Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1
With the establishment of more than 80 not be said about the specifications, capac- tary valves, Fig1 . The operation of the di-
commercial batching and mixing plants ity and selection of pumps to be employed rect-acting pump is rather simple. The con-
set up in metropolitan and other cities in for pumping of concrete. An attempt has crete is fed into the pump by gravity and
been made here to discuss some of the is- partly by suction created due to the recip-
India, the practice of pumping of concrete
sues related to characteristics of concrete rocating motion of the horizontally-acting
is becoming common. In this write-up, pumps so as to enable the reader to make piston, while the semi-rotary valves open
attention has been drawn to the various an informed choice of pumps for pumping and close alternately. Suction pressure of
parameters having a bearing on the concrete. The parameters of interest are
2
the order of 0.08 N/mm is developed in
pumping of concrete with particular pump capacity, power requirements and the pumping cylinder under favourable con-
relevance to the appurtenances involved characteristics of the delivery pipelines. ditions. Best suction conditions are obtained
thereof. The influence of these parameters if the diameter of the suction pipe is the
Concrete pumps have been known for same as that of the pumping cylinder so
on determining the capacity of concrete
more than 50 years. In modern times, large that the concrete can flow unhindered. Con-
pumps has been discussed and an quantities of concrete can be transported crete should be able to flow freely through
example has been presented on by means of pumping through pipelines the full cross section of the suction pipe
calculations for selection of a concrete over appreciable distances, often to loca- and possible blockages due to over-sized
pump for conditions obtained on a typical tions that may not be easily accessible by aggregates should be avoided. Ideally, the
construction site. other means of delivery. The system for
pumping concrete
essentially consists
Recent years have seen a substantial increase
of a hopper into
in the use of pumped concrete, especially
which the concrete is
in infrastructure projects in the country.
discharged from the
Ready-mixed concrete (RMC) suppliers
mixer, which in turn,
have played a major role in popularising
feeds the concrete
the concept of concrete pumping in India.
pump itself and fi-
Invariably, most of the applications are
nally the delivery
concentrated in and around the metros and
pipelines through
it is only lately that the concept and appli-
which the concrete is
cation of pumped concrete is percolating
delivered.
to the mofusil areas where more often then
not, pumped concrete is viewed as an
unaffordable luxury. These skewed percep- Direct acting
tions stem not so much from indifference pumps
as they do from sheer ignorance. More than
A majority of the
enough has been said and written about
concrete pumps are
the characteristics and requirements of
of the direct-acting,
pumpable concrete. Plenty of specialist lit-
horizontal piston-
erature on pumpable concrete1 is available
type with semi-ro-
in the public domain though the same can-
independent of the pipeline diameter, 90- connect individual pipe lengths. A 100-mm observing pumping pressures. The concrete
degree bends with a radius of 1 m may be diameter pipeline is considered ideal for pump is thus one of the greatest aids to
replaced by an equivalent horizontal short and medium placing distances (up quality concrete; it acts as a silent quality
pipeline length of 3 m2. Hence, a 30-degree to 200 m) and concrete outputs of up to control equipment refusing to handle any
bend with a radius of 1-m is equivalent to a 25 m3/h. For longer placing distances and concrete which is unduly harsh,
length of 1 m. If for example, bends totaling higher outputs, 125-mm diameter pipeline inadequately mixed, non-cohesive and not
630 degrees are installed in a pipeline is considered to be the best and this pipeline correct in consistency4. Pumpable concrete
system, then the equivalent length can be size is considered to be ideal for most site requires sufficient amount of fines, enough
applications. Pipelines of 150 mm diameter slump (about 80 to 100 mm), continuous
630
computed as = 21= 21 × 1m = 21m. are generally used for placing concrete with grading of aggregates and uniformly and
30 a maximum aggregate size greater than thoroughly mixed materials.
For 90-degree bends in delivery pipelines 40 mm or for placing large quantities of
mounted as for example, on placing booms, concrete at longer distances. Relatively It is to be appreciated that if it is desired
a radius of 0.25 m is usually adopted2. The larger pipe diameters result in lower that pumping is to be carried out at the
equivalent length for such elbow bends is pumping pressures and reduced power rate of 40 m3/h, a concrete pump with a
recommended as 1 m 2. Therefore, the requirements of the prime mover though at maximum pumping capacity of 40 m3/h
horizontal pumping distance for a placing the cost of reduced maneuverability of the can achieve the desired output only if it
boom will be its outer reach plus the pipe network. works continuously for one hour. This is
equivalent lengths for each of the 90-degree seldom the case in view of conditions
bends in the three articulated sections The consistency of the concrete mix has obtained at construction sites. Actual
usually found in placing booms. an important bearing on the pumping pumping time may be 45 minutes or even
pressure. A slump between 40 and 100- lesser. Taking an actual pumping time of
The vertical pumping distance is say 45 minutes into account, if the pump is
accounted for by adding a pressure mm or a compacting factor of 0.90 to 0.95
or Ve be time of 3 to 5 s or concrete within to achieve a nominal out put of 40 m3/h, it
increment of approximately 0.025 N/mm2
(0.25 bars) for every metre difference of the consistency range K3 is generally 45
recommended for the mix in the hopper1,3. must be able to place = 60 m3/h. The
elevation to the pumping pressure 0.75
computed for the horizontal placing The right consistency of the concrete mix is
essential to avoid excessive frictional actual pumping time of 45 minutes in this
distance. illustration can be represented in the form
resistance in the delivery pipe due to stiff
mixes or segregation with too wet mixes. of a ‘work factor’ for the concrete pump
For a given output of pumped concrete,
Stiff concrete is difficult to deform and which in the above case works out to be
the flow velocity and hence the flow
resistance increases with reducing delivery requires higher pumping pressure to pass 45
through bends and tapered sections in the = 0.75 2 . It is reasonable, for the
pipeline diameter as does the associated 60
pumping pressure. For the purpose of delivery pipeline.
conditions typically prevailing in sites, to
illustration, for a nominal concrete output take a work factor of 0.75 to 0.80 while
of 40 m3/h, as the delivery pipeline diameter It may be noted that any variation in
mix consistency or workability can easily ascertaining the actual capacity of a
decreases in the order 150 mm, 125 mm, concrete pump.
112 mm and 100 mm the corresponding be detected at the pumping point by
flow velocities increase in the order
0.6 m/s, 0.8 m/s, 1.1 m/s and 1.39 m/s,
respectively. To limit the pumping pressure
and to minimise pipeline wear and tear it is
always advisable to use larger pipeline
diameters whenever higher delivery outputs
are desired. The difficulty with pipelines of
larger diameter is that they are difficult to
handle, especially when they are filled with
concrete. Both rigid and flexible pipes can
be used for pumping concrete though rigid
pipes are more popular because of the
additional frictional losses and cleaning
problems associated with flexible pipelines.
Rigid pipelines made of steel are available
in varying lengths and wall thicknesses.