Volume 106, Number 2, March–April 2001 Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology [J. Res. Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. 106, 391–399 (2001)] Concrete Mixing Methods and Concrete Mixers: State of the Art Volume 106 Number 2 March–April 2001 Chiara F. Ferraris As for all materials, the performance of ule (volume of concrete needed per hour), concrete is determined by its microstruc- and the cost. Ultimately, the quality of National Institute of Standards and ture. Its microstructure is determined by its the concrete produced determines its per- Technology, composition, its curing conditions, and formance after placement. An important Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8621 also by the mixing method and mixer con- measure of the quality is the homogeneity ditions used to process the concrete. This of the material after mixing. This paper paper gives an overview of the various will review mixing methods in regards to
[email protected] types of mixing methods and concrete the quality of the concrete produced. mixers commercially available used by the Some procedures used to determine the ef- concrete industry. There are two main fectiveness of the mixing will be exam- types of mixers used: batch mixers and ined. continuous mixers. Batch mixers are the most common. To determine the mixing Key words: concrete mixers; mixer effi- method best suited for a specific applica- ciency. tion, factors to be considered include: loca- tion of the construction site (distance Accepted: August 30, 2000 from the batching plant), the amount of concrete needed, the construction sched- Available online: http://www.nist.gov/jres 1.