IRC 44-1976

TENTATIVE GUIDELINES
FOR
CEMENT CONCRETE
MIX DESIGN
FOR PAVEMENTS
(FOR NON-AIR ENTRAINED AND CONTINUOUSLY
GRADED CONCRETE)
(First Revision)
THE INDIAN ROADS CONGRESS
1996
<<
IRC: 44-1976
TENTATIVE GUIDELINES
FOR
CEMENT CONCRETE
MIX DESIGN
FOR PAVEMENTS
(FOR NON-AIR ENTRAINED AND CONTINUOUSLY
GRADED CONCRETE)
(First Revision)
Published by
The Indian Roads Congress,
Jamnagar House, Shabjahan Road,
New Dellui-11001l
1996
Price Rs. 80/-
(Plus Packing & Postage)
<<
IRC: 44-1976
First Published
First Revision
Reprinted
Reprinted
August, 1972
December, 1976
August, 1996
October, 2000
(Rights of Publication and of Translation are reserved)
Printed a t Dee Kay Printers, New Delhi
(500 copies)
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IRC: 44-1976
TENTATIVE GUIDELINES FOR CEMENT CONCRETE
MIX DESIGN FOR PAVEMENTS
(For Non-Air-Entrained and Continuously Graded Concrete)
1. INTRODUCrION
1.1. The problem of designing amix for a given purpose can
be equated to obtaininga concrete of the required strength, durability
and workability at lowest cost, by a suitable choice of materials and
the proportions in which these may be combined. In doing so, the
relative importance of the different factors that influence the quality
of concrete should be understood. The strength of concrete depends
upon many factors, e.g. quality and quantity of cement, water and
aggregates; batching; mixing; placing; compaction; curing; etc. The
water-cement ratio is the principal controlling factor for strength of
concrete. Since the quantity of water controls the workability for given
materials, different workabilities can be obtained by changing the
water content but keeping the water-cement ratio and hence
strength the same. The choice of proportions is governed by the
satisfactory condition of concrete in two states, namely, the plastic
at~dthe hardened state. If the condition of the plastic concrete is
not satisfactory, a fully compacted, dense and/or uniform concrete
can not be obtained and its structural value will be greatly reduced.
1~heproperty of workability, therefore, becomes of vital importance.
1.2. Against this background, it is not possible to lay down
any mathematical formulae that would enable us to obtain the best
possible mix. The same holds true for the charts, tables or curves
presented by various organisations. These provide only a means of
arriving at a reasonably satisfactory choice of proportions. Since the
aggregates may have widely differing characteristics, and the cement
strength may also vary considerably from factory to factory, it is
alwaysdesirable to get the mix designed in laboratory with the mate-
rials proposed to be utilised in the work. Moreover, depending on
process and control variances in the field, one should also be prepa-
red to make final adjustments in the mix at the site.
1.3. These Guidelines do not debar adoption of any other
accepted method of mix design.
1.4. The Guidelines were prepared by the Cement Concrete
Road Surfacing~Committee(personnel given below). These were then
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IRC: 44-1976
processed and approved by the Specifications and Standards Com-
mittee in their meeting held on the 18th and 19th November, 1971.
Later, these were finally approved by the Executive Committee in
their meeting held on the 26th and 27th Aprih 1972 and by the Coun-
cil in their 78th meeting held at Nainital on the 10th July, 1972.
PERSONNEL OF THE CEMENT CONCRETE ROAD
SURFACING COMMiTTEE
1. K.K, Nambiar Convenor
2. Dr. R.K. Ghosh Member-Secretary
Members
3. M. M. Bose 11. A.R. Satyanarayana Rao
4. B.R. Chopra 12. N.y. Shastry
5 . Dr. M.P. Dhir 13. S.B.P. Sinha
6. C.LN. Iyengar 14. S.N. Sinha
7. M.D. Kale 15. N.S. Surya
8. Dr. S.K. Khanna 16. H.G. Verma
9. Col OP. Narula 17. Dr. H,C. Visvesvaraya
10. N. L. Patel
1.5. The Guidlines were later amended by the Cement Con-
crete Road Surfacing Committee in their meeting held at New
Delhi on the 26th November 1974 and then processed by the
Specifications and Standards Committee. This publication contains
the revised Guidelines as finally approved for the use of the mem-
bers of the profession.
