Trial dump(s) at Lodewikus
Lodewikus allowed us to fill the mixer once daily for 5 weeks. This yielded 2.5 m3 of concrete slurry each time. From 23 November last, we ran a total of 7 different concrete recipes (incl. 3 references with standard cements), made 150 test pieces, filled 37 Legoblok moulds and also several other product moulds from different branches of BTE (see photos products).
Successful trial
We can be proud! The trial dumps were successful; we managed to mix and pour several self-compacting concrete recipes with Invie. It was additionally successful because during the trial dumps we ran into issues that needed to be resolved. Situations that could not be predicted in the lab, such as foaming caused by the admixture.
We now collect the results from the test dumps (mainly material properties) and track the behaviour of the concrete surface using the Lego blocks. These blocks give us information about the concrete's resistance to external influences (carbonation and frost). It was fun to see, how the concrete came out of different product forms.
Acknowledgements
From the team working on Invie, we would like to say a sincere 'thank you' to the colleagues at Lodewikus and all other colleagues within BTE who contributed:
- the preliminary work (engineering)
- the design of the mixtures in BTC's laboratory
- the raw material and mould logistics to Oosterhout
- the mould preparations in the reinforcement hall
- the concrete plant and laboratory at Lodewikus where samples were made and checks were made
Without the efforts of all of you, doing the tests would not have been possible. Thank you for your support!
