Continuous Concrete Mixers - Features and Uses

Continuous concrete mixers are concrete mixers into which the concrete ingredients fed into the drum is mixed and discharged simultaneously and continuously out of the drum in a continuous manner until the completion of concreting work. Here, continuous feeding of ingredients takes place by using screw feeders.

Figure-1: Continuous Concrete Mixer; Image Credit: sitereadymixservice.com

Components of Continuous Concrete Mixers

The important part of continuous concrete mixers consist of an on-tilting drum with screw-type blades that are spinning in a constant motion in the middle of the drum. The drum is tilted at an angle and hence, the mixing time of the concrete mixer is defined by the tilting angle. Usually, it is tilted at an angle of 15 degrees towards the opening of the drum.

The continuous concrete mixers are usually used for large projects like dams, skyscrapers, bridges etc that requires continuous consumption and production of concrete. These concrete mixers are also used for the production of low-slump concrete in pavements.

Features of Continuous Concrete Mixers

The main features of continuous concrete mixers are:

1. The productivity is higher than the batch mixer
2. The material proportion and the mixing time of continuous concrete mixer is difficult to control
3. The feeding, mixing, and the discharging of concrete takes place in a single stretch in a continuous process

The main disadvantage is that, as the mixing time is short and require continuous discharge of concrete, the air content and bubbles formation in the concrete is not controlled easily. This issue is not solved even by the use of admixtures.

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