2. GUIDELINES
2.1. Basic Data for Mix Design
2.1.1. The following are required to be specified for design of
a cement concrete mix:
(a) Minimum compressive strength/flexural strength of con-
crete in the field at 28 days.
(b) Maximum size of aggregate to be used and its type.
(c) Degree of workability, related to the compaction equip-
ment available.
(d) Degree of quality controlexpected to be exercisedvery
good, good or fair-and permissible coefficient of variation
or standard deviation.
(e) Accepted tolerance level.
2.1 .2. The specific stipulations in respe~tof the above items
should conform to requirements laid down in IRC: l5~1970*,if the
*Standard Specifications and Code of Practice for Construction of Concrete
Roads
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IRC:44-1976
work pertains to concrete pavement. For other works, stipulations
of relevant specifications may be consulted.
2.2. Tests for Materials
For design of mix, it will be necessary to carry out the following
tests on materials:
(a) Cement: (i) Compressive strength of cement at 7 days
(IS: 269~1967*).
(ii) Specific gravity of cement (IS: 269~l967*)
(Assume a value of 3.15, if test is not pos-
sible).
(b) Aggregate: (i) Specific gravity (IS:2386 Part 111-1963+).
(ii) Per cent water absorption (IS: 2386 Part
111-1963+).
(iii) Sieve analysis (IS: 2386 Part I-19634-~).
2.3. Selection of Aggregate Grading
2.3.1. The aggregate grading should conform to IS:3831970@.
Insofar as the grading of coarse aggregates isconcerned, there are no
specific requirements laid down in the above Indian Standard. How-
ever, to achieve good results with normal aggregates at comparative
ease, it isadvisable to have suitable grading zonesfor coarse aggregates
for the purpose of guidance, as exist in many international standards
such as British, German, American, Russian, etc. Of course, these
grading should in no sense be regarded as ideal gradings, and it
may sometimes be necessary to make final adjustments in the
gradings at site, though such adjustments generally involve only
minor alterations in the ratio of fine to coarse aggregate. The coarse
aggregate gradings suggested by the Transport and Road Research
Laboratary, U.K., are given in Table I. Out of the three zones in
Table 1, zone B is considered more suitable than zones A and C.
*Ordinary, Rapid Hardening and Low Heat Portland Cement.
Specific Gravity, Density, Voids, Absorption and Bulking.
+ +Particle Size and Shape.
@Coarse and Fine Aggregates from Natural Sources for Concrete.
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IRC: 441976
TABLE 1: SUGGESTED COARSE AGGREGATE GRADINGS
Nominal maximum
size ofaggregate(mm)
Zone
A
Per cent passing I.S. sieve sizes (mm)
40
100
20
34-40
10
16-18
4.75
0
40 B
C
A
100
100
100
40-45
45-53
100
18-20
20-25
21-32
0
0
0
20 B
C
100
100
100
100
31-40
40-52
0
0
Note: Allowance for oversize in the nominal maximum size of aggregates
shall be limited to 5 per cent.
2.3.2. Sometimes it may be necessary to combine two or more
coarse aggregate fractions to obtain a grading approximating to the
one required. Among the several methods available for this purpose
the trial method is simple and convenient to apply. The same is
described in Annexure I.
2.4. Design Strength for Concrete
2.4.1. Jn order to get the specified minimum compressive stren-
gth in the field, the concrete mix has to be designed for somewhat
higher average compressive strength depending on the degree of qua-
lity control (denoted through permissible coefficient of variation or
standard deviation) and the tolerance level. The average strength(S) at
28 days for which the mix might be designed isgiven by the equation:
S
1 t.v/lOO (1)
where ,~=minimum compressive strength (kg/sq. cm.) in the
field at 28 days,
t = factor (dimensionless) depending on specified tolerance
level, and
v = coefficient of variation (per cent) specified.
