Unit 6 Concrete Construction

Part ⅠIllustrated Words and Concepts

Figure 6-1 A Slump Test for Concrete Consistency
Figure 6-2 The Growth of Compressive Strength in Concrete over Time
Figure 6-3 Pretensioning of the Steel Stands in the Concrete
Figure 6-4 Posttensioning of the Steel Stands in the Concrete
Part Ⅱ Passages
Passage A Making and Placing Concrete
Passage B Handling and Placing Concrete
 Unit 6 Concrete Construction
Part Ⅰ Illustrated Words and Concepts

Figure 6-1 A Slump Test for Concrete Consistency

The hollow metal cone is filled with concrete and tamped with rod according to a
standard procedure. The cone is carefully lifted off, allowing the wet concrete to
slump under its own weight. The slump in inches is measured in the manner shown.
 Unit 6 Concrete Construction
Part Ⅰ Illustrated Words and Concepts

Figure 6-2 The Growth of Compressive Strength in Concrete over Time

Moist-cured concrete is still gaining strength after 6 months, whereas Air-dried
concrete virtually stops curing altogether.
 Unit 6 Concrete Construction
Part Ⅰ Illustrated Words and Concepts

Figure 6-3 Pretensioning of the Steel Strands in the Concrete

Pretensioning, the pretensioned steel strands for a beam
 Unit 6 Concrete Construction
Part Ⅰ Illustrated Words and Concepts

Figure 6-4 Posttensioning of the Steel Strands in the Concrete

Posttensioning, using draped strands to more nearly approximate the flow path of
tensile forces in the beam.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage A

Making and Placing Concrete
Proportioning Concrete Mixes
The quality of cured concrete is measured by any
of several criteria, depending on its end use. For
structural columns, beams, and slabs, compressive
strength and stiffness are important. For pavings and
floor slabs, surface smoothness and abrasion
resistance are also important; for pavings and exterior
concrete walls, a high degree of weather resistance is
required.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage A

Watertightness is important in concrete tanks,
dams, and walls. Regardless of the criterion to which
one is working, however, the rules for making high
quality concrete are much the same: Use clean, sound
ingredients; mix them in the correct proportions; handle
the wet concrete properly to avoid segregating its
ingredients; and cure the concrete carefully under
controlled conditions.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage A

The design of concrete mixtures is a science
that can be described here only in its broad outlines.
The starting point of any mix design is to establish the
desired workability characteristics of the wet concrete,
the desired physical properties of the cured concrete,
and the acceptable cost of the concrete, keeping in
mind that there is no need to spend money to make
concrete better than it needs to be for a given
application.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage A

Concretes with ultimate compressive strengths
as low as 2 000 pounds per square inch (13.8 MPa) are
satisfactory for some foundation elements. Concretes
with ultimate compressive strengths of 22 000 psi (150
MPa), produced with the aid of silica fume, fly ash, and
super plasticizer admixtures, are currently being
employed in the columns of some high rise buildings,
and higher strengths than this are certain to be
developed in the near future. Acceptable workability is
achievable at any of these strength levels.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage A

Given a proper gradation of satisfactory
aggregates, the strength of cured concrete is primarily
dependent on the amount of cement in the mix and on
the water-cement ratio. Although water is required as a
reactant in the curing of concrete, much more water
must be added to a concrete mix than is needed for the
hydration of the cement, in order to give the wet
concrete the necessary fluidity and plasticity for placing
and finishing.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage A

The extra water eventually evaporates from the
concrete, leaving microscopic voids that impair the
strength and surface qualities of the concrete. Absolute
water-cement ratios by weight should be kept below
0.60 for most applications, meaning that the weight of
the water in the mix should not be more than 60
percent of the weight of the Portland cement. Higher
water-cement ratios than this are often favored by
concrete workers because they produce a fluid mixture
that is easy to place in the forms,
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage A

but the resulting concrete is likely to be deficient
in strength and surface qualities. Low water-cement
ratios make concrete that is dense and strong, but
unless air-entraining or water-reducing admixtures are
included in the mix to improve its workability, the
concrete will not flow easily into the forms and will have
large voids. It is important that concrete be formulated
with the right quantity of water for each situation,
enough to assure workability but not enough to
adversely affect the final properties of the material.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage A

Most concrete in North America is proportioned
at central batch plants, using up-to-date laboratory
equipment and engineering knowledge to produce
concrete of the proper quality for each project. The
concrete is transit mixed en route in a rotating drum on
the back of a truck so that it is ready to pour by the time
it reaches the job site.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage A

Each load of transit-mixed concrete is delivered
with a certificate from the batch plant that lists its
ingredients and their proportions. As a further check on
quality, a slump test (see Figure 6-1) may be performed
at the time of pouring to determine if the desired degree
of workability has been achieved without making the
concrete too wet.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage A

