By Engr.

Syed Iftikhar Ahmad

Introduction

Concrete and Steel are the two most commonly used Structural materials in the construction industry.

Topics
Definitions Ingredients Types of cement Types of aggregate Batching & mixing of concrete Transportation of concrete Testing of concrete Pumping of concrete Curing of concrete Joints in concrete Reinforcement for concrete Additives & Admixtures for concrete Useful References

Shotcrete It is that type of mortar or concrete which is conveyed through a hose (flexible tube) and pneumatically projected at high velocity. Pozzolanic cement It comes from the name of the village Pozzuoli, near Vesuvius, where the volcanic ash was first found. The Pozzolanic cement is the term used to describe the cements obtained by simple grinding of natural materials at normal temperature. Portland cement A cement consisting of Portland cement with not more than 5% of other inorganic materials. Hydraulic cement They consists mainly of silicates and aluminates of lime and can be broadly classified as natural cements, Portland cements and high Alumina cements. Blended Cement A cement consisting of Portland cement and two or more appropriate inorganic materials which contribute to the strength gaining properties of the cement with or without other constituents, processing additions and functional additions is called blended cement. (ASTM C 1157-94a)

Definitions

Civil engineers are concerned with the calcareous cements.

Ingredients
Concrete consists of following ingredients
Cementitious material (cement or lime) Coarse aggregate (Crush stone etc) Fine aggregate (Sand ) Water (which is fit for drinking)

Manufacture of Portland cement

It is made of calcareous materials, such as Lime stone or chalk and from alumina and silica found as clay or shale. Marl, a mixture of calcareous and argillaceous materials is also used. Process of manufacturing cement consists essentially of grinding the raw materials, mixing them in certain proportion and burning in a large rotary kiln at a temp of about 1450 oC. Material partially fuses in to balls called clinker. Clinker is cooled and ground to a powder form with some gypsum addition. Product obtained is called Portland cement. Main compounds of portland cement are Tri calcium Silicate 3CaO. SiO2 C3S Dicalcium silicate 2CaO. SiO2 C2S Tricalcium Aluminate 3CaO. Al2O3 C3A Tetracalcium Aluminoferrite 4CaO.Al2O3.Fe2O3 C4AF

Bogues Equations
The chemical composition of Portland cement is based on the work of R.H. Bogue and others known as Bogue composition.
C3S = 4.07 (CaO)-7.6(SiO2)-6.72(Al2O3)-1.43(Fe2O3)-2.85(SO3) C2S = 2.87(SiO2)-0.75(3CaO.SiO2) C3A = 2.65(Al2O3)-1.69(Fe2O3) C4AF = 3.04(Fe2O3)

Heat of Hydration
It is the quantity of heat in joules/gm of unhydrated cement evolve upon complete hydration at a given temperature Method of determining heat of hydration is by measuring heat of solution of unhydrated and hydrated cement in a mixture of nitric and hydrofluoric acids. Method is described in (ASTM C 186-94) and (BS 4550) section 3.8:1978 Heat of hydration of 1 gm cement is given by 136(C3S)+62(C2S)+200(C3A)+30(C4AF)

blended cement
There are many ways to prepare a blended cement. Grind cemetitious materials with clinker Mix two or three materials in their final form Mix Portland cement with some cementitious materials in concrete mixer.

Types of cementitious materials

Types of Cement
As per ASTM C150-94 or C 595-94a types of cement are given in table.

Compound Composition of different type of OPC

Types of Cement
Ordinary Portland cement (Type-I)
Used in general concrete construction where there is no exposure to sulphates in soil or ground water. ENV 197-1 :1992. specific surface 300 400 m2/kg

Modified Cement (Type-II)

The rate of gain of strength is similar to OPC. The rate of heat development is higher than a low heat cement.

Rapid hardening Portland cement (Type-III)

It is used where high early strength is required or where formwork is required for reuse or where quick construction is required. High early strength cause high rate of heat development. Higher C3S content (more than 55% up to 70%) and finer grinding of clinker cause increase rate of strength gaining. specific surface 450 600 m2/kg It should not be used for mass construction works (Dam) or for large structural sections. Setting time of OPC and rapid hardening cement is same i.e. not less than 45 minutes.

Types of Cement
Low heat Portland cement (Type-IV)
Due to low thermal conductivity of concrete the rise in temperature in the interior of concrete mass can lead to serious cracking. In this types of cement the rate of gain of temperature is low and limited to 250 J/g (60 cal/g) at 7 days and 290 J/g (70 cal/g) at 28 days. Low content of C3S and C3A results in a slower development of strength. Specific area for these cement should not be less than 320 m2/kg. ASTM C150-94 covers the detail of low heat cements.

