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Review of Advances in Rheological Properties of Ultra-High-Performance Concrete

September 25, 2025 Services 123

Researchers have reviewed strategies to optimize the rheological properties of ultra-high-performance concrete for advanced applications like 3D printing.

Microstructural view of the increase in static yield stress with rest time. Image: Le Teng, Kamal H. Khayat, Jiaping Liu

Researchers from China’s Southeast University and the Missouri University of Science and Technology recently published a review of the advancements in tailoring the rheological properties of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC), and how to optimize its performance. UHPC, an advanced composite material, is great for civil engineering applications due to its high strength and durability. But, its high solid volume fraction and low water content can make it challenging to achieve the necessary rheological properties in methods like pumping, spraying, and 3D printing. The researchers explain how a number of chemical, physical, and physicochemical factors, like aggregate characteristics, water-to-binder ratio, and chemical admixtures, can affect UHPC’s viscosity, yield stress, structural build-up, and thixotropy. They also discuss the difficulties in characterizing the material’s rheological properties, such as the plug flow effect, and look into the effects of several constituents on its rheological properties, such as adding fillers like limestone powder to improve packing density. Finally, they discuss strategies for tailoring UHPC’s rheological properties for specific applications, including how to optimize the material for 3D printing.

“Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) with adapted rheology continues to attract interest considering the requirement for novel processing techniques such as self-consolidating, pumping, spraying, and three-dimensional (3D) printing. The rheology of UHPC is complex due to its high solid volume fraction, low water content, and wide range of constituent materials that affect its flow properties. This work provides guidance for tailoring the mixture proportioning of UHPC to secure proper rheological properties and performance of UHPC for various applications,” the researchers explain in the abstract of their paper.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095809925002085?via%3Dihub