Quality of Ready Mix Concrete

By Said Ahmmed Jodeh

Introduction:
Concrete is composed principally of aggregates, a Portland or blended cement, water, and may contain other cementitious materials and/or chemical admixtures. This paper research in the factors assign ready mix concrete quality through the vision of new version of Qatar national construction standards QCS 2007 and related international standards in both concrete stages, fresh and hardened .

1.1 Uniformity:
Uniformity of fresh concrete is important to assure the quality of fresh concrete, it can be measured by the following tests: 1.1.1Slump test: The purpose of the slump test is to determine the consistency of the concrete it is a measure of the relative fluidity or mobility of the concrete mixture. Slump does not measure the water content or workability of the concrete, it is true that an increase or decrease in the water content will cause a corresponding increase or decrease in the slump of the concrete provided that all of the other materials and conditions are constant. However, many factors can cause the slump of the concrete to change without any change in the water content such as a change in the aggregate properties or gradation, mix proportions, air content, concrete temperature, cementing properties, super plasticizer type and/or content. QCS 2007 section5 part 6 specify tolerance for different slump values table 1. Table 1 : tolerance for design slump value Specified Slump(mm)* 50 75 100 and above Tolerance(mm) -10/+35 -15/+35 -20/+40 * The slump test shall be carried out in accordance with BS EN 12350-2. 1.1.2 Temperature Test: Concrete temperature is the one of the most important factors influencing quality, time of set, and strength of the concrete. A concrete with a high initial temperature will probably have higher than normal early strength and lower than normal later strength. By controlling the concrete temperature within acceptable limits, immediate and future problems may be avoided such as slump loss, plastic shrinkage cracks and others. Temperature of fresh concrete test shall be carried out accordance with ASTM C1064, the maximum of fresh concrete at the point of placement shall not be more than (32oC). as in QCS 2007 Section 5 part 15.

1.1.3 Unit weight (Fresh Density) test of fresh concrete: The density test is a very important tool used to control the quality of freshly mixed concrete. QCS 2007 section 5 part 7. After a concrete mix proportion has been batched, a change in the density of concrete will indicate a change in one or more of the other concrete performance requirements. A lower density may indicate the followings: Materials have been changed (lower specific gravity). Higher air content. Higher water content. Change in the proportion of ingredients. Lower cement content. Conversely, the higher density would indicate the reverse of the above mentioned concrete characteristic. A lower density of fresh concrete from the established concrete mix proportion will generally indicate an over-yield. This means that the required cement content for (1 m3) is diluted to produce a greater volume of concrete. Therefore, lower strength is to be expected as well as a reduction of the other desirable quality of concrete. If the reduction of the density of the concrete was due to an increase in air content, possibly the concrete will be more durable in its resistance to cycles of freezing and thawing, but the strength, abrasion resistance, resistance to chemical attack, shrinkage, and cracking qualities of concrete will be adversely affected. 1.1.4 Air content Test: Air entrainment is necessary in concrete and not only in cold weather where freezing and thawing effect will take place but it is recommended also for sulfate exposure to reduce cracks in concrete due to volume change and formation of ettringite calcium sulfoaluminate. The microscopic entrained air voids of approx. 100 m in diameter provide a source of internal pressure relief within the concrete to accommodate the pressures that develop as ice crystals or form the formation of ettringite in the pores and capillaries of the concrete. However, as the air content increase (above 5%) there will be a corresponding reduction in the strength of the concrete. Typically, strength reduction will be on the order of 3 to 5 percent for each one percent of air content above the designed value. 1.2 Workability of fresh concrete: Workability is the property of fresh mixed concrete that determines the ease with which it can be mixed, placed, consolidated, and finished to homogeneous conditions. QCS 2007 section 5 Part 6 consider slump test as a customary measure of workability.

Concrete workability specify according to conditions under which is to be placed size and shape of member, spacing of reinforcing, or other details interfering with the ready filling of the forms. For example, a stiff mixture with large aggregate that is workable in a large open form would not be place able in a thin wall with complicated reinforcing details. Accordingly, QCS 2007 Section 5 part 6 specifies using plasticizer or water reducing admixture in case of adequate workability is difficult to obtain at the maximum water cement ratio allowed. 1.3 Setting time of concrete: The past forms when cement is mixed with water remain plastic for a short period of time not exceeding 3 hours. The setting process is divided into stages, a) initial setting b) final setting depending on the resistance to penetration by a standard probe as in ASTM C403. Before the initial setting time of concrete, it is still possible to disturb the concrete and remix it without injury. Later re-vibration can be beneficial for concrete strength. At the time of final setting, the concrete has become rigid fractures rather than flows as increasing stress is applied. Accordingly, setting time of concrete shall be complying with construction sequence to assign the timing for transportation; placing, consolidation, finishing and curing of concrete. 2. Concrete in the Hardened Stage: The quality of concrete which is in a hardened state and which has developed certain strength could be asses as follow. 2.1 Compressive, tensile or flexural strength. Most the concrete is bought and sold on the basic of strength test results. Therefore, strength test specimens are very important in the concrete construction industry, they must be made according to BSEN 12390 for two reasons: a) the result are reliable b) The test can be reproduce by some one else with the same concrete, following the same procedure and getting nearly the same results. QCS 2007 Section 5 Part1 details standard procedure for molding and curing concrete cubes and beams, specimens must be molded according to standard procedure and cured under proper temperature and moisture conditions as details in table 2, if this procedures are not followed the strength test results are unreliable.

