Numerical simulation of self-consolidating concrete flow as a heterogeneous material in L-Box set-up: coupled effect of reinforcing bars and aggregate content on flow characteristics

A computational fluid dynamics software was employed to simulate the coupled effect of reinforcing bar spacing and coarse aggregate content on the blocking resistance and shear-induced segregation of self-consolidating concrete (SCC) along the horizontal channel of the L-Box apparatus. The rheology of the modelled suspending fluid, which corresponds to the stable and homogeneous portion of the mixture, consists of plastic viscosity value of 25 Pa s, yield stress values of 75 Pa, fluid density of 2500 kg/m(3), and shear elasticity modulus value of 100 Pa. Two different values of 20-mm spherical particles (135 and 255 particles in total), as well as three bar arrangements consisting of 0, 3, and 18 bars distributed along the horizontal channel of the L-Box were considered in the numerical simulations. A new approach is proposed to evaluate the coupled effect of reinforcing bar arrangements and the number of spherical particles on the flow performance of SCC.