For structural concrete, standard test cylinders
are also poured from each truckload. Within 48 hours of
pouring, the cylinders are taken to a testing laboratory,
cured for a specified period under standard conditions,
and tested for compressive strength. If the laboratory
results are not up to the required standard, test cores
are drilled from the actual members made from the
questionable batch of concrete.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage A

If the strength of these core samples is also
deficient, the contractor will be required to cut out the
defective concrete and replace it. Frequently, test
cylinders are also cast and cured on the construction
site under the same conditions as the concrete in the
forms; these may then be tested as a way of
determining when the concrete is strong enough to
allow removal of forms and temporary supports.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage B

Handling and Placing Concrete
Freshly mixed concrete is not a liquid, but a
slurry, an unstable mixture of solids and liquids. If it is
vibrated excessively, dropped from very much of a
height, or moved horizontally for any substantial
distance in formwork, it is likely to segregate, which
means that the coarse aggregate works its way to the
bottom of the form and the water and cement paste rise
to the top.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage B

The result is concrete of nonuniform and generally
unsatisfactory properties. Segregation is prevented by
depositing the concrete, fresh from the mixer, as close
to its final position as possible. If concrete must be
dropped a distance of more than 3 or 4 feet (a meter or
so), it should be deposited through dropchutes that
break the fall of the concrete. If concrete must be
moved a large horizontal distance to reach inaccessible
areas of the formwork, it should be pumped through
hoses or conveyed in buckets or buggies, rather than
pushed across or through the formwork.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage B

Concrete must be consolidated in the forms to
eliminate trapped air and to fill completely around the
reinforcing bars and into all the corners of the
formwork. This may be done by repeatedly thrusting a
rod, spade, or immersion-type vibrator into the concrete
at closely spaced intervals throughout the formwork.
Excessive agitation of the concrete must be avoided,
however, or segregation will occur.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage B

Self-consolidating concrete, which fills forms
completely without requiring vibration, has recently
been developed. It is formulated with more fine
aggregates than coarse ones, which is a reversal of the
usual propotions. It includes superplasticizing
admixtures that are based on polycarboxylate ethers.
The result is a concrete that flows very freely, yet does
not allow its coarse aggregate to sink to the bottom of
the forms.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage B

Curing Concrete
Because concrete cures by hydration and not by
drying, it is essential that it be kept moist until its
required strength is achieved. The curing reaction takes
place over a very long period of time, but concrete is
commonly designed on the basis of the strength that it
reaches after 28 days (4 weeks) of curing. If it is
allowed to dry at any point during this time period,
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage B

the strength of the cured concrete will be
reduced, and its surface hardness and durability are
likely to be adversely affected (see Figure 6-2).
Concrete elements cast in formwork are protected from
dehydration on most of their surfaces by the formwork,
but the top surfaces must be kept moist by repeatedly
spraying or flooding with water, by covering with
moisture-resistant sheets of paper or film or by spraying
on a curing compound that seals the surface of the
concrete against loss of moisture.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage B

These measures are particularly important for
concrete slabs, whose large surface areas make them
especially susceptible to drying. Premature drying is a
particular danger when slabs are poured in hot or windy
weather, which can cause a slab to crack even before it
begins to cure. Temporary windbreaks may have to be
erected, shade may have to be provided, and frequent
fogging of the surface of the slab with a fine spray of
water may be required until the slab is hard enough to
be covered or sprayed with curing compound.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage B

Formwork
Because concrete is put in place as a shapeless
slurry with no physical strength, it must be shaped and
supported by formwork until it has cured sufficiently to
support itself. Formwork is usually made of wood,
metal, or plastic. It is constructed as a negative of the
shape intended for the concrete.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage B

Formwork for a beam or slab serves as a
temporary working surface during the construction
process and as the temporary means of support for
reinforcing bars. Formwork must be strong enough to
support the considerable weight and fluid pressure of
wet concrete without excessive deflection, which often
requires temporary supports that are major structures
in themselves.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage B

During curing, the formwork helps to retain the
necessary water of hydration in the concrete. When
curing is complete, the formwork must be pulled away
cleanly from the concrete surfaces without damage
either to the concrete or to the formwork, which is
usually used repeatedly as a construction project
progresses. All formwork surfaces that are in contact
with concrete must be coated with a form release
compound, which is an oil, wax, or plastic that prevents
adhesion of the concrete to the form.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage B

The Concept of Reinforcing
Concrete has no useful tensile strength and was
limited in its structural uses until the concept of steel
reinforcing was developed. The compatibility of steel
and concrete is a fortuitous accident.
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Part Ⅱ Passages Passage B

If the two materials had grossly different
coefficients of thermal expansion, a reinforced concrete
structure would tear itself apart during seasonal cycles
of temperature variation. If the two materials were
chemically incompatible, the steel would corrode or the
concrete would be degraded. If concrete did not adhere
to steel, a very different and more expensive
configuration of reinforcing would be necessary.
Concrete and steel, however, change dimension at
nearly the same rate in response to temperature
changes.