11/24/2010 Concrete

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Concrete

Introduc tion

Concrete is effectively an artificial stone or rock. Its primary properties are that is is workable before hardening, strong in
compression and stays strong for extremely long timescales. Concrete is a strong hard building material composed of sand
and gravel and cement and water. It is used for making buildings, roads, bridges, vessels pipes etc etc etc. As the
concrete formulations develop concrete is increasing its range of applications such that it is making inroads into those
presently monopolised by metals. To enable concrete to withstand tensile loads it is often reinforced with steel rebars or with
natural or artificial fibres...

Concrete is a mixture of a binding agent (generally cement) to bond the other materials together :, fine aggregate (sand),
coarse aggregate ( gravel/ stones ), and water.. A typical composition is about 7-15% cement, 14-21% water and the rest
agregate. The water/ cement ratio (w/ c) of the mixture has a control over the final properties of the concrete. The
water/ cement ratio is the relative weight of the water to the cement in the mixture. The water/ cement ratio is a factor
selected by the civil engineer. Selection of a w/ c ratio gives the engineer control over two desirable properties: strength and
workability. A mixture with a high w/ c will be more workable than a mixture with a low w/ c: it will flow easier. But the less
workable the mixture, the stronger the concrete will be. The civil engineer must decide what ratio will give the best result for
the given situation. The water/ cement ratio needs to be about 0.25 to complete the hydration reaction. Typical values of
w/ c are between 0.35 and 0.40 because they give a good amount of workability without sacrificing a lot of strength.

T ypes of Conc rete

Type of Concrete Description
This is the most common type of concrete and is made mostly from portand cement,
sand, aggregate and water. It is used reinforce and un-reinforce for structures, roads,
Cement concrete
foundationa. The compositions of cement, sand and aggregate vary from 1:1:2 ( a
richest practical mixture) to 1:3 :6 (a lean mixture used for concrete filling)
Concrete not strengthened by reinforcement. Used for foundations and mass
Plain mass
structures such as damn, and gravity retaining w alls.. also called non-reinforced
concrete
concrete
A plain concrete w ith a large ratio aggregate to cement than structural concrete. It is
Lean concrete
used for filling and not structural duties
Lightw eight concrete of such a quality that it is suitable for load-bearing members of
structures. If it is a compact concrete made w ith stone aggregate , it is of
Structural concrete comparatively high density ( about 2.4 ) and great strength. If it is based on
lightw eight aggregate then high strengths are available but the design generally
requires special considerations
Lightw eight concrete of such a quality that it is suitable for load-bearing members of
structures. If it is a compact concrete made w ith stone aggregate , it is of
Reinforced
comparatively high density ( about 2.4 ) and great strength. If it is based on
concrete
lightw eight aggregate then high strengths are available but the design generally
requires special considerations
Structural concrete w hich is subjected to compression in those parts w hich in service
Prestressed
are subjecte to tensile forces so that generally,the concrete is now here is a state of
concrete
tension under the w orking load.
This is deposited in its permanent position to harden. This is the most common method
Cast in Place /Cast of construction and w hen to concrete is not deposited on the ground as for roads and
in Situ Concrete similar it is generally placed in temporary moulds or is contained w ithin formw ork or
shuttering.
This is concrete w hich placed in separate moulds, under controlled factory conditions,
to harden and w hen required transferred to site for final erection. This procedure
allow high quality concrete castings to be made at low relative costs. This method is
Precast Concrete
used for the production of paving slabs, bricks, road channels , kerbs lintels, fence
posts, bridge beams etc etc. Precast units can include re-inforcement and Engineered
steel inserts.
This is concrete w hich includes high w ater content to allow sufficient w orkability to
enable it to be placed into complicated moulds or around extensive reinforcement.
The concrete is then subject to a vacuum w hich removes significant quantities of
Vacuum Concrete w ater resulting in a stronger concrete on hardening. Pumped concrete needs to
include higher w ater content to improve the flow characteristics. If a high strength
concrete is required then special additives are use in place of the additional w ater.
Concrete pumping stations may be static or mobile
Concrete w hich is conveyed from the mixer to the point of deposit through pipes. The

