Along with new test methods, concrete producers are discovering other methods to overcome the obstacles to SCC acceptance. One new approach is iCrete. The iCrete technology is a method of proportioning concrete based on proprietary algorithms and tight control of the raw materials, especially aggregate moisture. “Everyone has characterization techniques for their raw materials,” says Jack Holley, iCrete’s director of concrete development. “But ours is a little different. We are not necessarily going for maximum particle packing but for optimum particle packing. The result is a matrix that is very stable and that allows us to get SCC properties a lot easier and to do it in a repeatable way.”Mixes made using the iCrete system will nearly always be specified as performance based. “We will work within the parameters of what the industry and the particular job requires,” says Whidden, “but we will try to challenge any prescriptive requirements, such as water-cement ratio or minimum cement content, to move toward the performance the contractor and designer are really looking for, whether it’s SCC properties or modulus of elasticity or pumpability or low shrinkage and creep.”
What’s most unique about iCrete is that producers are easily able to produce robust SCC mixes with precision properties that stay within tolerance without increasing the production and materials costs. Working with the producer’s existing raw materials, iCrete’s high technology approach is able to produce mixes to meet any performance need. “The producer doesn’t need new materials that would require new aggregate bins or silos,” says Holley. “We’re not asking for a higher cementitious fraction that’s going to drive the cost up ridiculously and we will provide an even more consistent product so the producer doesn’t have to worry about batch-to-batch variations and segregation and that’s without the use of lots of filler and high dosages of viscosity modifiers.”