Types of Cement
Sulphate resisting Cement (Type-V)
Calcium aluminates in cement can react with salfate salt which will increase the volume and cause disintegration of concrete. Where Sulate attack is suspected (i.e shore areas, underground areas) SR cements are suitable. C3A content must be low 3.5% as per BS 40027 : 1991 ASTM C150-94 covers the detail of Sulphate resisting Cements.

Types of Cement
White cement and Pigments
These cements contain very low Iron Oxide (less than 0.3% by mass of clinker) and Manganese Oxide. China clay with Chalk o limestone is generally used. White cement satisfy the BS 12 : 1991 Pigments used for different colours in cement like Iron oxides can produce Yellow, Red Brown and Black. Chromic Oxides produces green colour Titanium Dioxides produces White colour.

Types of Cement
Port Land Blastfurnace cement
It is a mixture of OPC and ggbs (ground granulated blast furnace) Slag is a waste product in the manufacturing of Pig Iron (300 kg slag/ton of Pig Iron)

Supersulfated Cement
It is highly resistant to high concentration of sulfates 80-85 % blastfufnace slag 10-15 calcium sulfate 5%portland cement clinker. Suitable for mass concrete works (170 -190 J/g 40 -45 cal/g)

Types of Cement
Anti-bacterial Cement
Its a portland cement interground with a antibacterial agent which prevents microbiological fermentation. Used in food processing plants, swimming pools etc.

Hydrophobic Cement
This cement is obtained if OPC is grinding with 0.1 to 0.4 % of Oleic acid, stearic acid or Pentachlorophenol.

Oil-well cements
It is used for grout or slurry to be pumped to depth of thousands meters (Temperature 150-300oF and

Types of Cement
High Alumina Cement
It gain strength at a very high rate i.e 80% strength in 24 hours. Good to resist sulfate attacks It contains about 40% alumina and lime 15% of ferrous and ferric oxides 5% slica small amount of magnesia Raw material are limestone and bauxite

Aggregate
Aggregate is an inert material used in concrete to gain volume stability, durability and economy. Theoretically aggregate is not 100% inert, its physical and chemical properties effects the concrete properties.

Types of aggregate
As per BS 882 : 1992 basic division between corse aggregate and fine aggregate (sand) is 5 mm or 3/16 sieve As per ASTM No.4 ASTM (4.75 MM) is the dividing line for coarse and fine aggregates. BS 812 : Part I : 1975 explain two types of classification for aggregate. Classification of natural aggregate Particle shape classification

Types of aggregates
Classificatio n of natural aggregate

Particle shape classification

Fine Aggregate
Bulking of Fine Aggregate
It is defined as the increase in the volume of a given mass of sand caused by the films of water surrounding the particles and pushing them apart.

Water
Water containing less than 2000 ppm dissolved solids can generally be used satisfactorily for making concrete. Sodium carbonate in water cause rapid setting. Bicarbonates may either accelerate or retard the setting time. Large concentration of above two salts reduces the strength. 20,000 ppm of sodium chloride are generally tolerable. 10,000 ppm of sodium sulfate is tolerable. Magnesium sulfate & magnesium chloride up to 40,000 ppm is tolerable. Iron salts upto 40,000 ppm is tolerable. Inorganic salts like (salts of manganese, tin, zink, copper & lead) up to 500 ppm are tolerable. Sea water containing salts up to 35,000 ppm are tolerable. Acidic water containing hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid up to 10,000 ppm have no effect.

Water
Potassium hydroxide up to 1.2% by wt. is tolerable. Industrial waste having less than 4000 ppm total solids cause up to 10% reduction in compressive strength. Raw Sewage contain up to 400 ppm of organic matter. Diluted sewage contain up to 20 ppm, which has little effect on the strength of concrete. Sugar in water up to 0.03%-0.15% by wt. retard the setting time of cement. Sugar 0.15% - 0.2% accelerate the setting time. Sugar greater than 0.25% accelerate the setting time but reduce 28 days strength. Sugar in water, less than 500 ppm has no effect at all. Suspended clay or fine rock particles up to 2000 ppm can be tolerated. Mineral (petroleum) oils greater than 2% by wt. reduces the strength more than 20%. Algae cause large amount of air to be entrained and they also reduce the bond between aggregate and cement paste thus cause reduction in strength.

Water Cement ratio (W/C ratio)

It is the ratio of the quantity of water to the quantity of cement. It can be by volume or by weight.
W/C ratio

Water cement Ratio (W/C Ratio)

lu By Vo

me gh t

ei By W

Qty. of water per bag (50 kg) W/C by Volume W/C by Weight

Batching & mixing of concrete

Batching
Batching means measuring of the ingredients of concrete. It is of two types Batching by volume Batching by weight

Mixing
Mixing is of two type Hand mixing Machine mixing

Batching by volume (ASTM C 685-94)

In volumetric batching, ingredients of concrete are mixed by volume. Buckets are used to measure volume of each ingredient. Normally volume of one cement bag is considered as standard (its volume is 1.25 ft3) Sand volumes are computed by using bulking factors. No additional quantity is added for coarse aggregate due to moisture. Quantity of water is effected by the moisture of fine and coarse aggregate so minimum desirable computed net quantity of water must be added.