Table2:Standard requirements for handling the standard concrete specimens. 1.Inicial curing (B.S EN 12390-2:2000) Cover each mould with a damp cloth and Plastic sheet. Protect the cube at all time against shock, vibration and dehydration . Store the specimens inside at normal room, temperature (15C To 25C* ) . 2. Demolding Specimens (B.S EN 12390-2:2000) Demould the specimens to be tested (16 to 72 )hrs After the batching time . 3.Final Curing(B.S EN 12390-2:2000) Immediately after demoulding the specimens should be cured in water at a temperature(18C to 22C). 4.Transportation of specimens to the lab.(B.S EN 12390-2:2000) Avoid loss of moisture and deviations from the required temperature at all stages of transporting Packing the hardened test specimens in wet Sand or wet clothes, or sealed in plastic bags * It can be waved to 30C in hot weather. Assessment compressive test results of hardened concrete: Strength test results analysis is one of important factors in the assessment of concrete quality QCS 2007 section 5 part 6 specifies conditions for strength results acceptance as the following conditions. The strength of cubes (average) shall not be less than required minimum strength. The mean strength shall be greater than the required characteristic strength by at least the current margin, more details in QCS 2007 section 5 part 6 about the current margin. The strength test results obtained from standard concrete specimens represent the potential strength of the concrete rather than the actual strength in the structure. Variation in standard specimens strength results may originate from any of the following sources. Batch To Batch variation of the proportions and characteristics of the constituent materials in the concrete, the production, delivery, handling process, and climate conditions. Within test variation of sampling, specimens preparation, curing, and testing procedure. 2.2 Durability of concrete. It is the ability of concrete to resist weathering action, chemical attack, abrasion, and other conditions of service, recently it is the most common factor used to measure concrete quality especially in the critical and huge structures.

Factors affect the durability of concrete: 2.2.1 Permeability: The ability of concrete to withstand the ingress and diffusion of aggressive agents is governed by its permeability. The cover zone in particular is intended to act as a barrier between the reinforcing steel and the aggressive environment for which its quality is therefore of primary importance in durability considerations. QCS 2007 section 5 part 6 specify two category of concrete according to permeability a)impermeable concrete . b) high impermeable concrete. 2.2.2 Binder Type. Most widely used cement types are OPC, SRPC, requirements for these different types are specify in QCS 2007 section 5 part 3. Supplementary cementitous material has been used in concrete mixtures since 1970s to enhance the durability and other concrete properties. The most common used in the Gulf area are Micro Silica (M.S) ,Pulverized Fuel Ash (P.F.A), ground granulated blats Furness (G.G.B.S). The optimum amount to use should be established by testing, to determine a) whether the material is indeed improving the properties. b) To determine the correct dosage rate in order to achieve the desired effect Accordingly, QCS 2007 section 5 part 6 specify limits for dosage. 2.2.3 Binder Content. High cementitituos material content will be beneficial for concrete durability specially when SCM is used but in case of mass concrete and high ambient temperature prevailing in the Gulf region has caused significant problems with respect to heat of hydration induced cracking in major concrete structures. Therefore QCS 2007 section 5 part 6 specify the maximum limit for cement content in the mixture to be 450 kg/m3 to control the heat of hydration but it is recommended to do further tests in case of mass concrete, see figure (1).

Figure (1) : conceptual graph showing durability v. binder content.

2.2.4 Design and Construction The dominant form of deterioration of concrete structures in the Gulf region is corrosion of reinforcement resulting from inadequate concrete cover, improper consolidation and insufficient curing or a combination. Some studies showed that improper curing can result in a 10 to 15 times reduction in the permeability of cover zone. in QCS 2007 section 5 part 10 more details about curing requirements. 2.3 Appearance and geometric requirements. Quality of concrete appearance is important specially in an exposed surface concrete should met the appearance requirements. Flatness and Levelness present the geometry of the structure surface which measure the degree to which a surface approximates a plane and the degree to which a line or surface parallels horizontally. The degree of flatness and levelness are depend the structure type and requirements see QCS 2007 section 24 part 9 . Conclusion: The quality of a ready mix concrete does not mean the highest strength value as known in the construction field but it is a chain of requirements in both concrete stages, fresh and hardened. To achieve this requirements a comprehensive quality control procedure in the QCS 2007 shall be applied in the concrete batch plant as well as in the construction site to control testing of raw materials, concrete batching, casting, consolidation, curing and others.

Writer Said Ahmmed Jodeh Technical manager of Al Wataniya Concrete - Qatar Bachelor's degree in Civil engineering from An Najah National University A.C.I concrete construction special inspector, hold many certificates from ACI P.C.S member, has many researches and articles in concrete. (E-Mail : saeedjoudeh067@yahoo.com) (Mobile : 009745838219)