Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Concrete Durability:
Industry Perspective*
Vijay Kulkarni
Principal Consultant, Ready-Mixed Concrete Manufacturers
Association (RMCMA)
Former President, Indian Concrete Institute (ICI)
Former Editor, The Indian Concrete Journal (ICJ)
Cement/SCM Silos
Aggregate Conveyor
Twin-Shaft Mixer
Aggregate Bins
1st Phase of Development
Establishment of
RMC facilities in
Delhi
metropolitan
centres
Kolkata
Mumbai Hyderabad
Bangalore
Chennai
2nd Phase of Development
56 Major Cities
1 Amritsar 29 Mangalore
2 Ahmedabad 30 Mohali
3 Baddi-HP 31 Mumbai
4 Bangalore 32 Mysore
5 Bhubneswar 33 Nashik
6 Chennai 34 Nagpur
7 Coimbatore 35 Navi Mumbai
8 Derabasi
9 Durgapur
36 NOIDA
37 Panchkula
10 Faridabad 38 Pune
11 Giaspura 39 Ranchi
12 Ghaziabad 40 Raipur
13 Gurgaon 41 Rajkot
14 Gauhati 42 Rudrapur
15 Goa 43 Sahibabad
16 Hyderabad 45 Sonepat
17 Hubli
18 Indore
46 Surat
47 Surajpur
19 Jalandhar 48 Thane
20 Jaipur 49 Trichy
21 Kochi 50 Tuticorin
22 Kolkata 51 Trivandram
23 Kolhapur 52 Thrissur
24 Lalkuan 53 Vapi
25 Lucknow 54 Vijaywada
26 Ludhiana 55 Visakhapattanam
27 Madura 56 Vadodara
28 Manipal
Size of Organized Concrete Industry
(including RMC Industry)
(Rough Estimates)
Year Cement Consumption App. Concrete
through RMC Route Production
( 2012)
Spain 87.6 (21.6)
Italy 77.4 (40)
Turkey 46.3 (93)
India* 45* ??
Source: ERMCO
* Not authentic; contains organized concrete industry data collected from private sources.
RMC: A Mockery?
RMC: A Pretense or Farce?
Why Production Control Criteria?
Unlike steel, aluminium, glass, etc. concrete is
processed but unfinished material at delivery time
Factors affecting quality (including durability) :
Controls exercised in process control measures during
productionIntermixing of Aggregates
Indigenous in character
Based on two strong pillars
Best practices from advanced countries
Strict adherence to various BIS codes of
practice
RMCMA Quality Manuals
No. of audited plants
M
u
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
B a mb
n a
De ga i
18
lh lo re
i
25
H y (NC
de R)
ra
b
28
K o ad
lk
15
at
Co a
9
im o G
ba a
3
to
N a re
4
gp
N a ur
2
sh
ik
1
M Pu
an ne
ga
l
12
M o re
an
i 2
C h pal
en
1
na
Hu i
19
C o b li
1
ch
in
S
4
Va u r
A h d od at
4
m ar
ed a
(March 2012)
ab
3
a
M d
ys
8
or
Ja e
2
ip
u
Tr r
i
3
L u chy
ck
1
224 Plants
no
Ra w
3
50-plus locations
nc
Ra hi
1
ip
ur
1
City-wise Certified Plants
Efforts in Enhancing
Production Control Criteria
Multi-stakeholder Ownership
Auditing: Completely Independent character
RMCMA signs MoU with QCI on Dec. 11, 2011 to
develop a New Quality Scheme
What is QCI ?
Steering Committee
Sieve analysis of fine and coarse aggregates IS 2386- Part I one set for C.A.
and F.A.
Agg. Sampling (sieve shaker/sample divider) IS 2430 One
Other accessories
Electronic weighing balance One
Laboratory mixer(min 50 lit) One
Electric microwave oven (IS 11332) One
Table / needle vibrator, tamping rods One
Curing tank with temperature control One
Shovels, trowels, flexible spatulas, meter, Sufficient nos.
Quality of Incoming Materials
Material IS Conformity Physical and Testing at NABL-accredited Lab
Requirements Chemical Testing
Cement IS 8812 (OPC) Manufacturers First consignment of each brand
IS 12269 (OPC) certificate for each Once in a year for used brands or
IS 1489 (PPC) consignment change of source
IS 455 (PSC)
Fly ash IS 3812 (Part 1 Manufacturers BIS conformity tests once in six
and 2) certificate for each month or when source changed
consignment
GGBS IS 12089 and Manufacturers BIS/BS conformity tests once in six
BS 6699 certificate for each month or when source changed
consignment
India
1994: Beginning of commercial RMC
2002: RMCMA established 6 years
2008: Quality Scheme commenced
5 years
2013: QCI certification launched
Specifying Concrete as per
BS EN 8500 & ISO 22965
Methods of Specifying
Concrete
Designated concretes Production control certification essential
manufacturer provide
70.0
60.0
50.0
40.0
uniformity data on
30.0
20.0
request
10.0
0.0
1-day SD= 1.04 MPa
Urgent need to modify
Indian Standards on
cement to include this
Uniformity Chart of a major Indian brand provision.