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concrete is discharged from the mixer into a hopper w hich feeds it inot a pump w hich
Pumped Concrete forces it through the pipe. The pipe is 100 or 150mm dia and the method can be used
to pump over distances of 650m horizontally or 50m vertically., or some combination of
these lengths.. lengths
This process is used for the production of vessels and pipes. The process involves
Spun Concrete feeding relatively dry concrete into a rotating cylinderical mould. The concrete is flung
against the w all be centrifugal action to form a dense hard impermeable w all.
Concrete w hich is made at a mixing plant and delivered to the site in special transport
vehicles. The transport includes a rotating drum in w hich the concrete is
Ready mixed
continuously mixed until it is discharge on site. The mix specification is agreed
Concrete
betw een the supplier and the user prior to delivery and generally a high quality
product results .

Water Resistant concrete can either be w ater proofed or w atertight.

Waterproofed concrete is formed with a water resistant layer or surface whilst
the mass of concrete being ordinary concrete. The water tight layer can be
Water Resistant formed using a spray of lacquer, or applying a coat of asphalt or bitumen or
Concrete using a wash of soda (water glass)
A watertight concrete can be produced by ensuring and dense product using
tight quality control of the production process. The concrete so formed can be
sufficiently water-tight to enable use for tanks retaining water

High density concrete for use as nuclear shield w alls and ballast blocks and sea w alls
High density
can be produced by using different materials for the aggregate. Candidate materials
Concrete
include barytes, haematite, iron shot, steel shot and lead shot.
High strength high performance concrete can be produced by including short fibres in
the mix. A number of reinforcement materials are available including glass, nylon,
Fibre reinforced
polypropylene, carbon and steel. Concrete so formed as increased strength, impact
Concrete
resistance and greater strength. This is an area of concrete development w hich is
under continuous development.

Conc rete Strength / Designation

Relevant Standards..
BS EN 206-1:2000 Concrete. Specification, performance, production and conformity
BS 8500:2002, Concrete. Complementary British Standard to BS EN 206-1. Method of specifying and guidance for the
specifier
Note: BS 5328: Parts 1-4: 1997- ..Has been superseded by the above standards..

According to the above standards the compressive strength class of a concrete is expressed as

Prefix: C for normal-weight and heavyweight concrete or LC for lightweight concrete

The minimum characteristic 150 300mm cylinder strength required
A Backslash (/ )
The equivalent minimum characteristic 150mm (and, in the UK, 100mm) cube strength required.

The compressive strength classes are in N/ mm (MPa)

Typical concrete classes include

Normal Concretes
C8/ 10, C12/ 15, C16/ 20, C20/ 25, C25/ 30, C28/ 35, C30/ 37, C32/ 40, C40/ 50, C50/ 60, C55/ 67,
C60/ 75, C70/ 85, C90/ 105, C100/ 115
Lightweight Concretes
LC8/ 9, LC12/ 13, LC16/ 18, LC20/ 22, LC25/ 28, LC30/ 33, LC35/ 38, LC40/ 44, LC50/ 55, LC55/ 60,
LC60/ 66, C70/ 77, LC80/ 88

Density of Conc rete

Concrete is produced in a range of densities as listed below

Plain Concrete, with natural stone aggregate ...2300 kg/ m3

Plain Concrete, with natural Broken brick aggregate...2000 kg/ m3
Reinforced Concrete, with dense aggregate ...2400 kg/ m3
Reinforced Concrete, with dense aggregate ...2400 kg/ m3
Lightweight cellular (aerated) Concrete ...641 kg/ m3
Lightweight aggregate structural grade Concrete ...1760 kg/ m3
Lightweight aggregate (structural grade) Concrete ...1760 kg/ m3
Steelshot aggregate Concrete ...5285 kg/ m3

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