Taguchi Experiment Design for Investigation of Freshened Properties of Self-Compacting Concrete

Problem statement: The intent of this study was to apply of Taguchi Design Of Experiments (DOE) techniques in Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) freshened properties studies. Owing to a wide range of material content of Self Compacting Concrete (SCC), generally, a large number of experiments were usually required as to decide a suitable mixture for finding the needed requirements of SCC. Approach: For that purpose, Taguchi’s approach with an L₁₈(2¹×3⁷) orthogonal array and three-level factor to reduce the numbers of experiment was adopted. Six control factors, namely, contents of coarse aggregate, sand, cement, silica fume, water and superplasticizer were used. The mixtures were extensively tested in freshened state and to meet technical requirement of SCC. Four responses (slump flow, flow time, V-funnel, L-box and segregation resistance) were evaluated. Results: The result of this study showed that Taguchi method is a promising approach for optimizing mix proportions of SCC to meet several freshened concrete properties. Conclusion: This study has shown that it possible to design self compacting concrete with fulfilling the criteria. As it can be seen in the results of freshened concrete properties of produced concrete samples, they fulfilled the expected properties of SCC.