09-09-2020

COMPACTION OF CONCRETE

Compaction of Concrete
• Process adopted for expelling the
entrapped air from the concrete.
• In the process of mixing, transporting
and placing of concrete air is likely to
get entrapped in the concrete.
• The lower the workability, higher is the
amount of air entrapped.
• If this air is not removed fully, the
concrete loses strength considerably.
• 5 per cent voids reduce the strength of
concrete by about 30 per cent and 10
per cent voids reduce the strength by
over 50 per cent

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09-09-2020

Compaction of Concrete
• In recent time, durability becomes more important than
strength.
• Insufficient compaction increases the permeability of
concrete resulting in easy entry for aggressive chemicals in
solution, which attack concrete and reinforcement to
reduce the durability of concrete.
• Mix should not be too wet for easy compaction which also
reduces the strength of concrete.

Methods of Compaction
• The following methods are adopted for compacting the concrete:
(a) Hand Compaction
(i ) Rodding (ii ) Ramming (iii ) Tamping
(b) Compaction by Vibration
(i ) Internal vibrator (Needle vibrator)
(ii ) Formwork vibrator (External vibrator)
(iii ) Table vibrator
(iv ) Platform vibrator
(v ) Surface vibrator (Screed vibrator) (vi) Vibratory Roller.
(c ) Compaction by Pressure and Jolting (d) Compaction by Spinning.

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09-09-2020

Methods of Compaction
(a) Hand Compaction
• Where a large quantity of reinforcement is used, which cannot be
normally compacted by mechanical means.
• Hand compaction consists of rodding (2 meter long, 16 mm diameter
rod ), ramming or tamping.
• The thickness of the layer of concrete is limited to about 15 to 20 cm.
• Ramming should be done with care. Light ramming can be permitted
in unreinforced foundation concrete or in ground floor construction.
• Tamping consists of beating the top surface by wooden cross beam of
section about 10 x 10 cm.

Methods of Compaction-Photos

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09-09-2020

Compaction by Vibration
• Where high strength is required, it is necessary that stiff
concrete, with low water/cement ratio be used. To compact
such concrete, mechanically operated vibratory equipment,
must be used.
• The action of vibration is to set the particles of fresh concrete in
motion, reducing the friction between them and affecting a
temporary liquefaction of concrete which enables easy
settlement.
• Vibration can produce better quality concrete than by hand
compaction.

Internal Vibrtaor
• This is also called, "Needle Vibrator", "Immersion Vibrator", or "Poker
Vibrator".
• Consists of a power unit, a flexible shaft and a needle.
• The vibrations are caused by eccentric weights attached to the shaft
or the motor or to the rotor of a vibrating element.
• The frequency of vibration varies up to 12,000 cycles of vibration per
minute. The needle diameter varies from 20 mm to 75 mm and its
length varies from 25 cm to 90 cm.
• Portable and can be shifted from place to place very easily during
concreting operation.

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09-09-2020

Internal Vibrtaor

Systematic Vibration
CORRECT
Vertical penetration a few inches
into previous lift (which should not
yet be rigid) of systematic regular
intervals will give adequate
consolidation
INCORRECT
Haphazard random penetration of
the vibrator at all angles and
spacings without sufficient depth will
not assure intimate combination of
the two layers

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09-09-2020

Formwork Vibrator
• Formwork vibrators are used for concreting columns, thin walls or in the
casting of precast units.
• The vibration is given to the formwork so that the concrete in the vicinity of
the shutter gets vibrated.
• This method of vibrating concrete is particularly useful and adopted where
reinforcement, lateral ties and spacers interfere too much with the internal
vibrator.
• Consume more power and the efficiency of external vibrator is lower than
the efficiency of internal vibrator.

Formwork Vibrator

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09-09-2020

Table Vibrator
• This is the special case of formwork vibrator, where the vibrator
is clamped to the table where the vibrator is clamped to the
table.
• They are commonly used for vibrating concrete cubes.

