VEE
BEE CONSISTOMETER
Vee Bee Consistometer test is done on concrete that is either too dry for slump test or compaction test. It is done to determine the consistency of low slump concrete. The test measures the relative effort required to change a mass of concrete from one definite shape to another (i.e., from conical to cylindrical) by means of vibration. The amount of effort (called remolding effort) is taken as the time in seconds, required to complete the change.
Object: To determine the workability of freshly mixed concrete by using of Vee – Bee consistometer apparatus.
Equipments Required for Compaction Factor Test: Cylindrical container, Vee-Bee apparatus (consisting of vibrating table and slump cone), Standard tamping rod, stop watch and trowels.
Sampling of materials: A concrete mix (M15 or other) by weight with suitable water/ cement ratio is prepaid in the laboratory.
Procedure:
(i) Place the slump cone in the cylindrical container of the consistometer. Fill the cone in four layers, each approximately one quarter of the height of the cone. Tamp each layer with twenty-five strokes of the rounded end of the tamping rod. The strokes are distributed in a uniform manner over the cross-section of the cone and for the second and subsequent layers the tamping bar should penetrate into the underlying layer. After the top layer has been tamped, struck off level the concrete with a trowel making the cone exactly filled.
(ii) Move the glass disc attached to the swivel arm and place it just on the top of the slump cone in the cylindrical container. Adjust the glass disc so as to touch the top of the concrete cone, and note the initial reading on the graduated rod.
(iii) Remove the cone from the concrete immediately by raising it slowly and carefully in the vertical direction. Lower the transparent disc on the top of concrete. Note down the reading on the graduated rod.
(iv) Determine the slump by taking the difference between the readings on the graduated rod recorded in the steps (2) and (3) above.
(v) Switch on the electrical vibrations and start the stopwatch. Allow the concrete to remould by spreading out in the cylindrical container. The vibrations are continued until the concrete is completely remoulded, i.e, the surfaces becomes horizontal and the whole concrete surface adheres uniformly to the transparent disc.
(vi) Record the time required for complete remoulding seconds which measures the workability expressed as number of Vee-Bee seconds.
OBSERVATIONS
AND CALCULATIONS:
Initial reading on the graduated rod, a
Final reading on the graduated rod, b
Slump = (b) – (a), in cm
Time for complete remoulding, in seconds
