FlowCyl: one-parameter cement paste rheology test developed at NTNU, Norway

The FlowCyl is a simple flow viscometer – a modification of the Marsh Cone test apparatus developed to characterize cement pastes and grouts. The FlowCyl gives a one-parameter characterisation of rheology called the flow resistance ratio or λQ for use in the Particle-Matrix concrete proportioning Model (PMM). The method has been popular in Norway and Sweden for cement paste characterisation at both academia and industry during the last three decades since its development in 1995, mainly due to its high repeatability and low cost. This paper revisits the main principles of this test method and briefly discusses recent work at the Norwegian University of Science and technology to better understand how the FlowCyl measurements compare to the fundamental parameters of the cement paste rheology – yield stress and plastic viscosity.