APPLICATION OF REAL PASTE CONCEPT ON MIX DESIGN OF

PUMPING CONCRETE
Tabish Izhar

Pronab Roy

M.Tech Student, Department of Civil

Engineering, National Institute of Technology
Durgapur, Durgapur, West Bengal 713209
Email: tabish.ez@gmail.com

Assistant Professor, Department of Civil

Engineering, National Institute of Technology
Durgapur, Durgapur, West Bengal 713209
Email: pronabroy07@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
Use of pumping concrete is gradually increasing in the construction fields. There is no specific
Indian Standard (IS) code for the mix design of pumping concrete. IS:10262- 2009 is used for mix
design of pumping concrete. In this code an example of pumping concrete mix proportioning is
presented by a numerical example without theoretical backup leads to number of queries in the
mind of a designer, who has no option but to follow the steps empirically. There is an uncertainty
of pumpability of concrete. Even water reduction in mix is left over to experience of a designer.
This does not seem to be justified as mix design of pumping concrete which is more complicated
than the hand placed concrete mix design. Paste content of the mix is the important factor causing
concrete to pump, which is decided in the mix proportioning.
The objective of this paper is to include real paste concept in the mix design of pumping concrete to
ensure its pumpability, further to state the discrete selection of water reduction percentage. The
present paper deals with mixes having water cement ratio (w/c) ranging from 0.41 to 0.47 each
with various water reduction percentages to ensure the strength of M25 grade of concrete. Many
numbers of trials for different proportions have been tested using different types of
superplasticizers. Typical ranges of water reduction for different water cement ratios with
minimum paste content have been provided for different pipe diameters used for pumping. The
approach presented in this paper can reduce number of trials to reach a mix with target strength,
desired workability and pumpability with no longer relying on experience and discretion of a
designer. Empirical equation has been derived to predict the water reduction, water cement ratio
with required paste content for a target strength with desired workability and pumpability.

Keywords: Real paste, Mix design, Pumping concrete, Indian Standard method

1. INTRODUCTION
Indian Standard defines pumped concrete as concrete having slump above 75 mm (1) where as
American Concrete Institute (ACI) defines it as concrete that is transported through hose or pipe by means of
a pump (2). There is quite difference between the definition given by two giant concrete using country.
Where IS code only talks about workability, ACI focuses on pumping ability. Indian Standard has left water
reduction on the experience of the designer. Further IS code gives no detail about selecting w/c ratio and
water reduction needed to achieve strength. New designer has to try large number of combinations of w/c
ratio and water reduction to get an appropriate mix.
Pumping can be used for most concrete construction but is especially useful where space for construction
equipment is limited. A steady supply of pumpable concrete is necessary for satisfactory pumping (2). A
pumpable concrete, like conventional concrete, requires good quality control i.e. uniform, properly graded
aggregate materials, uniformly batched and mixed thoroughly (2). Pumped concrete moves as a cylinder

riding on a thin lubricant film of paste on the inside diameter of the pipe line (8, 11). Once concrete flow
through the pipe line is established, the lubrication is maintained as long as pumping continues with properly
proportional and consistent mixture (2, 8). Certain percentage of cement paste from mix design is used to
form the lubricating layer (3, 9). Cement paste goes under shear migration to form the lubricating layer. Air
bubbles are reduced to zero in the mix under pumping pressure. It changes the paste percentage from that of
the initial paste percentage. Real paste content is the term used for the effective paste percentage available in
pipe under pumping pressure. It is the real paste that forms the lubricating layer in pipe. Thus mix design of
pumping concrete becomes important not only in terms of strength but also in pumping capability. In this
situation, it becomes important whether or not the concrete delivered to the construction site will be
pumpable. The economical and time impact of a major pump line blockage can be very significant. Selection
of concrete mix proportions is not usually the contractors responsibility. Concrete mix proportioning is done
by designers using IS method. Trial mixes of concrete intended for pumping is first prepared and tested in a
laboratory. Tests and observations indicate whether the slump, cohesiveness, finishability, and strength are
acceptable. Even if the mix looks good in the laboratory, its pumpability for complex projects is verified with
a full-scale pumping test under field conditions. By using the proposed method in the presented paper
number of trial mixes can be reduced, saving money and time.

