Concrete and

concrete
components
Beton

Source Wikipedia - adapted

Programme CONCRETE
What is it?
Chemistry of concrete?
What is it used for?
Records?
What is CMU?
Advantages?

Concrete-(theory)

- construction admixture that consists of cement (commonly Portland cement),

aggregate (generally gravel plus sand) and water.
Concrete solidifies and hardens after mixing and placement due to a chemical
process known as hydration. The water reacts with the cement, which bonds
the other components together, eventually creating a stone-like material.
It is used to make pavements, architectural structures, foundations,
motorways/roads, overpasses, parking structures, brick/block walls and
footings for gates, fences and poles.
Concrete is used more than any other manmade material on the planet. As of
2005 about six billion cubic meters of concrete are made each year, which
equals one cubic meter for every person on Earth. Concrete powers a US $35
billion industry which employs more than two million workers in the United
States alone. More than 55,000 miles of freeways and highways in America
are made of this material. The Peoples Republic of China currently consumes
40% of the world's cement [concrete] production.

Composition: 1. cement
2. aggregates
3. water

4. chemical admixtures
5. mineral admixtures and blended cements
6. fibers

Concrete block

Blocks of cinder concrete (cinder blocks" or "breezeblocks"),

ordinary concrete (concrete blocks"), or hollow tile are generically
known as Concrete Masonry Units (CMU)s. They usually are much
larger than ordinary bricks and so are much faster to lay for a wall of
a given size. Furthermore, cinder and concrete blocks have much
lower water absorption rates than brick. They often are used as the
structural core for veneered brick masonry, or are used alone for the
walls of factories, garages and other "industrial" buildings where
such appearance is acceptable or desirable. Such blocks often
receive a stucco surface for decoration. Surface-bonding cement,
which contains synthetic fibers for reinforcement, is sometimes used
in this application and can impart extra strength to a block wall.
Surface-bonding cement is often pre-colored and can be stained or
painted thus resulting in a finished stucco-like surface.

Concrete blocks-advantages

The primary structural advantage of concrete blocks in

comparison to smaller clay-based bricks is that a CMU wall can be
reinforced by filling the block voids with concrete with or
without steel rebar. Generally, certain voids are designated for
filling and reinforcement, particularly at corners, wall-ends, and
openings while other voids are left empty. This increases wall
strength and stability more economically than filling and reinforcing
all voids. Another type of steel reinforcement, referred to as ladderreinforcement, can also be embedded in horizontal mortar joints of
concrete block walls. The introduction of steel reinforcement
generally results in a CMU wall having much greater lateral and
tensile strength than un-reinforced walls.
Some concrete blocks are colored, and some employ a split face, a
technique that results in two blocks being manufactured as one unit
and later split into two. This gives the blocks a rough face replicating
the appearance of natural, quarried stone, such as brownstone. For
applications such as roadway sound control walls, the face
patterns may be complex and even artistic.

test

1) Fill in the missing parts of

composition:
A) Cement
B) Water
C) Aggregates
D) Chemical admixtures
5) Mineral admixtures and blended
cements
6) Fibers
2) Concrete industry earns (per
year):
A) 35 million Dollars
B) 35 billion Dollars
C) 35 trillion Dollars
D) 35 thousand Dollars
3) The concrete industry in USA
employs:
A) 6 million workers
B) 14 million workers
C) 1 million workers
D) Over 2 million workers

4) Which country consumes 40 %

of the worlds concrete
production?
A) USA
B) Czech Republic
C) China
D) Russia
5) How much concrete was made
in 2005?
A) 1 billion cubic meters
B) 60 million cubic meters
C) 10 billion cubic meters
D) 6 billion cubic meters
6) How we can use concrete shaft
ring?
A) As a roof
B) As a wall
C) As a well
D) As stairs

test 2-nd part

7) Which material we dont

need for concrete mixer plant?
A) Water
B) Cement
C) Wood
D) Aggregates
8) Which material is used more
than any other on the planet?
A) Concrete
B) Wood
C) Bricks
D) Reed
9) Concrete bricks are usually:
A) Bigger than ordinary
B) Smaller than ordinary
C) The same as ordinary bricks

10) How many miles of

freeways and highways are
made in America of concrete?
A) 77,000 miles
B) 55,000 miles
C) 35, 000 miles
D) 98,000 miles
11) Cinder and concrete blocks
have ...water absorption
rates than bricks.
A) much lower
B) comparable
C) slightly bigger
D) much bigger
12) Hydration is
A) a natural process when
materials absorb water
B) a chemical process when
concrete solidifies and hardens
C) a material property of concrete
to keep water

Concrete
component
unit

Column footing

Wall footing

Concrete desk

Concrete wall

Izolace

Typical shapes of concrete block

Typical shapes

Other shapes

Other shapes

Concrete girder

Concrete lintel

Concrete truss

Concrete stairs

Concrete shaft ring

Concrete pipeline

Concrete column

Concrete pavement

Concrete panel

Concrete tile

Concrete lintel