2.4.2. The values of tin equation (1) for different tolerance
levels are given in Table 2.
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IRC: 44-1976
TABLE 2: VALUES OP TOLERANCE FACTOR (t)
No. of samples
Tolerance level
1 in 10 1 in 15 1 in 20 1 in 40 tin 100
10
20
30
c~(Infinite)
1.37 1.65 1.81 2.23 2.76
1.32 1.58 1.72 2.09 2.53
1.31 1.54 1.70 2.04 2.4~
1.28 1.50 1.64 1.96 2.33
Note: In case of a major concretingjob, where large number of samples
will be tested, it would be appropriate to adopt a tolerance Lctor
corresponding toinfinite number of samples.
2,4.3. In Table 3 are worked out the average design strengths
for concrete for different combinations of specified minimum stren-
gth, tolerance level and coefficient of variation corresponding to an
infinite number of samples. On smaller jobs where only a finite
number of samples will be tested, the corresponding average design
strengths can be obtained by application of appropriate tolerance
factors from Table 2 in equation (1).
TABLE 3: AVERAGE DESIGN STRENGTHS FOR CONCRETE FOR
DIFFERENT DEGREES OF QUALITY CONTROL AND
TOLERANCE LEVELS
Minimum specified concrete strength at 28 days (kg/cm)
Notes: I. The average design strengths given in the table are for tole-
rance factors corresponding to infinite number of samples as
given in Table 2.
2. According to IRC: 15-1970, the tolerance level and permis-
sible coefficient of variation for paving concrete are 1 in 15
and 10 per cent respectively.
Degree of qua-
lity control
Very good
Good
Fair
U
V
0
I-
tin 15
I in 10
1 in 10
10
15
20
235
250
270
linl5 7
linlS 10
linlO 15
310
325
340
1 in 20
1 in 15
7
10
400
415
5
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IRC : 44-1976
U
L~~J
z
a
I.
I,
N
2.5. Selection of Water-Cement Ratio
2.5.1. As the cement strength may vary widely from factory
to factory, it is not possible to have a single curve of correlation
between water-cement ratio and compressive strength of concrete.
A set ofsuch curves with 7-days compressive strength of cement as
the third parameter is given in Fig I for purpose of guidance. These
curves are the same as those under Appendix A of IS: 456~1964*
but drawn in different form. From Fig.!, for a particular cement
400
3 00
200
I 00
0
0.4 04 0.6 1 .0
WATER-CEMENT RATIO BY WT.
Fig. I. Design curve for cement concrete mixes in relation to
7-days compressive strength of cement
the compressive strength at 7 days, of which is known, the water-
cement ratio for the average compressive strength (S of equation 1)
of concrete for which the mix is to be designed can be selected.
Where design is based on fiexural strength of concrete, the approxi-
mate relationship between compressive and fiexural strength of
concrete may be obtained from Annexure II.
* Code of Practice for Plain and Reinforced Concrete
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IRC : 44-1976
2.6. Selection of Water and Sand Content
2.6.1. To design the mix, water and sand contents per unit
volume of concrete are to be estimated in the first instance and this
. depends upon the maximum size of aggregate, moisture content in the
aggregate, workability, type of aggregate, etc. The values of water
and sand contents for different maximum sizes of crushed (angular)
aggregate are given in Table 4 for a particular water-cement
ratio of 0.50, slump of 25 mm and fineness modulus of 2.60 for sand.
TABLE 4: APPROXIMATE SAND AND WATER CONTENTS PER
Cunic METRE OF CONCRETE (FOR W/C = 0.50,
SLUMP = 25 MM AND SAND F.M. = 2.60)
Maximum sizeof
aggregate (mm)
8t) mm (3)
Water content on saturated
surface dry basis per cu.m.
of concrete (kg)*
Sand in per cent
of total aggr. by
abs. vol. (%)
172.0
28.0
4Omm(ll)
25 mm (1)
175.0
177.5
33.5
38.0
20 mm (i) 178.0 40.0
*Note: By saturated surface dry condition, it is understood that the
aggregates are fully saturated but there is no free moisture
present at the surface. If the aggregates are not in this condition,
water to be added in the mixer shall be required to be increased
or decreased to make up the difference depending on whether the
aggregates are dry or wet.
