Concrete Flow in Diaphragm Wall Panels

A Full-Scale In-Situ Test

Conference paper (2015)
Copyright: © 2015 The Authors and IOS Press, Creative Commons CC-BY
Bentonite Full-scale test Reinforcement Diaphragm walls Building pit Concrete flow
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

15-10-2015

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Abstract

Flow processes, taking place during the concreting of diaphragm wall panels (D-wall panels), are of great importance for the quality of the wall. During this phase, the bentonite, present in the excavated trench, should be completely replaced by concrete in a controlled way. In literature several cases are described in which this process resulted in bentonite inclusions in the panel. These inclusions often lead to severe problems, like leakages, for the building pit to be excavated within the diaphragm wall panels. Beside the risks for the building pit, leakages caused by bentonite inclusions can also have large consequences for nearby constructions. In this article, set up and results of a full-scale diaphragm wall test are described. Conclusions are drawn with regard to the influence of several parameters on the flow process and subsequently on the quality of the wall and the risk on bentonite inclusions.