Bucket for measuring ingredients of concrete

2-

0 6

1-

Batching by weight
It is more accurate method of batching. Each ingredient of concrete is weighted and mixed. Weighting coarse aggregate is a laborious work. Batching plants are available now a day. They are expansive and can be recommended for large projects, where the quantity of concrete is considerable. Batching plants are of three types. 1. Swinging hopper type. 2. Horizontal hopper type. 3. Simple weight batcher.

Mixing of concrete
Hand mixing Machine mixing

Mixing Platform

In hand mixing first aggregate is deposited on a platform then fine aggregate (sand) is added finally cement is spreaded on the dump of materials. Diagonal parts of material is mixed and processes is repeated for 3 to 4 times until a uniform mixture is achieved. Water is added preferably by shower or by making a ditch in the material.

Machine mixing
Concrete mixers used on building sites must conform BS 1305 :1974 Several types of concrete mixers are available like Pan mixers or forced action mixers (P) Drum mixers
1. 2. 3.

1. 2.

Tilting mixers (T) Non tilting type mixers (NT) Reversing Drum mixers

3.

Specialized mixers (Colloidal mixer)

Tilting mixers (T)

The mixing chamber is called Drum. It consists of a bowl shaped drum having vanes inside. For discharging concrete drum can be tilted.

Tilting mixers (T)

It can be with or without hopper.

Non tilting mixer (Reversing drum mixer)

Axis of mixer is always horizontal

Truck mixers
They are used when concrete is required to transport to a long distance They work with a central batching plant.

Specialized mixers (Colloidal mixer)

They are used for shotcreting. Colloidal mixers are used for mortar mixing. Cement and water is mixed at a speed of 2000 rev/min then sand is added. Pre mixing of cement and water allow better hydration

Continuous Mixers
ASTM C 685-94 discuss requirements for continuous mixing and volumetric batching. Using a modern continuous mixer Placing, compaction and finishing can all be achieved in 15 minutes.

Segregation
Segregation can be defined as the seperation of the constituents of a hetrogeneous mixture so that their distribution is no longer uniform. Segregation is of two types 1. Separation of coarse aggregate 2. Separation of grout Practical rules to avoid segregation are discussed in ACI 304R-85

Bleeding
Bleeding or water gain is a form of segregation. Water rise on the surface of freshly mixed concrete. ASTM C 232-92 describe two methods for finding bleeding.

Nominal Size of Mixer

The nominal size of mixer is described by volume of concrete after compaction (BS 1305 : 1974) it may be as low as one half of the volume of the unmixed ingredients in loose state. Mixer sizes vary from 0.04 m3 (1-1/2 ft3) up to 13 m3(460 ft3 or 17 yd3).

If quantity of mix less than 1/3 of the nominal capacity of mixer, the resulting mix may not be uniform. Uniformity of mixing represents the efficiency of mixer. For truck mixer ASTM C 94-94 specify a Rigid test taking samples from about 1/6 to 5/6 points of a batch, difference in properties of two samples should not exceeds the following Density -------------------------- 16 kg/m3 1 lb/ft3 Air content ---------------------- 1 % Slump ---------------------------- 25 mm 1 %age of aggregate Retained on 3/16 sieve --- 6 % Density of air free mortar ---- 1.6 % Compressive strength ------- 7.5 % (7 days)

Uniformity of mixing

Uniformity of mixing
BS 3963 : 1974 (1980) suggest for two samples and determination of the following. water content as %age of solids 0.1% Fine agg. As %age of total aggregate 0.5% W/C ratio 0.01% Swedish investigators suggest that uniformity of cement content is the best measure of uniformity of mixing. Variation up to 6% with 20 mm slump is ok. 8 % for mixes of lower workability. In France a radioactive tracer has been developed to determine the distribution of water or admixture. US Army corps of Engineers test method CDR-C 55-92 specifies taking samples from stationary mixers for mass concrete works and to check their uniformity.