2. OBJECTIVE OF RESEARCH
The process of mix design of pumping concrete involves more variables and is more complicated. In
the latest version of the Indian Standard on concrete mix proportioning (8), a guideline in the form of a
numerical example has been incorporated. The mix design is still an empirical procedure and is mostly
arrived at by adopting the method of trial mixes. It has many drawbacks such as many numbers of trial
mixes, failing to predict the pumping capability of the mix, relying on the experience and discretion of the
designers. The aim of this research work is to give some precise points by applying the concept of real paste
content to predict water cement ratio, water reduction and to give higher pumping probability to improve the
existing IS method of mix proportioning. It may result in some valuable addition to the existing methodology
of mix proportioning in IS code (8).

3. LITERATURE REVIEW
In a concrete pumping line, concrete moves in the form of a cylinder separated from the pump line
wall by a lubricating layer of water, cement, and fine sand-the mortar component of the mix (3, 9, 11). The
concrete mix must be designed so the concrete cylinder can bend around and up in the line. To keep moving
through the line, the mix must be workable, dense, and have sufficient mortar. The amount of mortar required
depends on the size of the line being used, the efficiency of the concrete pump valve, and the pressure that
pushes the concrete (3, 4, 11). When concrete is pumped, water in the mix transmits the pump pressure to the
concrete mixture. But if spaces or voids between aggregates are not filled with mortar, or if the mortar is too
thin having much water, pump pressures cause segregation, forcing water through the mix. When this
happens the lubricating layer is lost, coarse particles get interlocked increasing friction and causing concrete
blockage (3, 9, 11). The consistency of the concrete mix has an important effect on the pumping pressure.
The right consistency of the concrete mix is essential to avoid excessive frictional resistance in the pipe lines
due to stiff mixes or segregation with too wet mixes. Stiff concrete requires higher pumping pressure to pass
through in the pipeline. Pumpable concrete requires sufficient amount of fines, enough slump and continuous
grading of aggregates and uniformly and thoroughly mixed materials. Fly ash content increases the
pumpability of concrete by making it more slippery without adding more water (7,10). Its small, spherical
shape is the physical characteristic of fly ash that makes it useful, smaller size and shape improve
pumpability (7, 10). Higher contents of fly ash can start to be more difficult to pump do to the stick effect (7,
10). The properties of coarse aggregates that affect pumpability are maximum size, shape and surface texture,
and most importantly, gradation. Maximum size of the coarse aggregate is considered when choosing
pipeline diameter. Generally, the pipeline diameter must be 3 to 4 times greater than the maximum aggregate
size (2).
3.1 Real Paste Content

The real paste concept is defined as the amount of paste (%) available for mobility in the pipeline
under pressure, which represents the amount of paste required to create the lubricating layer and to fill the
inter-granular voids (3, 9, 11) with safety factor. The pumpability of concrete usually focuses on either the
stability of concrete under pressure, or on its mobility under pressure. Both the aspects have been considered
in the concept of real paste content. During the study of concrete behaviour during pumping it was
understood that concrete moves in the form of a cylinder or slug separated from the pump line wall by a
lubricating layer (3, 6, 9, 11).

Relative amount of paste

required for lubrication layer
(%)

The actual paste volume changes as pressure is applied to the concrete since the air volume diminishes to
negligible values (3, 6, 11). When mix is designed by IS guidelines, initial paste content will be the real paste
content as air volume is not considered in mix design. Minimum paste content required to ensure pumping
can be predicted in order to avoid the labour-intensive task of unblocking a pump. The thickness of cement
paste in the lubricating layer is constant regardless of the pipe diameter and is approximately 1 mm (3, 9).
The relative amount of paste required for forming a lubricating layer in the pipe increases with smaller pipe
diameter, as can be seen from Figure-1 (3, 9).
12
10

Paste required (%) =

100

r - internal pipe radius

6
4
2
0
0

50

100
150
Internal pipe diameter (mm)

