Consideration of the characteristics of the concrete mix when choosing concrete pump

The industry produces a large number of concrete pumps of different projects with a wide range of characteristics. Relevant is the problem of selecting the concrete with the required characteristics. The Construction Department of the Kaliningrad State Technical University has conducted studies of the characteristics of stationary concrete pumps. The main steps in the selection of concrete pump have been validated: plotting the pressure generated by a pump, from its feeding; the construction of the dependence of hydraulic losses in the hose from the flow of the mixture; determining characteristics of the concrete mixture; determining the operating point of the pump unit; verify the adequacy of the supply of the concrete pump. The dependence of the pressure generated by the investigated concrete pump may be divided into 3 sections: the horizontal line segment, the parabola, the sloping line. The empirical relationship for hydraulic losses was used. It is shown how the characteristics of the studied concrete mixtures affect the operating point. Concrete mixtures were divided into two sets. The decrease in the average size of the filler leads to an increase in productivity of concrete pump. The growth of cement per 1 m³ of concrete mix leads to a decrease in performance of the pump. The proposed algorithm allows calculate the necessary characteristics for selection of the concrete pump under given conditions of construction. (paper)