2.6.2. For other conditions of water-cement ratio, slump and
fineness modulus of sand, and for rounded aggregate, certain adjust-
ments in the water and sand contents are necessary, which are given
in Table 5.
TABLE 5 ADJUSTMENT OF VALUES IN WATER AND SAND
CONTENTS FOR OTHER CONDITIONS
Changes in conditions stipulated
in Table 4
Adjustment required in
Water content
Sand content
Each 0.05 increase or decrease
in w/c ratio
Each 0.1 increase or decrease
in F.M. of sand
Each 25 mm increase or decrease
in slump
Rounded aggregate
0
0
4%
15 litre
(ad hoc)
1%
0.5%
0
6 to 8%
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IRC: 44-1976
2.7. Determination of Aggregate-Cement Ratio
2.7.1. Knowing the water-cement ratio, water requirement,
cement content (from water-cement ratio and water requirement)
and proportion of sand in total aggregate by absolute volume, the
sand and coarse aggregate contents per unit volume of concrete may
be calculated separately from
v=(w-_~- +-4- . ~) i~oo ,... (2)
and
v Iw C 1 A\ 1 3
+ S~+ 1P Sa 1 1000
where,
V = absolute volume of the wet mix = gross volume (1 cu.
m.) minus the volume of entrapped air (see clause 2.7.2)
W wt. of water in kg (=litre) per cu.m. of concrete
C = wt. of cement in kg per cu.m. of concrete
S = wt. of sand in kg per cu.m. of concrete
A = wt. of coarse aggregate in kg per cum. of concrete
P = proportion (in decimal fraction) of sand in total aggre-
gate determined on the basis of absolute volume, and
SC,SE,S~,= specific gravities of cement, sand and coarse aggregate
respectively.
The quantities of sand, coarse aggregate, cement and water
required to determine the mix proportions of a concrete mix are thus
known.
2.7.2. Approximate amounts of entrapped air in the wet con-
crete mix for different maximum sizes of aggregate are indicated in
Table 6.
TABLE 6 : APPROXIMATE AMOUNTS OF ENTRAPPED
AIR IN NON-AIR-ENTRAINED CONCRETE
Maximum size 10
of aggregate
12.5 20 25 40 50
80 160
(mm)
Entrapped air 3
2.5
2
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.3 0.2
(approximate) (% by
volume)
Volume of entra- 0.030 0.025 0.020 0.015 0.010 0.005 0.003 0.002
pped air per cu.m.
gross volume of
concrete (cu.m.)
S
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IRC 44-1976
2.8. Trial Mix
With the above mix proportions, the mix is prepared and the
workability measured. If the workability is different from the stipu-
lated value (workability is usually very low for paving concrete),
the water content may be adjusted in accordance with Table 5 for
increasing or decreasing the slump. The mix proportions are there-
after recalculated with adjusted water content as per equations (2)
and (3) for three water-cement ratios comprising the pre-selected
water-cement ratio and two other values, one higher and the other
lower than the pre-selected ratio by 0.05. Since the design adopted
is on absolute volume basis, the yield for the three cases will remain
the same. The strength of concrete (compressive and flexural streng-
ths in case of paving concrete and compressive strength for other
structural concretes) with the three water-cement ratios is then
determined in accordance with IS : 516-l969~. The values of
strength obtained are then plotted against water-cement ratios and
the appropriate water-cement ratio chosen from the plot for the
required strength. The final mix proportions are then recalculated
for this water-cement ratio, other parameters remaining the
same.
Note: In case of paving concrete the correlation between flexural and com-
pressive strength may be established, if quality control in the field
is proposed to be exercised on the basis of compressive strength
only.
