EA102

American Concrete Association (ACI) Absolute Volume Method of Concrete Mix Design

ACI MIX DESIGN

Mix Component Properties:

Cement Type: 10
Specific Gravity: 3.155

Coarse Aggregate Nominal Maximum Particle Size: 20 mm

SSD Bulk Specific Gravity: 2.610
% Absorption Capacity: 3.10%
Dry-Rodded Density: 1.570 Mg/m

Fine Aggregate SSD Bulk Specific Gravity: 2.700

% Absorption Capacity: 1.10%
Fineness Modulus: 3.00

Desired Mix Properties:

A 200 kg batch on air-entrained concrete with a slump in the 30 to 50 mm range and a water/
cement ratio of 0.45 is required.

SOLUTION:

1. Determine densities of all materials to be used: ρ = G x ρw

Specific
Material x ρw = Density (kg/m3)
Gravity
Water 1.0 x 1000 = 1000
Cement 3.155 x 1000 = 3155
SSD Fine Aggregate 2.700 x 1000 = 2700
SSD Coarse Aggregate 2.610 x 1000 = 2610
Dry-Rodded Coarse Aggregate 1570

2. Mass of mixing water in 1 m 3 of mix = 168 kg = 0.168 m 3

3. Volume of air in 1 m 3 of mix is 5.00% of 1 m 3 or 0.05 m 3

(Table 4c for non-air-entrained, Nominal Maximum size = 10mm)

1
 w w 228 kg
4. If 0.45, then c  456 kg The mass of cement required = 456 kg
c 0.5 0.5
456 kg
The volume of cement  The volume of cement required = 0.145 m3
3155 kg/m 3

5. Volume of dry-rodded coarse aggregate = 0.47 m3

(Table 3 for Nominal Maximum size = 10 mm and fineness modulus of 2.70)

6. SSD mass of coarse aggregate = 0.47 m3 x 1530 kg/m3 = 719 kg

719 kg
SSD volume of coarse aggregate  = 0.270 m3
2660 kg/m 3

7. Sum of known volumes = (0.228 + 0.030 + 0.145 + 0.270) m3 = 0.673 m3

SSD volume of fine aggregate = 1 – 0.673 m3 = 0.327 m3

SSD mass of fine aggregate = 0.327 m3 x 2700 kg/m3 = 883 kg

8. Total mass of 1 m3 of mix = (228 + 456 + 719 + 883) kg = 2286 kg/m3

2286 kg
The proportioning factor  = 76.2
30 kg

Each mass for the 1 m3 of mix is then divided by this factor:

Mass Volume SSD Mix Masses

Materials
(kg/m3) (m3) (kg)
Cement 456 0.145 5.984
Water 228 0.228 2.992
Coarse Aggregate 719 0.270 9.436
Fine Aggregate 883 0.327 11.588
Air 0.030
Totals 2286 1.000 30.000

NOTE: The information in this table should appear in the table on Datasheet 7.5.
Do not present it twice!