Pumpably verifiable fluid fiber compositions
AssigneeW.R. Grace & Co.-Conn.
InventorsMichael B. Macklin, Anandakumar Ranganathan, Klaus-Alexander Rieder
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Abstract
The invention relates to fiber compositions that can be pumped and metered in the fashion of fluid chemical admixtures into a concrete mix, thereby enabling the fibers to be dispensed by concrete ready-mix plant operators who can provide verification of fiber administration and dosage. The fibers, particularly plastic shrinkage control fibers having large cumulative surface area, are suspended in an aqueous medium such that their surface area is already wetted out, thereby virtually assuring that substantial uniform fiber dispersion can be achieved without clumping and the delay that is usually required by fiber intermixing.
Claims22
A fiber composition, comprising:
- a plurality of fibers suspended in an aqueous environment comprising water but essentially devoid of a water-settable inorganic binder material;
- said fibers in an amount no less than 5 percent based on total weight of composition;
- said fibers in an amount no greater than 40 percent based on total weight of composition;
- said aqueous environment having a viscosity no less than 5,000 milliPascal-seconds (as measured by Brookfield viscometer at 25 degrees C);
- said aqueous environment having a viscosity no greater than 200,000 milliPascal-seconds (as measured by Brookfield viscometer at 25 degrees C);
- and
- said aqueous environment having at least one viscosity modifier for increasing the water viscosity within said aqueous environment.
A method for admixing fibers comprising:
- pumping into a hydratable cementitious composition a plurality of fibers suspended in an aqueous environment essentially devoid of a water-settable inorganic binder material;
- said fibers being in an amount no less than 5 percent based on total weight of composition;
- said fibers being in an amount no greater than 40 percent based on total weight of composition;
- said aqueous environment having a viscosity no less than 5000 milliPascal seconds (as measured by Brookfield viscometer at 25 degrees C.);
- said aqueous environment having a viscosity no greater than 200,000 milliPascal-seconds (as measured by Brookfield viscometer at 25 degrees C.);
- and said aqueous environment having at least one viscosity modifier for increasing the water within said aqueous environment.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.