Shotcrete A Basic Overview
Shotcrete A Basic Overview
Shotcrete A Basic Overview
Des Vlietstra
Elasto Plastic Concrete
1. INTRODUCTION
Shotcrete also known as “sprayed concrete or gunite has been around for over 80 years.
There are two application methods namely wet-mix and dry-mix. In the dry-mix
procedure a dry mixture of aggregates and cement is conveyed by means of compressed
air through the hoses of the machine, the water needed for hydration is added at the
nozzle. In the wet-mix procedure the concrete is delivered to the pump ready mixed
with all the water necessary for hydration already added. The mix is pumped through
the delivery hose and compressed air is added at the nozzle to facilitate spraying”.
(Melbye 2005, p9) For the purpose of this course these notes will concentrate on the
wet-mix procedure.
Shotcrete is in essence just another way of casting concrete and as such special demands
are made on the characteristics of the concrete during casting. While Shotcrete has
many varying and different applications in various fields we will concentrate on its use
underground as part of a support system.
2.0 MATERIALS
2.1 Cement
Cement is the bonding material (glue) that holds a cementitious material together.
Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) is most commonly used for Shotcrete applications
Portland cement is made from four main components namely Lime (CaCO3) and this is
the major raw material for cement production. The other elements Silica (SiO2),
Alumina (Al2O3) and Iron Oxide (Fe2O3) are necessary to ensure balanced and
consistent chemical composition and are used in smaller quantities.
When water comes into contact with cement hydration takes place. This is an extremely
complicated process and it is very difficult to find a simple model to explain it.
Essentially water surrounds the cement particles and a coating of gel appears on the
surface of these particles. As this gel develops, a series of crystal growths start to appear
as the reaction proceeds further. The gel and crystal growth continues to develop as
more of the cement reacts with water and the crystals form an interlocking matrix that
slowly binds the cement matrix together into a hard, rigid mass.
It is a time dependent process and is quite slow in the first few hours.
It is also temperature dependant, like any other chemical reaction, and will get slower as
temperatures fall and accelerate at higher temperatures.
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2.2 Aggregates
The maximum size of the aggregate should never exceed 10mm this is due to pumping
limitations and to reduce excessive rebound.
The combined aggregate grading is extremely important for Shotcrete and should fit the
grading curve below.
100
Cumulative %
80
Passing
60
40
20
0
19 13.2 9.5 4.75 2.36 1.18 0.6 0.3 0.15 0.075
Important to note that almost 20% - 30% of combined aggregate should pass the 0.3mm
size sieve. A lack of fine material in the mix can be compensated for by addition of
micro silica or similar materials. Insufficient fine material can result in segregation, bad
lubrication and increased clogging while excess fine material will aid pumping, give
better compaction and result in a viscid concrete ( cohesive and sticky)
2.3 Water
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The water/cement ratio (w/c ratio) is the total weight of water in a mix compared to the
weight of cementitious material
Note: Total water is the water from all sources and NOT just the added water
(Moisture content of aggregates should be noted and included)
It is extremely important that no additional water is added to the mix once the truck has
left the batch plant
For a given mix design if the water content increases the w/c ratio increases and all
the properties reduce
The effect of increasing the water content of a given concrete mix can be seen by
comparing the w/c ratio to compressive strength
Moving from a w/c ratio of 0.45 to 0.55 merely by the addition of water may result in
the strength dropping from 45Mpa to 35Mpa. (using the bottom line of the range) in a
Shotcrete mix with 400kg of cement this would mean that by adding 40 litres of water
you effectively reduce the strength by approximately 22% an extremely expensive way
to achieve workability.
After CCAA
From the notes so far you will have noted that Shotcrete requires high workability
measured by means of slump, an ideal slump is to the order of 150mm and as mentioned
while water aids workability you want to keep the w/c ratio to 0.45 therefore the only
means of getting the desired slump or workability is chemically by the use of
admixtures.
