with fly ash the slump
has increased marginally. The maximum slump of 75mm was recorded for the mix with 30% cement
replacement. Since the fly ash being a lighter material compared to cement and having spherical particle
shape, the improvement in workability was expected (Sri Ravindrarajah and Tam (1989)). The results also
show that the density of concrete was marginally reduced for most of mixes with fly ash.
The results shown in Figure 1 show that the bleeding rate and bleeding capacity are noticeably
increased with the increase in the cement replacement level with fly ash. For all concrete mixes the rate
bleeding was found to decrease with elapsed time as the cement begins to stiffen. After 2 hours the
bleeding process was found to be insignificant for the chosen mix compositions. The initial bleeding rate
was found to be sensitive to other factors such as amount of fine materials, water content,
superplasticiser dosage and type of cement.

Compressive strength of concrete after 1-day and 28 days was reduced significantly as the cement
replacement level with fly ash was increased. 40% cement replacement caused the 1-day cube strength
to drop from 14.1 MPa to 7.3 MPa, i.e. a drop of 48.2%. Similarly, the 28-day cylinder strength dropped
from 41.8 MPa to 22.7 MPa, i.e. a drop of 45.7% as sown in Figure 2. The low calcium fly ash used being
a slow reactive pozzolanic material had not surprisingly caused the observed reductions at both 1-day
and 28-day strengths. If favourable curing conditions are maintained the strength reductions could be
expected to reduce with time. It should be noted that the strength reduction of 19.4% was observed after
28 days when 20% cement was replaced with fly ash.

3.2 Effect of Fly ash Addition on Concrete Properties

Table 3 summarizes the effect of fly ash addition on the properties of concrete in both fresh and
hardened states. Figure 3 shows the bleeding rate and bleeding capacity of concrete as a function of the
fly ash addition. Initial bleeding rate and bleeding capacity of concrete were significantly reduced with the
increase as the fly ash addition was increased. The bleeding capacity of concrete with no fly ash addition
was 1.76%. When fly ash was added to the mix equal to 10% of the cement weight, the bleeding capacity
was dropped to 1.60%. This was gradually reduced as the fly ash content was
increased and when the addition was 40% of cement weight, the bleeding capacity was reduced to
0.71%. As the fine material (cement plus fly ash) content was increased it is not surprising that the
bleeding was reduced significantly. As seen from Figure 2 and Table 2, the compressive strength at 28
days also found to improve with the fly ash addition because of the increased cementitious material
content in the concrete mix. However, no clear relationship between the fly ash content and the
improvement in strength was noted.

3.3 Effect of Cement Type on Concrete Properties

Table 4 shows the properties of concrete in fresh and hardened states when Type GP and GB
cements were used. Type GB cement consisted of 35% and 62% ground granulated blast-furnace slag.
Figure 4 shows the development of bleeding with elapsed time for the concrete mixes with these two
types of cements. The cement type used marginally affected the slump of concrete. However, bleeding
capacity was increased when Type GB cement was used instead of the Type GP cement. No direct
relationship between the slag content and bleeding rate was noted.
Compressive strength after 1 day was significantly reduced when the Type GB cement was used
instead of Type GP cement. It dropped from 14.1MPa to 9.6 and 3.2 MPa when the slag contents of 35%
and 62% were used, respectively. Therefore, the strength reductions were 32% and 77% when cement
with 35% and 62% slag contents were used, respectively. Similarly, 28-day strength was also reduced
with the use of the Type GB cement. The corresponding strength reductions were 3% and 38%,
respectively.
3.4 Relationship between Initial Bleeding Rate and Total Bleed Water
Powers (1939) showed that bleeding in concrete occurs in two phases. The first phase is a virtually
constant bleeding rate, q (ml/h). In the second phase, the bleeding rate is continually decreased with
elapsed time. Schiessl and Schmidt (1990) reported that the total bleeding capacity, Q (ml) is closely
related to the initial bleeding rate q (ml/h). From the bleeding test results with 25 concrete mixes in this
study, the following empirical equation is proposed:
Q = 1.31 q + 5.97 (2)
The advantage of this relationship is that it could be used as a quick and easy method to predict the
quantity of bleed water (Q) knowing the initial rate of bleeding (q) for the first 30 to 60 minutes. Once Q is
known, bleeding capacity can be estimated using Eqn. (1).
4. CONCLUSIONS
1. Bleeding capacity of concrete is increased with the increase in the cement replacement level with fly
ash.
2. Large addition of fly ash (30 to 40% by cement weight) reduced the bleeding capacity of concrete.
3. Use of blended cement with slag increased the bleeding capacity of concrete.
4. Relationship between initial bleeding rate (q ml/h) and total bleed water (Q ml) is given by:
Q = 1.31 q + 5.97, which can be used to estimate the bleeding capacity of concrete

Effect of Maximum size of Aggregate on

Strength of CONCRETE
Earlier it was thought that the use of larger size aggregate leads to higher strength.This was due to the
fact that the larger the aggregate the lower is the total surface area and, therefore, the lower is the
requirement of water for the given workability. So, a lower water/cement ratio can be used which will
result in higher strength of Concrete.
However, later it was found that the use of larger size aggregate did not contribute to higher strength as
expected from the theoretical considerations due to the following reasons..
1.
The larger maximum size aggregate gives lower surface area for developments of gel bonds
which is responsible for the lower strength of the concrete.