2.9. Worked-out Example on Mix Design
An example illustrating the mix design procedure is worked
out in Annexure III.
+ Methods of Test for Strength of Concrete
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IRC: 44-1976
Annexure!
TRIAL METHOD FOR COMBININGAGGREGATES OF DIFFERENT
GRADINGS
The individual sieve analyses for the different aggregate fractions are
first arranged in a tabular form and the optimum percentage of each for
combination worked out on trial and error basis, This is done by visual inspec-
tion of the individual analyses and comparison between stipulated grading and
combined grading on trial. A few trials may be necessary. A typical example
in tabular form is given below to illustrate the procedure using two different
sizes of coarse aggregate.
EXAMPLE: COMBINATION OF Two COARSE AGGREGATE
FRAcTioNs
Per cent of different fractions
Per cent passing each
sieve
Grading of aggre.. Stipu-
gate fractions lated
as available com-
bined
grading
1st trial
I I!
70% 30%
Sieve
sizes
(mm)
40
20
10
4.75
I
100
14
8
2
II
100
100
34
6
Com-
bined
100%
100
39.8
15.8
3,2
2nd trial
11
32%
32
32
10.9
1.9
I
68%
68
9.5
5,4
1.4
100
40
18
0
Com-
bined
100%
100
41.5
16.3
3.3
70
9.8
5.6
1.4
3D
30
10.2
1.8
10
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IRC: 44-1976
Annexure ii
CORRELATION BETWEEN FLEXURAL AND COMPRESSIVE
STRENGTH OF CONCRETE (For Guidance OnI~)
40 40 t~.CRU S H ED S TOW E
~3O .~\ ~ G RAV EL
I
40O~
3 00~
S
200k
WATE.R-CEV4ENT RATIO (~(wT)
(For Nvery Iowa to low workabilIty correaportding
to a BI~ap0-25 ma)
0.40
11
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IRC 44-1976
Annexure III
WORKED-OUT EXAMPLE FOR CEMENT CONCRETE MIX DESIGN
A) Design Stipulations
I) Minimum compressive strength required in the
held at 28 days : 280 kg/cm
2) Maximum size of aggregate: 40 mm (angular aggregate)
3) Degree of workability : 25 mm slump
4) Degree of quality control : good (co-efficient of variation 10%)
5) Accepted tolerance level 1 in 15
6) Type of job: Major work involving testing of a large number of
samples, i.e., z=l.50
B) Test Data for Materials:
1) Compressive strength of cement with single-sized standard sand at
7 days : 210 kgcrn
2
2) Specific gravity of cement : 3.15
3) Specific gravity of both coarse aggregate and fine aggregate : 2.65
4) Water absorption:
i) Coarse aggregate : 0.4%
ii) Fine aggregate 0.6%
5 ) Free (surface) moisture
i) Coarse aggregate : nil (absorbed moisture also nil)
ii) Fine aggregate : 2%
6) Sieve analysis
Coarse aggregate Fine aggregate
fractions
IS. Per cent passing I,S. Per cent Cumulative Fine-
sieve sieve passing per cent ness
size size retained modulus
(mm) Fraction Fraction
I II
40 100 100 475 mm 100 0
20 14 100 2.36 mm 98 2
10 8 34 1.18mm 90 10
2.48
475 2 6 600~i 50 50
30O~& 11 89
1501& 3 97
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IRC : 44-1976
(C) Combination of Coarse Aggregate Fractions:
I:S, Per. cent passing (individual) Percent passing (combined grading)
sieve
size
(mm) Grading of aggre Combined 1st trial 2nd trial
gate available grading ___________ _______ _________________
_____________________ required
(Table 1) I II Comb- I II Comb-
I II 70% 30% med 68% 32% med
grad- grad-
ing ing
40 100 100 100 70.0 30.G 100.0 68.0 32.0 100.0
20 14 100 40 9.8 30.0 39.8 9.5 32.0 41.5
10 8 34 18 5.6 10.2 15.8 5.4 10.9 16.3
4.75 2 6 0 1.4 1.8 3.2 1.4 1.9 3.3
Aggregates may, therefore, be combined in the proportion 68:32
(by weight).
