WATER CEMENT RATIO

INTRODUCTION
Water-cement ratio is the ratio of weight of water to the weight of
cement used in a concrete mix.
It has an important influence on the quality of concrete produced.
A lower water-cement ratio leads to higher strength and durability,
but may make the mix more difficult to place.
Placement difficulties can be resolved by using plasticizer.
The water-cement ratio is independent of the total cement content
(and the total water content) of a concrete mix.

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Often, the water to cement ratio is characterized as the water to
cement plus pozzolan ratio, w/(c+p). The pozzolan is typically a fly ash, or
blast furnace slag. It can include a number of other materials, such as silica
fume, rice hull ash or natural pozzolans. The addition of pozzolans will
influence the strength gain of the concrete.
The concept of water-cement ratio was developed by Duff A. Abrams and first
published in 1918.
Concrete hardens as a result of the chemical reaction between cement and
water (known as hydration). For every 4 lbs of cement, 1 lb of water is needed
to fully complete the reaction. This results in a water-cement ratio of 1:4 or
20% (1/1+4).



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In reality, a mix formed with 20% water is too dry and does not flow well
enough to be placed, and some of the water is taken up by the sand and
stone and is not available to participate in the hydration reaction.
So more water is used than is technically necessary to react with the
cement. More typical Water-Cement ratios of 35% to 40% are used, along
with a plasticizer.
Too much water will result in settling and segregation of the sand/stone
components (more sand in the top layers because the stone will settle at the
bottom).
Also, any water that is not consumed by the hydration reaction will
eventually leave the concrete as it hardens, resulting in microscopic pores
or holes that will reduce the final strength of the concrete .
CONCRETE MIX DESIGN 4
For flatwork (driveways, steps, sidewalks, etc) an air-entrainment agent is added
to create small bubbles in the concrete. This helps the finished, hardened concrete
resist fracturing caused by freeze-thaw temperature cycling. Finished, hardened
concrete can be as much as 6% air (by volume) because of this .
And finally, a mix with too much water will experience more shrinkage as the
excess water leaves, resulting in internal cracks and visible fractures (particularly
around inside corners) which again will reduce the final strength.
Anyone who has set wooden fence posts in concrete piers will probably notice
cracks radiating from the corners of the post. This can be reduced by keeping the
water to an absolute minimum.


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