2.
Secondly bigger aggregate size causes a more heterogeneity in the concrete which will prevent
the uniform distribution of load when stressed.
When large size aggregate is used, due to internal bleeding, the transition zone will become much weaker
due to the development of micro-cracks which result in lower compressive strength.
Generally, high strength concrete or rich concrete is adversely affected by the use of large size
aggregate. But in lean mixes or weaker concrete the influence of size of the aggregate gets reduced. It is
interesting to note that in lean mixes larger aggregate gives highest strength while in rich mixes it is the
smaller aggregate which yields higher strength. The Fig. below shows the influence of maximum size of
aggregate on compressive strength of concrete..

Following Figure depicts the influence of size of aggregate on compressive strength of concrete for
different w/c ratio.

AGGREGATE IMPACT VALUE TEST

With Respect to concrete aggregates,toughness is usually considered the resistance of the
material to failure by impact.Several attempts to develop a method of test for aggregates impact
value have been made.The most successful and known test is described below..
APPARATUS
i) Impact testing machine conforming to IS: 2386 (Part IV) - 1963
ii) IS Sieves of sizes - 12.5mm, 10mm and 2.36mm
iii) A cylindrical metal measure of 75mm dia. and 50mm depth
iv) A tamping rod of 10mm circular cross section and 230mm length, rounded at one end
v) Oven

PREPARATION OF SAMPLE
i) The test sample should conform to the following grading:
- Passing through 12.5mm IS Sieve 100%
- Retention on 10mm IS Sieve 100%
ii) The sample should be oven-dried for 4hrs. at a temperature of 100 to 110oC and cooled.
iii) The measure should be about one-third full with the prepared aggregates and tamped with 25
strokes of the tamping rod.A further similar quantity of aggregates should be added and a further
tamping of 25 strokes given. The measure should finally be filled to overflow, tamped 25 times
and the surplus aggregates struck off, using a tamping rod as a straight edge. The net weight of
the aggregates in the measure should be determined to the nearest gram (Weight 'A').
PROCEDURE
i) The cup of the impact testing machine should be fixed firmly in position on the base of the
machine and the whole of the test sample placed in it and compacted by 25 strokes of the
tamping rod.
ii) The hammer should be raised to 380mm above the upper surface of the aggregates in the cup
and allowed to fall freely onto the aggregates. The test sample should be subjected to a total of
15 such blows, each being delivered at an interval of not less than one second.
REPORTING OF RESULTS
i) The sample should be removed and sieved through a 2.36mm IS Sieve. The fraction passing
through should be weighed (Weight 'B'). The fraction retained on the sieve should also be
weighed (Weight 'C') and if the total weight (B+C) is less than the initial weight (A) by more

than one gram, the result should be discarded and a fresh test done.
ii) The ratio of the weight of the fines formed to the total sample weight should be expressed as a
percentage.
Aggregate impact value = B/A x 100%
iii) Two such tests should be carried out and the mean of the results should be reported.
A sample proforma for the record of the test results is given below..

As per IS 283-1970 aggregate impact value shall no exceed 45% by weight for aggregates
used for concrete other than wearing surface and 30% for concrete of wearing surfaces (Run
ways,Roads & Pavements)

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AGGREGATE CRUSHING VALUE

Aggregate Crushing Value Test is for determining the aggregate crushing value of coarse
aggregates.

APPARATUS
i) Cylindrical measure and plunger
ii) Compression testing machine
iii) IS Sieves of sizes - 12.5mm, 10mm and 2.36mm

PROCEDURE
i) The aggregates passing through 12.5mm and retained on 10mm IS Sieve are oven-dried at a
temperature of 100 to 110oC for 3 to 4hrs.
ii) The cylinder of the apparatus is filled in 3 layers, each layer tamped with 25 strokes of a tamping rod.
iii) The weight of aggregates is measured (Weight 'A').
iv) The surface of the aggregates is then levelled and the plunger inserted. The apparatus is then placed
in the compression testing machine and loaded at a uniform rate so as to achieve 40t load in 10 minutes.
After this, the load is released.
v) The sample is then sieved through a 2.36mm IS Sieve and the fraction passing through the sieve is
weighed (Weight 'B').
vi) Two tests should be conducted.

REPORTING OF RESULTS
Aggregate crushing value = B/A x 100%
The result should be recorded to the first decimal place and the mean of the two results reported.

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AGGREGATE ABRASION VALUE

This test helps to determine the abrasion value of coarse aggregates as per IS: 2386 (Part IV) 1963.
The apparatus used in this test are Los Angles abrasion testing machine, IS Sieve of size 1.7mm,
Abrasive charge 12 nos. cast iron or steel spheres approximately 48mm dia. and each weighing
between 390 and 445g ensuring that the total weight of charge is 5000 +25g and Oven.
Sample Preparation
The test sample should consist of clean aggregates which has been dried in an oven at 105 to 110oC to a
substantially constant weight and should conform to one of the gradings shown in the table below:

Procedure

to

determine

Aggregate

Abrasion

Value

The test sample and the abrasive charge should be placed in the Los Angles abrasion testing machine
and the machine rotated at a speed of 20 to 33 revolutions/minute for 1000 revolutions. At the completion
of the test, the material should be discharged and sieved through 1.70mm IS Sieve.

Reporting of Results
i) The material coarser than 1.70mm IS Sieve should be washed, dried in an oven at a temperature of 100
to 110oC to a constant weight and weighed (Weight B).
ii) The proportion of loss between weight A and weight B of the test sample should be expressed as a
percentage of the original weight of the test sample. This value should be reported as,
Aggregate abrasion value = (A-B)/B x 100%.