D) Design Strength for Concrete (5):
S 280 280
S LV = 1.5x 10
0.85 329 kg/cm (say, 330 kg/cm)
I- 100
F) Selection of Water-Cement Ratio
From Fig. I, using curve Ecorresponding to 7 days cement strength of
210 kg/cm, for design strength of concrete of 330 kg/cm,
the water-cement ratio required0.43.
F) Selection of Water and Sand Contents:
From Table 4, for water-cement ratio of 0.50, slump of 25 mm, F.M.
of sand of 2.60 and angular aggregate, of 40 mm maximum
size, water content per cu.m. ofconcrete=175 kg and sand
content as per cent of total aggregate by absolute
volume.~ 33.5 per cent.
For changesin the values of water-cement ratio, fineness modulus
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IRC : 44-1976
of sand and slump, the adjustments required in the mix are:
Changes in condition Adjustment required in
Water content Sand content
(kg) (%)
(i) decrease in w/c
(0.50O.43)=0,07 0
(ii) decrease in F.M. of sand
(2.602.48)=0,12 0
(iii) Slump (25mm25mm)~0 0
1.4
0.6
0
Total 0 2.0%
Therefore, required water content per cu.m. of concrete=l75 kg and
sandcontent as per cent of total aggregate by absolute volume
~~.(33,52,0)%3I.5%
(G) Determinationof Cement Content:
Water-cement ratio= ~ =0.43, but W=175 kg (from step F ); or
0.43
C=407kg
(H) Determination of Aggregate-Cement Ratio:
From Table 6, for thespecified maximum size of aggregate of 40 mm,
the amount of entrapped air in the wet concrete is 1 per cent.
Taking this factor into account and applying equation 2,
I 407 1 S \I
0.99 cu,m.=i~l75+~j~f3 ~+ ~~i3 ~. 2.65
S= 572.5 kg.
Applying equation 3,
/ 407 1 A \ 1
0.99 cu.m.= ~l
7S-l--jB_+ 0.685 3)Ti5~
A=1244.9 kg.
The mix proportions are therefore:
Water Cement Sand Coarse aggregate Total aggregate
175 kg 407 kg 572.5 kg, 1244.9 kg 1817,4 kg
or, 0.43 : I : 1.41 : 3.06 4.47
Aggregatecement ratio= 4.47: 1
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IRC : 44-1976
(I) Actual Quantities Required for the Mix per Bag of Cement:
The mitc is 0.43:1:1.41:3.06 (by wt.)
1. Cement 50 kg
2. Aggregate=(without moisture adjustment)
(i) Fine aggregate=~50 x 1.41 =70.5 kg
(ii) Coarse aggregate = 153.0 kg
(a) Fraction 1(68%) = 104.0 kg
(b) Fraction 11(32%) = 49.0 kg
3. Water
(i) For water-cement ratio of 0.43 water required = 21.5 litre
(ii) Extra water to be added for absorption in case of coarse
aggregate, at 0.4% by weight = 0.4%of 153.0=0.61 litre
(iii) Water to be deducted for free moisture present in fine aggregate,
at 2% by weight = 2% of 70.5=1.41 litre
(iv) Actual quantity of water to be added=21.5+0.61.1.41=20.70
litre
4. Actual quantity of fine aggregate required after allowing for weight
of free moisture = 70.5 + 1.41 71.91 kg.
5. Actual quantity of coarse aggregate required
(i) Fraction I = (104.000.42) kg = 103,58 kg
(ii) Fraction II = (49.000.19) kg = 4881 kg
Therefore the actual quantities of different constituents required for the
mix are
Water = 20.70 litre
Cement = 50.00 kg
Fine aggregate 71.91 kg
Coarse aggregate
Fraction I = 103.58 kg
Fraction II = 48.81 kg
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