200

Figure 1: Relative amount of paste required for a 1 mm thick lubricating layer in the hose (adapted
from Jolin et al. (2009) (3))
The rest of paste is required is to fill the voids between the aggregate phase (3, 9). The porosity of the
available aggregate can be measured. Thus, paste is required is to fill the inter-granular voids and paste
required in lubricating layer gives the threshold paste content (TPC) at which pumping just starts to take
place, but concrete is blocked after moving some distance through pipes. Therefore a safety factor of 1 is
added to TPC and it is found that concrete starts to pump successfully without blockage. Therefore making
the concept of real paste content a unique and useful tool for optimizing mixture designs of concrete intended
for pumping. The approach of real paste content does not guarantee pumpability. Well graded aggregate,
workability and stable rheological properties are only a few of the other requirements for pumpable concrete.
Further introducing it in a mix design will make mix proportioning simpler to get the right mix design which
will not only ensure workability and strength but will also the pumping security.
Paste requirement changes with the concrete delivery pipe available or needed, which can be calculated by
adding the paste required to fill voids and cement paste required to form 1 mm lubricating layer in the pipe.
Paste content of the mix should be greater than the calculated minimum paste p presented in equation 1 (3).
p P+
Where
s
s

* 100

p = Minimum paste required for pumping

r = Inner radius of pipe for pumping
P = Porosity of well graded aggregate in percentage

(1)

Jolin et al. (3) and Burn (9) found that required paste content for continuous pumping is 1 greater than the
paste calculated by Equation 1. It is explained that safety factor is included by increasing the real paste
calculated by Equation 1, ensuring the pumping capability.

4. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM
The experimental work has been carried out to develop mix design for pumping concrete. All the mixes were
designed under the guidelines of IS code (8). The coarse aggregate used in mixes were crushed and angular
having maximum size of 20 mm. The grading of sizes of coarse aggregate was done and brought to wellgraded as demanded by IS code (14). The specific gravities coarse aggregate was found to be 2.70. The fine
aggregate together with cement and water provides the mortar or fluid which conveys the coarse aggregate in
suspension. The river bed sand was used as fine aggregate. The gradation of fine aggregate was done and
according to IS code (14), it belonged to zone II. The fineness modulus of fine aggregate was found to be
2.67. The specific gravity of sand was found to be 2.62. Pozzolana portland cement was used as binding
material. The specific gravity of cement was taken 3.15. Three different superplasticizers were used in the
mixes. One superplasticizer was based on sulphonated naphthalene polymer chemical base with water
reduction capacity of 18-25%. Its specific gravity was taken 1.22 as provided by the seller. Other two
superplasticizers were based on modified lingosulphate with water reduction capacity of 5-10% and 10-18%
respectively. Their specific gravity was taken 1.16, as provided by the seller. Under the guidelines of IS code
(13), superplasticizer was added to the mix to get 125 mm slump. Porosity to the aggregate phase was
checked to be 24.4%. To check the workability of concrete, slump test was used. The residual slump for
superplasticized pozzolana portland cement mixes is approximately 20-50% of initial slump at the end of 45
minutes (5, 12). Slump from 100 to 150 mm are most suitable for pumping considering the loss in slump with
time (4). Mixture with higher slump causes coarse aggregate to separates from mortar which results in
blockage of pipeline.
In this research work the slump was maintained in the range 110 mm to 130 mm using superplasticizers. The
trial mixes were tested at different w/c ratios varying from 0.42 to 0.47 and water reduction was varied from
9% to 25% accordingly to achieve the required grade of concrete at each w/c ratio. Amount of
superplasticizers added in the mix for lower water reduction varied 0.4 to 0.8% of the weight of cement and 1
to 1.2% of the weight of cement for higher water reduction. Total 56 trial mixes were designed to achieve the
desired mix for M25 grade of concrete. Some mixes were discarded due to low slump values. Sufficient
numbers of cubes of standard size were tested for each mix design. The concrete was poured into the moulds
in three layers each layer being compacted by 25 strokes of a 16 mm diameter steel rod with a rounded end.
Then slight vibration was used to throw out air bubbles. After remaining 24 hours in the moulds, the
specimens were removed and placed in water tank for 7 days and 28 days. The mixes in which
superplasticizers more than 1.2 % of the weight of cement was added, delay in initial setting point was
noticed. Further each successful mixes for M25 grade of concrete were again tested after 28 days. To
understand the relationship between the paste content and water reduction in the mixes, values of paste
content and water reduction were plotted at each water cement ratio. The water cement ratios with water
reduction were also plotted at successful mix designs for M25 grade of concrete. The behaviour was
presented in terms of equations in order to predict w/c ratio and water reduction for appropriate mixes for
M25 grade of concrete. Further, few numbers of mix proportions were designed and tested for the
verification of the equation. Water cement ratios ranging from 0.41 to 0.47 with water reduction calculated
from the derived equation were designed for the verification.

