A comparison of bleeding measurement techniques with a proposed method utilising super absorbent polymers

Abstract

Bleed water measurement is a critical part for the determination and prediction of the incidence of plastic shrinkage cracking in concrete. This research discusses the different bleeding measurement methods that are largely in use today. The effect of different intervals of bleed water extraction from the surface is experimentally studied and correlated with the non-extractive approaches. The findings reveal a difference in bleed water measurement results among the different methods, as well as the phenomenon of bleed water re-absorption. Additionally, a novel surface bleed water extraction approach using superabsorbent polymers (SAP) is proposed and used to compare with the direct water extractive methods. It was found that bleed water extractive approaches with smaller time intervals resulted in significantly higher bleeding amounts. However, for much longer measurement intervals, bleed water extractive approaches revealed that bleeding is similar to settlement due to self-weight as suggested in the non-contact laser approach. The SAP extraction method was found to be a viable alternative for measuring the bleeding in concrete.