Title says it all; I’m sure a thin layer of cement will be left over after they poor it all, and I would imagine that thin layer would harden and then the next time they use the mixer another thin layer would be leftover and so on and so forth. After a while I would imagine it would accumulate to the point where it renders the mixer unusable.
Why is this not the case?
In: Engineering
Concrete, which is a combination of cement, water, and aggregate (gravel and sand), doesn’t set or cure well unless it’s still. Therefore, after the load is delivered, the barrel of the mixer is still moving, and agitating the mix.
It’s easy enough to pour water in the mixer at the end of the day, reverse the barrel to combine the leftovers with the water, then pour the resulting slurry out into a waste pile.
In the event concrete is left to cure inside the barrel, it’s a painstaking process involving something akin to jackhammers to chip out the hardened mix. It’s grueling, hot, and loud.
Take a look at any construction site, and concrete mixers both coming and going have their barrels rotating.
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