Platform Vibrator
• Platform vibrator is nothing but a table vibrator, but it is larger
in size.
• This is used in the manufacture of large prefabricated concrete
elements such as electric poles, railway sleepers, prefabricated
roofing elements etc.
• Sometimes, the platform vibrator is also coupled with jerking or
shock giving arrangements such that a through compaction is
given to the concrete.

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09-09-2020

Platform Vibrator

Surface Vibrator
• Surface vibrators are sometimes knows as, "Screed Board
Vibrators".
• A small vibrator placed on the screed board gives an effective
method of compacting and leveling of thin concrete members,
such as floor slabs, roof slabs and road surface.
• Surface vibrators are not effective beyond about 15 cm.

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09-09-2020

Surface Vibrator

Compaction by pressure & Jolting

• Effective methods of compacting very dry concrete.
• This method is often used for compacting hollow blocks, cavity
blocks and solid concrete blocks.
• With the combined action of the jolts vibrations and pressure,
the stiff concrete gets compacted to a dense form to give good
strength and volume stability.

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09-09-2020

Compaction by pressure & Jolting

Compaction by spinning
• Compaction is adopted for the fabrication of concrete pipes.
• The plastic concrete when spun at a very high speed, gets well
compacted by centrifugal force.
• Patented products such a "Hume Pipes", "spun pipes" are
compacted by spinning process.

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09-09-2020

Vibratory Rollers
• Compacting very dry and lean concrete is the use of Vibratory
Roller. Such concrete is known as Roller Compacted Concrete.
• Heavy roller which vibrates while rolling is used for the
compaction of dry lean concrete. Such roller compacted
concrete of grade M 10 has been successfully used as base
course, 15 cm thick, for the Delhi-Mathura highway and
Mumbai-Pune express highways.

General Points on using Vibrators

• For vibrated concrete, the formwork shall be stronger than is
necessary for hand compacted concrete and greater care is
exercised in its assembly.
• The joints of the formwork shall be made and maintained tight
and close enough to prevent the squeezing out of grout or
sucking in of air during vibration.
• Applications of mould releasing agents on the formwork, to
prevent the adhesion on concrete should be very thin as
otherwise they may mix with the concrete under the effect of
vibration, and cause air entrainment and blow holes on the
concrete surface.

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09-09-2020

General Points on using Vibrators

• Needle vibrators should be immersed in beams and other thick
sections, vertically at regular intervals.
• The concrete to be vibrated shall be placed in position in level
layers of suitable thickness not greater than the effective length
of the vibrator needle.
• The internal vibrator should not be used to spread the concrete
from the filling as this can cause considerable segregation of
concrete.
• Every effort must be made to keep the surface of the previously
placed layer of concrete alive so that the succeeding layer can
be bonded with it by the vibration process.

General Points on using Vibrators

• Height of Concrete Layer: Usually concrete shall be placed in a
thickness not more than 60 cm and on initial placing in
thickness not more than 15 cm. Although the height of layer can
also be one metre provided the vibrator used is sufficiently
powerful, as in dams.
• Depth of Immersion of vibrator: The active part of the vibrator
shall be completely immersed in the concrete.
• Spacing and Number of Insertion Positions: Vibrator in the
concrete shall be so spaced that the range of action overlap to
some extent and the freshly filled concrete is sufficiently
compacted everywhere. The vibrator shall generally be
operated at points 35 to 90 cm apart.

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09-09-2020

General Points on using Vibrators

• Speed of Insertion and Withdrawal of the Vibrating Head:
Uniformly inserted in the concrete so that it penetrates of its
own accord and shall be withdrawn quite slowly . Usually a
speed of 3 cm/s gives sufficient consolidation without undue
strain on the operator

Correct Incorrect Correct Incorrect

General Points on using Vibrators

• Duration of Vibration: is dependent upon the height of the
layer, the size and characteristics of the vibrator and the
workability of the concrete mix. till the concrete within its
influence is completely consolidated which will be indicated by
formation of circular shaped cement grout on the surface of
concrete.
• Re-vibration: Re-vibration is most effective at the lapse of
maximum time after the initial vibration, provided the concrete
is sufficiently plastic to allow the vibrator to sink of its own
weight into the concrete and make it momentarily plastic.

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