Properties of Ingredient Influencing
Durability: Aggregates
Dredging restrictions on sand from natural
sources
Industry constrained to use Crushed Stone Sand
(CSS)
What constitutes CSS?
IS 383 definition of CSS
Fine aggregate produced by crushing hard stone
IS 383 draft revision (2014) introduced one
more term - Blended sand
Fine aggregate produced by blending natural sand and
crushed stone sand or crushed gravel sand in suitable
proportions
Glimpses of Natural Sand Quality
40 Without washing)
Silt content, % volume
35
30
25 After washing)
20
15
10
5
0
ep ep ep ep ep ep ep ep ep
1 -S 3 -S 5 -S 7 -S 9 -S 1 -S 3 -S 5 -S 7 -S
1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2
Properties of Ingredient Influencing
Durability: Aggregates
120
120
Paradeep,
Nellore, 100
100 Orrisa
Tamil nadu
80
80
60 60
Min. Min.
40 40
20 20
0 0
Max. Max.
10 4.75 2.36 1.18 0.6 0.3 0.15 10 4.75 2.36 1.18 0.6 0.3 0.15
120
R. SAND Min. Max. CSS
Boisar
120 100 (near Mumbai)
100 Hospet,
80
Karnataka
80 60
Max. Min.
60 40
Min.
40 20
20 0
Max.
10 4.75 2.36 1.18 0.6 0.3 0.15
0
10 4.75 2.36 1.18 0.6 0.3 0.15
R. SAND Min. Max. CSS
Properties of Ingredient Influencing
Durability: Aggregates
Limits of Deviations
Sieve size, mm Maximum
deviation, %
9.5 -
4.75 5
2.36 10
1.18 15
0.6 15
0.3 10
0.15 5
0.075 3
Properties of Ingredient Influencing
Durability: Fly Ash
Uniformity Requirement of Fly Ash
Blaine's fineness 320 m2/kg (min)
Particles retained on 45 sieve 34% (max)
Lime reactivity 4.5 MPa (min)
28-day Compressive strength Not less than 80% of control
IS 3812 requirement
Variation
% retained on 45 micron
50
in Fly
40
30
Ash
sieve
20
Quality 10
0
Dominant Grades of Concrete
supplied by major RMC Players
30
30 25 25 25 25
25 20 20
20
15
10
5
0
Customer Specified Mixes:
Some Examples
Customer-Specified Mixes: Some
Examples (Grade M25)
production
Min. cement Max. fly ash RMC
content content Customer Producer
Need of the Hour
Try to give the producer as much choice
as possible. Clause 5.2.1 of ISO 22965-
Part I
Provide freedom to RMC producer to
design his own mix under designed
mix category as permitted under IS
4926
Encourage optimization of mixes for
strength and durability
Improving Durability through
Enhanced utilization of SCMs
7 day
28 day
56 day
90 day
Compressive strength
Other Examples of HVFAC
50
44.64
45 200
39.99 42.26
40 160
34.65 37.63 120
35 115 122
80 100
30 61 143 169
72 100
25 21.34 26.27 40
0
20 18.92
15 7 day 28 day
56 day 90 day
7-day 28-day 56-day 90-day
Typical Triple Blend Concrete
160
120
80 156
122
100
40 57
0
7 day 28 day 56 day 90 day
Recent Changes in Durability
Specifications of IRST and IRC
IRST Concrete Bridge Code (1997)
Exposure classes similar to those in IS 456
Provisions of maximum w/b ratio and min.
cementitious contents
* Hearn, N, Hooton, R. J, and Nokken, M. Pore structure, permeability and penetration resistance characteristics of concrete.. Significance of tests and properties of concrete and
concrete making materials, ASTM STP 169D, ASTM International, 2006, pp. 237-252.
RCPT and Strength Data
(OPC 350 kg/m3 and w/c ratio = 0.50)
6000 50
5510
45
5000
40
3572 35
RCPT Value, Coloumb
4000
3451
3198 30
3000 25
2489
20
2000
15
10
1000
5
0 0
0 35 40 45 50
3500
50
3000
COmpressive strength, MPa
40
2275 2500
30 2000
1627 1480
1420
1495 1340 1500
20
1000
10
500
0 0
0 35 40 45 50 60 70