Reproducible mini-slump test procedure for measuring the yield stress of cementitious pastes

The mini-slump test is a fast, inexpensive and widely adopted method for evaluating the workability of fresh cementitious pastes. However, this method lacks a standardised procedure for its experimental implementation, which is crucial to guarantee reproducibility and reliability of the test results. This study investigates and proposes a guideline procedure for mini-slump testing, focusing on the influence of key experimental (mixing and testing) parameters on the statistical performance of the results. The importance of preparation of always testing at the same time after mixing, testing each batch once rather than conducting multiple tests on a single batch of material, is highlighted. A set of alkali-activated fly ash-slag pastes, spanning from 1 to 75 Pa yield stresses, were used to validate the test method, by comparison of calculated yield stresses with the results obtained using a conventional vane viscometer. The proposed experimental procedure for mini-slump testing produces highly reproducible results, and the yield stress calculated from mini-slump values correlate very well with those measured by viscometer, in the case of fresh paste of pure shear flow. Mini-slump testing is a reliable method that can be utilised for the assessment of workability of cements.