A preliminary assessment on the influence of mixing techniques on properties of high performance structural concrete

The influence of two different ready-mixer mixing techniques on structural concrete final properties is investigated. Different mix designs are studied: cement content, water/cement ratios as well as different physical characteristics of aggregates are varied in order to reproduce different conditions in civil engineering. Every mix design is prepared with both a drum concrete mixer and a planetary lab mixer. Concrete properties with the same mix-design and different mixing techniques are compared at both fresh and hardened states to evaluate different performances. Moreover, the effect of mixing parameters such as concrete mixing time is also investigated. This work represents a first step towards the large use of the wet system in Italy where this technique is still rarely used even though concrete is the most used structural material in civil engineering applications.