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3.0 ADMIXTURES
Admixtures are chemicals that are added to concrete at the mixing stage to modify some
of the properties of the mix. (Spearing 2002, Sect 2.4) covers the explanation on
admixtures very well. “Many different admixtures can be beneficial in Shotcrete. The
most common of these being water reducers, (plasticizers and superplasticizers),
hydration controllers, micro silica and accelerators.
There are various types of water reducers available and they tend to fall into three broad
categories:
Low range (e.g. lignosulphonates) that give about a 10 to 15% water reduction, but
some can retard the strength gain
Medium range (e.g. melamines) that give about 25% water reduction
High range (e.g. polycarboxylates) that give about a 45% water reduction
These admixtures work when added to the mix work by charging each cement particle
ionically and causing them to repel each other and defloculate thereby providing an
even spread of binder particles throughout the mix as well as effectively lubricating the
mix and thus being able to reduce the water while maintaining the same consistency
(slump) or alternatively keeping the required water but increasing the workability or
slump.
It functions in 2 ways.
The addition of an effective accelerator at the nozzle cancels the effect of the hydration
controller and hydration starts to takes place. The hydration controller has no adverse
effect on the rate of strength gain and the ultimate strength, provided that adequate
accelerator is added.
Micro silica is a very fine and spherical material with a high pozzolanic reactivity.
That imparts some very desirable properties to Shotcrete, below is a list of some of the
benefits:
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3.4 Accelerators
Silicates are not really true accelerators as they only create a gelling effect rather than a
rapid early strength gain. Accelerators also tend to reduce the final strength of the
shotcrete. This is partly because the slower rate of strength gain in an un-accelerated
mix results in a finer and a more dense crystalline growth that creates a stronger final
product.
In a typical dry mix, a powdered accelerator addition of between 2 and 5% based on the
weight of the total cementitious addition would be reasonable. Accelerator dosage rates
are normally expressed as a percentage of the total cementitious content.
There is confusion in the mining industry over the definition of an alkali free
accelerator. To understand this, the difference between alkalinity and alkali content
must be noted.
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In wet shotcrete, the dose range is about the 3 to 10% based on the weight of the total
cementitious content. The latest trend is towards the (non-caustic) alkali free
accelerators because they are more environmentally safe, induce more rapid strength
gain and tend to cause significantly less long term strength loss. With such an
accelerator, a dose rate of around 6 to 8% is normal.
Before selecting an accelerator, compatibility tests must be carried out first. Certain
accelerators react differently with different cements”.
4.0 FIBRES
The use of fibres in concrete is by no means a new invention; this practice in fact dates
back centuries to the use of horse hair, cotton, sisal, straw and jute.
(Spearing 2002, P 80) States the following “Improvements in the handling and
performance of synthetic (plastic) fibres will continue, and the trend will be away from
steel fibres. This is because:
In mining, shotcrete frequently operates post first crack, and with the steel,
corrosion of the fibres can be an issue.
The plastic fibres are not a safety hazard that can cause minor cuts to personnel after
placement (as the steel fibres do that stick out from the shotcrete).
The plastic fibres seem able to perform such that the shotcrete can deform more
before being totally ineffective.”
• Ductility - to allow the composite material to carry flexural load beyond the
flexural capacity of the shotcrete itself.
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• Passive Fire Protection - under exposure to fire loading some fibres are able
to melt and provide capillary egress for expanding vapours, this is especially
valuable in the case of a vehicle fire where a rescue needs to be done, the last
thing needed is spalling concrete acting as shrapnel.
• Reduced Logistics – The reinforcing and shotcrete is applied in one pass with
one crew at the same time while with mesh there is the imposition of extra crews
leading to economies in cycle times and costs.
A quote from a report produced by the International Tunnelling Association sums up the
use of fibres over mesh very convincingly.
5 MATERIAL SUMMARY
The final strength of placed Shotcrete is mainly dependant on the w/c ratio and the
compaction or air content after placement which is a function of the available air
pressure.
