A cement paste or mortar is composed of a mineral skeleton with micron to millimeter-sized grains, surrounded by water filaments. The cohesion or shear resistance in the cement paste and mortar is caused by capillary forces of action. In the case of mortar mixes, there is friction between the particles. Therefore, the mortar mixture shows both friction between particles and cohesion, while the paste shows only cohesion, and the friction between particles is negligible. The property of the cement paste is greatly influenced by the rheological characteristics like cohesion and internal angle friction. It is also interesting that when studying the rheology of fresh concrete, the rheological behavior of cement paste and mortar has direct applicability. In this paper, the rheological characteristics of cement paste and mortar with and without mineral admixtures, that is, fly ash and ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), were studied. A cement mortar mix with a cement-to-sand ratio of 1:3 was investigated, including fly ash replacement from 10% to 40%, and GGBS from 10% to 70% of the weight of the cement. A suitable blend of fly ash, GGBS, and ordinary Portland cement (OPC) was also selected to determine rheological parameters. For mortar mixtures, the flow table was conducted for workability studies. The flexural and split tensile strength tests were conducted on various mortar mixtures for different curing times. The results indicate that in the presence of a mineral mixture of fly ash and GGBS, the rheological behavior of paste and mortar is similar. Compared with OPC-GGBS-based mixtures, both cement with fly ash and ternary mixtures show less shear resistance or impact resistance. The rheological behavior of the mortar also matches the rheological behavior in the flow table test. Therefore, it is easy to use the vane shear test equipment to conduct cohesion studies to understand the properties of cement paste and mortar using mineral admixtures. The strength results show that the long-term strength of GGBS-based mixtures and ternary mixed mixtures is better than that of fly-ash-based mixtures. For all mixtures, the strength characteristics are greatest at a w/b ratio of 0.6.

The production and utilization of concrete and concrete-based products have drastically increased with the surge of construction activities over the last decade, especially in countries such as China and India. Consequently, this has resulted in a corresponding increase in the energy used for the production of ready-mixed concrete. One approach to reduce the cost of concrete manufacturing is to reduce the energy required for the manufacturing process. The main hypothesis of this study is that the power required for mixing the concrete can be reduced through the use of mineral admixtures in the mix design. Optimization of energy consumption during mixing using admixtures in concrete manufacturing is the predominant focus of this article. To achieve this objective, power consumption data were measured and analyzed throughout the concrete mixing process. The power consumption curve is the only source to distinguish the behavior of the different materials used in the concrete in a closed chamber. In the current research, fly ash and ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) were used as mineral admixtures to produce ready-mixed concrete. The experimental study focused on the influence of GGBS and fly ash on power consumption during concrete mixing. The results indicated that the use of a higher content of GGBS is more beneficial in comparison to the use of fly ash in the mix due to the lower mixing time required to achieve homogeneity in the mixing process. It was found that the amount of energy required for mixing is directly related to the mixing time for the mix to achieve homogeneity.

To find the energy required during the mixing process of self‐compacting concrete in a ready‐mixed concrete plant and correlate the results with the yield stress of concrete. Power consumption required during the mixing of concrete is measured with a wattmeter connected to the mixing unit’s power supply. A coaxial cylinder viscometer is used to measure the yield stress of concrete. The clamp meter measures the power when the impeller rotates inside the coaxial cylinder viscometer, which is filled with concrete. When the impeller rotates in a coaxial cylinder filled with concrete, the power is measured by a clamp meter. Torque is obtained through the power relationship, which is an essential factor in determining the yield stress. The cost of a rheometer is so high that all construction industries, research institutions, and researchers cannot measure rheological parameters. Nowadays, all rheometers are automated; hence, the cost is very high. Tattersall’s approach of power requirement in mixing the concrete and calculating the yield stress reduces the complexity in determining the rheological parameter.