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I.
INTRODUCTION
The word concrete comes from the Latin word "concretus" (meaning compact or
condensed), the perfect passive participle of "concrescere", from "con-" (together) and "crescere"
(to grow). Concrete additives have been used since Roman and Egyptian times, when it was
discovered that adding volcanic ash to the mix allowed it to set underwater. Similarly, the
Romans knew that adding horse hair made concrete less liable to crack while it hardened, and
adding blood made it more frost-resistant. In modern times, researchers have experimented with
the addition of other materials to create concrete with improved properties, such as higher
strength or electrical conductivity.
The usage of concrete, worldwide, is twice as much as steel, wood, plastics, and
aluminum combined. Concrete's use in the modern world is only exceeded by the usage of
naturally occurring water. Concrete is also the basis of a large commercial industry, with all the
positives and negatives that entails. In the United States alone, concrete production is a $30
billion per year industry, considering only the value of the ready-mixed concrete sold each
year. Given the size of the concrete industry, and the fundamental way concrete is used to shape
the infrastructure of the modern world, it is difficult to overstate the role this material plays
today.
What is Concrete?
Concrete is an artificial conglomerate stone made essentially of cement, water,
aggregates and in some cases admixtures.
The cement and water form a paste that hardens and bonds the aggregates together.
Concrete is often looked upon as man made rock.
Concrete is a versatile construction material, adaptable to a wide variety of
agricultural and residential uses.
Concrete is one of the most commonly used building material
Concrete is a composite material made from several readily available constituents
(aggregates, sand, cement, water).
Concrete is a versatile material that can easily be mixed to meet a variety of special
needs and formed to virtually any shape.
Energy efficient
On-site fabrication
COMPONENTS OF CONCRETE
The aim is to mix these materials in measured amounts to make concrete that is easy to:
TRANSPORT, PLACE, COMPACT, FINISH and which will set, and harden, to give a strong
and durable product. The amount of each material (ie cement, water and aggregates) affects the
properties of hardened concrete.
1. The cement powder, when mixed with water, forms a paste. This paste acts like glue and
holds or bonds the aggregates together. The most common type of cement are the
Portland cement and the Blended cement. Blended cements contain portland cement and
more than 5% of either fly ash, ground slag, silica fume, or a combination of these.
2. Water is mixed with the cement powder to form a paste which holds the aggregates
together like glue. Water must be clean, fresh and free from any dirt, unwanted chemicals
or rubbish that may affect concrete. The strength and other properties of concrete are
highly dependent on the amount of water and the water-cement ratio.
When first mixed the water and cement constitute a paste which surrounds all the
individual pieces of aggregate to make a plastic mixture. A chemical reaction called
hydration takes place between the water and cement, and concrete normally changes from a
plastic to a solid state in about 2 hours. Heat of hydration - is the heat given off during the
chemical reaction as the cement hydrates.
The strength of the concrete is indicated by the ratio of water to the amount of cement or
what we call WATER TO CEMENT RATIO. Too much water and not enough cement
means concrete will be weaker and less durable. The water to cement ratio (W/C) is the
weight of the water divided by the weight of cement.
Water
20 kg
W/C = ------------ =-------------= 0.5
Cement
40 kg
Therefore, the lower the ratio, the stronger the concrete will be.
The ideal ratio is 0.2.
3. The aggregates are of two basic types: COARSE: crushed rock, gravel or screenings,
FINE: fine and coarse sands and crusher fines. Sand should be concreting sand and not
brickies sand or plasterers sand. Aggregates should be strong and hard. A stronger, harder
aggregate will give a stronger final concrete. The aggregates should be CHEMICALLY
INACTIVE so that the aggregates dont react with the cement. Aggregates occupy 60 to
80 percent of the volume of concrete. Sand, gravel and crushed stone are the primary
aggregates used. All aggregates must be essentially free of silt and/or organic matter.
4.
Admixtures are mixed into the concrete to change or alter its properties, the time
concrete takes to set and harden, or its workability.
Types of Admixtures:
a.) Chemical Admixtures
1. Air entraining agents are the most commonly used admixtures for agricultural
concrete. Produce microscopic air bubbles throughout the concrete. Entrained
air bubbles: improve the durability of concrete exposed to moisture and
freeze/thaw action, improve resistance to scaling from deicers and corrosive
agents such as manure or silage.
2. Retarding agents are used to slow the rate of concrete hardening. They are
useful for concrete that is placed during hot weather.
3. Accelerating agents such as calcium chloride, are used to increase the rate of
hardening--usually during cold weather.
4. Plasticizers
Mixture
Class
Proportion
(cement:sand:gravel)
Cement in bag
40 kg
50 kg
Sand
(cu.m)
Gravel
(cu.m)
Strength
of
mixture (PSI)
Class AA
1: 1 : 3
12.0
9.5
0.5
1.0
4000
Class A
1: 2: 4
9.0
7.0
0.5
1.0
3500
Class B
1: 2 : 5
7.5
6.0
0.5
1.0
3000
Class C
1: 3: 6
6.0
5.0
0.5
1.0
2500
Mixture of half cubic meter sand, a cubic meter of gravel and a portion mixture of cement
depending on the class that you are using and plus water, there will be a little bit more than one
cubic meter of volume, this will serve as contingency or wastage.
IV.
PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE
Properties of concrete are divided into two major groups:
1. Properties of Fresh Concrete
Fresh concrete is that stage of concrete in which concrete can be molded and it is
in plastic state.
a.) Workability
Workability is referred to as the ease with which the concrete can be
transported, placed and consolidated without excessive bleeding and
segregation.
b.) Cohesiveness
Cohesiveness is how well the concrete holds together. t is affected by
the aggregates grading and water content. Excessive water content leads to
segragation and bleeding.
Segregation refers to a separation of the components of fresh concrete,
resulting in a non-uniform mix. The primary causes of segregation are
differences in specific gravity and size of constituents of concrete. Moreover,
improper mixing, improper placing and improper consolidation also lead to
segregation.
Bleeding is the tendency of water to rise to the surface of freshly
placed concrete. It is caused by the inability of solid constituents of the mix to
hold all of the mixing water as they settle down. A special case of segregation.
PREPARATION OF CONCRETE
1. Batching
A batch is the amount of concrete mix at one time. The quantities of dry
ingredient are usually weighed. Water and admixtures are specified by either weight or
volume.
2.) Mixing
The aim of mixing is to blend all of the ingredients of the concrete to form a
uniform mass and to coat the surface of aggregates with cement paste. Concrete is mixed
until it is uniform in appearance and all ingredients are evenly distributed. If an increase
amount of concrete is needed, an additional mixer should be used, rather than
overloading or speeding up those in operation. Mixing time should be sufficient to
produce a uniform concrete. The time of mixing depends on the type of mixer and also to
some properties of fresh concrete. Mixing at the site uses hand mix and power mix
machine. t is better to use power mix machine to produce a well-mixed or uniform
concrete.
-Undermixing non-homogeneity
-Overmixing danger of water loss, brekage of aggregate particles
Stationary Mixing
The concrete is often mixed on-site using a stationary mixer. This can be a tilting or nontilting type and may be manual, semi-automatic or automatically controlled.
Temperature
- Temperature affects the rate at which hydration of cement occurs.
- Low temperature will retard the initial set and strength gain.
- High temperature accelerates moisture loss and rate of cement hydration.
- This could affect the concretes strength and durability.
Types of Concrete mix
Fresh concrete in the drum tends to stiffen even before the concrete has hydrated to
initial set. It can be used if remixing will restore sufficient plasticity for compaction in the
forms.
VI.
FINISHING CONCRETE
FINISHING CONCRETE
After concrete has been laced and consolidated, it is screeded (- involves
removing excess concrete with a screed to bring it flush with the top of the form work).
Immediately after strike-off, the surface is bull floated (has a long handle connected to a
float. A darby has shorter handle and is used for shorter distances) to lower high spots, fill
low spots and embed large aggregates that maybe on the surface. This work must be done
before any bleed (refers to water that rises to the surface very soon after concrete is
placed in form) water appears on the surface.
When the bleed water sheen has evaporated, the surface is ready to final finishing.
Any finishing operation performed n the surface of the concrete while bleed water is
present will cause it to scale and dust. Final finishin includes one or more of the
following:
Edging- rounds of the edges of a slab to prevent chiping.
Jointing- forms control joints in a slab
Floating- embeds aggregates slightly below the surface, removes imperfections,
compacts mortar at the surface for final finishing, and keeps the surface open,
allowing excess moisture to escape.
Troweling- produces a hard, dense, smooth surface
Brooming- involves roughning the surface with steel wire or coarse fiber broom.
Curing- procedures used for promoting the hydration of cement and consists of a
control of temperature and the moisture movement from and into the concrete.
The primary objective of curing is to keep concrete saturated or as nearly
saturated as possible. The temperature recommended is above 4C.
Why cure concrete? It retains moisture the slab so that the concrete continues in to
gain strength. It delays drying shrinkage until the concrete is strong enough to
resist shrinkage cracking. Proper curing improves strength, durability, water
tightness and wear resistance
Curing Methods
1. Methods which supply additional water to the surface of concrete
during early hardening stages.
Using wet covers
Sprinkling
Ponding
2. Methods that prevent loss of moisture from concrete by sealing the
surface.
Water proof plastics
Use liquid membrane-forming compounds
Forms left in place
3. Methods that accelerate strength gain by supplying heat & moisture to
the concrete.
By using live steam (steam curing)
Heating coils.
VII. PRE-CAST CONCRETE
Pre-cast concrete are concrete that are cast under factory-controlled conditions and
moved to the job site for assembly. It is used in columns, beams, girders, floor and roof slabs and
exterior and interior wall panels.
2 Major groups classifications:
Pre-cast structural concrete units
Pre-cast Architectural concrete units
NON-PRE-STRESSED AND PRE-STRESSED PRE-CAST UNITS
Non-pre-stressed units are cast in molds in a plant, then cured and shipped to the job site.
They are reinforced in the same manner as cast-in-place concrete and are not under tension
forces.
Pre-stressed pre-cast concrete have stresses introduced before they are placed under a
load. There are two types: pre-tension and post-tension.
Pre-tension units- used to produce units that are standardized in size or when
enough identical units are needed to make it economically possible to cast them.
Post-tension units- applies stresses to the concrete unit after it has been cast and
hardened. It is applied primarily with cast-in-place concrete but is sometimes used
to tension pre-cast concrete units.
d.)
plunger