Time of Mixing
Time of mixing is infect number of revolutions of mixer !!!!!! Generally 20 revolution with optimum speed are sufficient. Mixing time and uniformity got a relationship (Shalon and Reinitz) shown in graph. Strength of concrete increases with mixing time as shown by Abrams tests up to 2 minutes and after this time slight decrease in strength is observed. Minimum time of mixing is specified by the mixer manufacturer min mixing time for a 0.75m3 or 1 yd3 mixer is I minute . Add 15 seconds for each additional 1yd3. it is given by ASTM C 94-94 and ACI 304R-89

Transportation of concrete
Concrete can be transported from the mixing place to its final placement position by following means Wheel barrows Chutes Trucks Belt conveyers.

1. 2. 3. 4.

Testing of concrete
Concrete testing can broadly classified in to two major divisions. Green concrete Tests.
Workability tests 1. Slump test 2. Compacting factor test 3. ASTM flow test 4. Remoulding test 5. Vebe Test 6. Flow test 7. Ball penetration test 8. Nassers K-test 9. Two point tests

Testing of concrete
Hardened concrete tests.
Strength in compression
Cube test (BS 1881 : Part 111 :1983) Cylinder test (BS 1881 : Part 110 :1983) (ASTM C 192-90a

Flexural strength test Tensile test

Testing of concrete
Workability Workability determines the ease of placement and resistance to segregation. It is the amount of useful internal work necessary to produce full compaction. Glanville et al) ASTM C 125-93 says it is the property determine the effort required to manipulate a freshly mixed quantity of concrete with minimum loss of homogeneity ACI 116R-90 says it is that property of freshly mixed concrete or mortar which determines the ease and homogeneity with which it can be mixed, placed, consolidated and finished

Slump test
Slump test ASTM C 143-90a and BS 1881 : Part 102 : 1983 Slump test is performed by a frustum of cone
300 mm (12) high 200 mm (8) lower side diameter 100 mm (4) upper side diameter. It is made of steel and open from both sides. Two handles are provided. It is placed at a steel plate. Concrete of filled in three layers and compacted with (5/8) dia steel rod. 25 blows per layer. Cone is removed and concrete settle down. Decrement in height of concrete is called Slump measured to the nearest (5 mm) Slump is of three types 1.True slump 2.Shear slump 3.Collapse slump

Types of Slump

Slump

Recommended Slump Values for different works

Slab -----------------------1 to 2 Narrow column sections --- 4 to 7 Vibrating concrete ------1/2 to 1 General RC. Works ---- 2 to 6 Road work concrete ---- to 1-1/2

Curing of concrete
Curing means to keep the concrete moist , nearly saturated. Concrete surface is kept moist until the water filled pores filled by hydration products up to the desire extent. Powers shows that hydration is greatly reduced when the relative humidity within the pores drop below 80%. Loss from the concrete must be reduced.

Water loss

Water loss

Pumping of concrete
ACI Guide 304R-89 is the relevant document. Pumps are mainly of three types
1. 2. 3.

Piston type pumps or direct acting pumps Squeeze pumps or peristaltic pumps Special pumps

A slump of 50-150 mm is recommended for pumped concrete. Lubrication of pipes require 0.25 m3/100 mortar for 150 mm diameter pipe.

Pumping of concrete
Pumping capacity of different types of pumps. Type of Pump Squeeze pumps Special pumps Horizontal range 1000 m 1400 m Vertical range 30 m 120 m 430 m

Piston type pumps 90 m

Pumping of concrete
OUTPUT OF CONCRETE PUMPS

Type of Pump
Piston type Squeeze type

Out Put (m3 /hour)

130 20

Reinforcement for concrete

Reinforcement in concrete is provided to supplement its tensile strength deficiency. Reinforcement can be of bar, wires or welded wire fabric. Important properties of reinforcement are
MOE Yield strength Ultimate strength Grade designation Bar size (diameter)
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Reinforcement can be of following types. Round Bars Deformed Bars Twisted Bars Mesh or fabric High tensile wires

Reinforcement for concrete

MOE is taken as 29x106 psi or 200x106 MPa. Grade is the yield strength like Grade 40 steel exhabits 40,000 psi yield strength. Round bars are available from 3/16 to 2 and in length of 40. Deformed bars improves the bond strength between steel and concrete and provided with different shapes rings, projections on the surface. Twisted bars are prepared by twisting the bars. Yielding zone of these bars are removed by twisting. Meshes are prepared in different weights from 4-16 lbs/yd2

ASTM approved deformed bars

Types of reinforcement (ASTM)

Additives & Admixtures for concrete

Admixtures are chemicals added to concrete mix (not more than 5%) for achieving specific modifications to the normal properties of concrete. ASTM C 494-92 classify 7 types of admixtures as follows Type A Water reducing. Type B Retarding. Type C Accelerating. Type D Water reducing and retarding. Type E Water reducing and accelerating. Type F Superplasticizing. Type G Superplasticizing and retarding.

Useful Links

Concrete MIX DESIGN (PCA)

http://www.cement.org/learn/ln_mix_design.asp