5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A mix design of pumping concrete has significant importance of water reduction at different water cement
ratios. The concrete strength is mainly dependent on water cement ratio and percentage of cement. Water
reduction needed to achieve minimum paste content at different water cement ratios also differs. If
percentage of water reduction is reduced then it is noticed that paste content and strength increases at
particular water cement ratio. Same strength can be achieved at different water cement ratios with different
paste contents. Cement content also differs with the amount of water reduction and water cement ratio.

Amount of paste required for

pumping for 24.4 % porosity
(%)

Porosity of aggregate phase came out to be 24.4% and paste required for different pipe diameter is calculated
from Figure-1. Paste required for any pipe diameter for mix of 24.4% porosity of aggregate phase is
presented in Figure-2.
38
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20

Paste required (%) =

100

r - internal pipe radius

50

100
150
Internal pipe diameter (mm)

200

Figure-2: Threshold paste content required for pumping for aggregate phase with porosity 24.4% with
different pipe diameter
The amount of water reduction required for different w/c ratios for 125 mm slump to achieve real paste
content for particular pipe diameter only depends upon the porosity of aggregate and water cement ratio.
Different water reductions in different w/c ratios give varying paste content. Variation of paste content with
water reduction at different w/c ratios is presented in Figure-3. The amount of superplasticizer has been
excluded in the paste content percentage as dosage of superplasticizer vary with the efficiency of
superplasticizer and its effect on paste content ranges from 0.05% to 0.60% according to the amount of its
usage. Additional percentage of superplasticizer always increases the paste content and benefits in improving
pumping capability of concrete.

Water reduction in 125 mm

slump (%)

30
25

W/C - 0.47

20

W/C - 0.46
W/C - 0.45

15

W/C - 0.44

10

W/C - 0.43
W/C - 0.42

W/C - 0.41

0
27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

Paste formed (%)

Figure-3: Water reduction in different w/c ratios producing different amount of paste
Water reduction required to get particular amount of paste in a mix is independent of the material properties.
It only depends upon the w/c ratio. Single equation can be formed to represent the relationship between the
water reduction and paste formed in a mix at different w/c ratios. It is found that best fitting lines shown in
Figure-3 have same constants with varying slope. The slope of the lines is having a linear relationship with
the w/c ratio. Thus using the linear equation of slope with constant, equation for the family of lines as shown
in Figure- 3 is formed. The equation is presented below:
wr =
Where

100

w/c = Water cement ratio

wr = Maximum water reduction needed to achieve paste p at particular w/c ratio

(2)

Water - Cement ratio

Based on the result of 28 days compressive strength obtained by the testing of cubes for M25 grade of
concrete, variation of water reduction with different w/c ratios is shown in Figure-4. It is having linear trend,
thus equations can be formulated for further prediction.

0.49
0.47
0.45
0.43
0.41
0.39
0.37
0.35
0

10
15
20
Water reduction in 125 mm slump (%)

25

Figure-4: Water reduction in different w/c ratios required to achieve M25 grade of concrete
The relation between water cement ratio and water reduction for M25 grade of concrete can be incorporated
into equation representing the best fitting line joining the data as shown in Figure-4. The best fitting line can
be formed in MS Excel and other softwares. The presented best fitting line with equation in Figure-3 is
formed in MS Excel. The constant value of the equation represents the maximum w/c ratio at which M25
grade of concrete can be achieved. The constant value is found to be 0.49 when rounded off to 2 decimal
place which is in order with IS code (1). The equation is:
w/c = 0 00

(3)

It is noticed that same strength is achieved at different w/c ratio with different water reduction, varying in
paste content. The Equation 2 represents water reduction needed at given w/c ratio to acquire required
amount of paste p. The Equation 3 represents relation of w/c ratio with water reduction needed to get M25
grade of concrete. The values of w/c ratio and water reduction for minimum paste content and required
strength given by Equation 2 and 3 may or may not be same. It is difficult to select a particular w/c ratio with
water reduction which not only satisfies strength but also qualifies for required paste for pumping. It can be
solved by simultaneously solving the Equations 2 and 3 to get an equation which will not only ensures the
required paste but also the strength of the concrete. The Equation 4 is obtained by simultaneously solving the
Equations 2 and 3, the equation is given below.
w/c =

