Application of self compacting and self curing technologies in concrete water tank construction

This study has been developed in order to address a number of difficulties currently experienced by a concrete product manufacturing plant. It has attempted to combine the technologies of self compacting concrete and self curing concrete in the application of water tank manufacture. Additionally, fibre reinforcement has also been used in order to address problems resulting from the use of conventional reinforcement in tank production. Following the mix design procedure developed by Okamura, a mix of sufficient fluidity and mechanical properties was developed before modification to account for fibre content. Once an appropriate level of fluidity had been reestablished, self curing technology developed by Dhir was addressed by the addition of polyethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and glycerol as a mix water replacement. This study finds that while fibre reinforced self compacting concrete may readily be applied in concrete water tank manufacture, the performance of self curing technology was not sufficient to warrant further application. It finds that performance levels identified by Dhir in air cured cement pastes containing polyethylene glycol could not be replicated when applied to the (ternary blend) self compacting concrete developed by this investigation.