  The early strength evolution of self-consolidating concrete (SCC) is studied
by a set of non-standard mechanical tests for compressive, tensile, shear and
bending failure. The results are applicable in an industrial environment for
process control, e.g. of slip casting with adaptive molds in robotic
fabrication. A procedure for collapsing data to a master evolution curve is
presented that allows to distinguish two regimes in the evolution. In the
first, the material is capable of undergoing large localized plastic
deformation, as expected from thixotropic yield stress fluids. This is followed
by a transition to cohesive frictional material behavior dominated by crack
growth. The typical differences in tensile and compressive strength of hardened
concrete are observed to originate at the transition. Finally, the evolution of
a limit surface in principal stress space is constructed and discussed.
