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In addition to the mixing energy applied to the fresh concrete (i.e. shearing during mixing), the shear history after mixing is also important. This applies especially to binder rich concretes like the different types of high performance concrete (HPC). With this in mind, the shear rate is analyzed inside a drum of a concrete tank truck. The objective is to better understand the effect of transport of fresh concrete, from the ready mix plant to the building site. The analysis reveals the effect of different drum charge volume and drum rotational speed. Also, the effect of yield stress and plastic viscosity is investigated. The work shows that the shear rate decreases in an exponential manner with increasing drum charge volume. It is also shown that for a given drum speed, the shear rate decreases both with increasing plastic viscosity and yield stress.

In this work, the shear rate is analyzed inside the drum of a concrete fuel tank truck. This is done to better understand the potential effect of transport, from the ready mix plant to the building site, in terms of the concrete final rheological state. From Section 1.2, a higher shear rate will imply increased dispersion of the cement particles and thus more flowable concrete during the casting phase. Likewise, a lower shear rate will imply insufficient agitation, increased thixotropic rebuild and thus stiffer concrete during casting.

Decrease of availability of fossil fuels and environment issues, push research towards the development of high efficiency power trains for vehicles that transport people, goods and mobile operating machines, like the concrete 5cbm mixer truck considered in this paper. Conventional concrete 3cbm mixer truck use diesel engine to move the truck and a hydraulic system which keep spinning the concrete drum. A hybrid powertrain based on battery-powered electrical drives can replace the conventional hydraulic system assuring an efficiency improvement. Furthermore, thanks to the reversibility of the electrical drives, it is possible to recover kinetic energy during the braking phases of the truck. Aim of this paper is to study and develop a hybrid powertrain for the concrete mixer drum. The study is based on a full energetic model of the vehicle developed for sizing the components and designing the control strategies. A model of the conventional hydraulic 8cbm mixer truck has also been proposed in order to evaluate the benefit introduced by the proposed hybrid system. Simulation models have been validated comparing experimental data collected on a conventional mixer truck in different operating conditions.

Most construction equipment is easy to understand. Cranes move things up and down. Dump trucks load up, move out and unload. Bulldozers push and graders grade. The one exception to this is the humble cement mixer, beloved by children, hated by in-a-hurry drivers, and misunderstood by most people outside the cab of the 30,000-pound (13,608-kilogram) behemoths.

While concrete has been around in one form or another since before the Romans built the Appian Way, the transit mixer is a child of the 20th century. But recent invention or not, the mixer is here to stay.