In Japan, self-compacting concrete / self-consolidating concrete (SCC) has been researched and developed since the 1980’s. In the 1990’s, SCC was put to practical use with increasing applications. Owing to this situation, the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) set up a “Research Subcommittee on Self-Compacting Concrete” in April 1994 and published a “State of the Art-Report on Self-Compacting Concrete” in December 1996. Based on the report, JSCE published the “Recommendation for practical application of self-compacting concrete” in July 1998. Classified types are explained and self-compactability is clearly defined. On the basis of these recommendations, SCC has been frequently applied mainly for projects where vibrating compaction is difficult. SCC has been made more useful and more applicable through the development of material technology and construction methods, and through specific design procedures for suitable mix proportions. However, the share of SCC has not always been more than 3% of the total produced amount of concrete. In contrast, some countries in Europe have considerably higher shares of SCC than Japan. The reasons for this phenomenon must be investigated in detail. Recently in Japan, some researchers have been continuing their studies to establish the prediction method for self-compactability. By establishing this method, it is expected that the reliability of self-compactability of SCC will be strongly improved.
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