(4)

The Equations 2, 3 and 4 are formed on the best fitting line of practical results obtained on compressive
strength of cube after 28 days. Thus, the equations can be used to predict required paste, water cement ratio
and water reduction for the mix proportion of pumping concrete. Mix which is pumpable through a pipe of
certain diameter, same mix can be used in pipe with comparatively higher diameter. This is possible because
paste required for pumping decreases with increase in diameter of the pipe. It is observed that in order to
increase the paste content with strength just higher w/c ratio can be selected than that has been given by the
Equation 4 and water reduction can be calculated using Equation 3. If water reduction which has been got
using Equation 4 is reduced then both paste content and strength of concrete increases. The calculated w/c
ratio with water reduction using Equations 3 and 4 can be used to start as a trial mix.
The Equation 3 is used to predict water reduction at w/c ratios varying from 0.41 to 0.47 for M25 grade of
concrete. The predicted and actual results of the above mixes are shown in Table-1.

Table 1: Comparison between the predicted result and actual test results

Predicted values using Equation 3

Assumed
w/c ratio

Predicted
water
reduction

0.41
0.42
0.43
0.44
0.45
0.46
0.47

25.00
21.88
18.75
15.63
12.50
9.37
6.25

Actual results obtained after testing on

the predicted value

Pipe that can be

used for pumping
using Equation 1

Target
strength 28
days
(N/mm2)

W/C
ratio

Water
reduction

Strength
28 days
(N/mm2)

Paste
content

Internal pipe
diameter (mm)

31.60

0.41
0.42
0.43
0.44
0.45
0.46
0.47

25
22
19
16
12
9
6

30.81
31.54
31.39
30.96
31.83
31.68
32.12

26.97
27.76
28.54
29.31
30.08
31.18
31.93

150
120
95
80
70
70
60

From the Table-1, guidelines for using the equation can be stated. If the w/c ratio is known water reduction
can be calculated by using Equation 3 for M25 grade of concrete. The calculated value should be rounded off
to lower whole number for water reduction and to 2 decimal place for w/c ratio and paste content. The
calculated water reduction with known w/c ratio can be used for trial mix. In order to increase the concrete
strength, either of the three method presented can be used. Firstly, lower w/c ratio can be selected than the
calculated value that has been got using Equation 4. Secondly, same w/c ratio can be used with lower water
reduction than the calculated value that has been got using Equation 3 and lastly just higher w/c ratio can be
used than that has been given by Equation 4 with lower water reduction than that has been given by Equation
3. One of the three methods can be used according to the need to maintain paste content or to reduce the
cement content. First method can be used to reduce the cement consumption in the mix design, whereas
second and third method can be used to increase the paste content. In case w/c ratio is not known, diameter of
the pipe can be estimated according to the discharge of the fresh concrete required. Knowing the diameter of
the pipe paste content can be estimated by Equation 1. After that w/c ratio can be calculated using Equation
4. Once w/c ratio is known, same procedure can be used as stated above.

6. CONCLUSION
This experiment has been performed over a wide range of w/c ratios ranging from 0.41 to 0.47 with
reducing water upto 25%. Different water reductions not only influence the strength of the concrete but also
the paste content of the mix. The proposed method can be used for first trial mix, which allows designer to
select nearest possible w/c ratio and water reduction rather than being dependent on the experience. This
technique greatly reduces the large number of trials required to reach the appropriate mix design. It will
guarantee higher probability of concrete being pumpable with strength. Additionally, it also allows a designer
to control the amount of cement needed for the mix. This approach may not give exact result due to the
variation in the properties of aggregate and cement quality but it will give a designer a better idea to predict
the right water cement ratio and water reduction for the mix design of pumping concrete and to reduce the
number of trials to achieve one thus saving time, money and labour.
It may be expected that the finding of present work may serve as a useful guideline for judiciously applying
the concept of real paste content to predict pumping ability in mix and quantify the water reduction needed at
different w/c ratios. It can lead to improvement in the IS method of mix design of pumping concrete.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This research is funded by National Institute of Technology Durgapur, India under the Research Initiation
Grant (RIG). The authors express gratitude and acknowledge it.

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