The strength gain and genera performance of the Shotcrete needs to be reliably achieved
as sprayed. This means that the mix must be pumpable, bond well to the substrate with
minimal rebound, build up desirable thicknesses and gain strength rapidly
This generally implies the need for a cohesive mix with a high initial slump low slump
on placement and capability of sufficient strength gain. This can be achieved by the
following
Micro-silica for cohesion, rebound reduction and durability
Superplasticizers for high slump (150mm ideal) and low w/c ratio for high
strength
Accelerators for early strength development
Fibres that will not deteriorate over time (durability)
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The substrate should be scaled and cleaned to ensure it is free of any loose material,
dust and residue or films. An ideal way of achieving this is with hydroscaling.
The use of good lighting can not be over emphasized here as it will help ensure that
spraying is done with safely and with a high degree of quality.
It is common practice to spray the sidewalls first and finally the backs, this is so that as
you spray rebound will fall onto sprayed areas below rather than clean unsprayed
substrate, thereby avoiding incorporating any rebound into the shotcreted sides and
backs. Rebound would have a negative effect on the in-situ Shotcrete strength and
should always be discarded and never considered for re-use. Rebound with wet spraying
is typically 5 – 10%
During spraying, it is beneficial to fill cracks instead of bridging them this has a
beneficial effect on the overall rock mass stability by tending to stabilize the rock
Larger voids or cavities should be carefully filled first before shotcreteing the
surrounding area.
Nozzle should always be kept perpendicular to the substrate to minimize the amount of
rebound and ideally only 1 – 2 metres from the face to aid compaction.
Pulsations at the nozzle are an indication that the slump of the mix is to low and thus
incorrect filling of the pistons is occurring. This increases the use of accelerator and can
in some instances result in overdosing of accelerator.
Correct nozzle design is also very important as this helps effect the compaction, bond
and consistency, and ensures the accelerator is well mixed into the Shotcrete.
7 HOW IT WORKS
When sprayed the Shotcrete initially fills any openings, cracks, fractures joint planes
and fissures and thus binds any loose or partially loose materials together this prevents
any further deterioration and also aids the previously fractured sidewalls and backs to be
more self supporting and can reduce the unsupported span to a certain extent.
When spraying is started a thin layer of paste and fine particles penetrate the pores and
fractures and form a thin film on the surface of the substrate, at this stage the larger
particles tend to bounce off in the form of rebound. As this film builds up larger
particles are absorbed, till finally rebound gets less and less and the largest size
aggregates in the mix get absorbed into the layer of Shotcrete.
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filling in any joints and fractures, this in turn helps transfer the rock load to the adjacent
stable rock through adhesion or shear”. Vandewalle, 1998, P12) It helps maintain the
planned tunnel profile and protects it from air slack and weathering. With the advent of
macro synthetic fibre it helps maintain a large amount of integrity with large movement
or squeezing.
When we talk of quality we should be thinking in terms of a product that works in the
way we expect it to Quality shotcrete implies fitness for use and or that it conforms to
the requirements as laid out in the specifications or contract.
The most common tests carried out at the batching plant are
Once the concrete has been delivered the following tests are common
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1. Spraying of boxes for drilled cores: This is to determine the in-situ UCS of the
actual Shotcrete which has been accelerated, usually tested at 28 days in
conjunction with the cylinders
2. Spraying of Panels for round determinate testing this is done to test the flexural
strength of the shotcrete and the performance of the fibres.
Other testing includes bond / adhesion tests. There are a number of other tests available
that are beyond the scope of this course.
It is of utmost importance that testing is carried following the correct laid down
procedure and with extreme care as it is the test results that are often used to determine
the quality of the Shotcrete and workmanship.
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References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract management
http://toolkit.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au/dsrd/part/the_tendering_process/26/134/627.html
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Appendix 1
Standards relating to Concrete and shotcrete
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