Concrete Consolidation

Mastour ReadyMix is a Ready mix concrete and cement products company Jeddah, Khamis Mushyat, Dammam, Abaha Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Concrete must be consolidated by rod, or by internal or external vibrators to prevent stone pockets, honeycombs and entrapped air. Repeated spading between the form and the concrete allows trapped air to escape and keeps the coarse aggregate away from the forms. Internal vibrators should be lowered vertically, at regular intervals under their own weight, into the concrete layer or lift so that the vibrator penetrates 150 mm into the layer below it. A vibrator being inserted into thin slabs should enter on an angle to keep the head submerged. Vibrators should be held stationary in concrete for 5 to 10 seconds until consolidation occurs. Vibration is complete when the aggregate particles are embedded, the surface is level, the vibrator head has a thin film of glistening paste around it, and entrapped air ceases leaving the surface. Too much vibration causes the concrete to segregate.