CONTENT TABLE PAGE

1.0 BASIC PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE

1

2.0 BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF CEMENT

2

3.0 STORAGE METHODS OF CEMENT

5

4.0 FINE AGGREGATE AND COARSE AGGREGATE

6

5.0 PROPERTIES OF WATER USED IN CONCRETE MIXTURE

9

6.0 BASIC CONCEPT OF CONCRETE MIX

10

7.0 FRESH CONCRETE

11

8.0 ROLE OF ADDITIVES IN CONCRETE MIXTURE

12

REFRENCES

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1.0 Basic Properties of Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material composed of cement and other
cementations materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate (generally a coarse
aggregate made of gravels or crushed rocks such as limestone or granite, plus a fine
aggregate such as sand), water and chemical admixtures.


- Cement is a substance that produced by burning a mixture of limestone and clay.
- Fine and Coarse aggregates make up the bulk of a concrete mixture. Sand,
natural gravel and crushed stone are mainly used for this purpose
- Water used for mixing concrete should be free from substances such as silt, soil,
organic acids and other organic materials such as salt and alkali. Usually the
water used for mixing concrete is eligible drinking water or taken from approved
source




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2.0 Basic Knowledge Of Cement

Types of cement in the market are listed below :
a) Ordinary Portland Cement @ OPC (BS 12 : 1971).
b) Rapid-Hardening Portland Cement @ RHPC (BS 12 : 1971).
c) White & Coloured Portland Cement.
d) Low Heat Portland Cement @ LHPC (BS 1370 : 1974).
e) Portland-Blast furnace Cement (BS 146 : 1973).
f) Sulphate Resisting Portland Cement (BS 4027 : 1972).
g) High Strength Portland Cement .
h) Masonry Cement (BS 5224 : 1976).









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CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF PORTLAND CEMENT:
Name of Compound
Chemical
Composition
Usual
Abbreviation

Tricalcium Silicate 3CaO.SiO
2
C
3
S Quick Reaction
Dicalcium Silicate 2CaO.SiO
2
C
2
S Slow Reaction
Tricalcium Aluminate 3CaO.Al
2
O
3
C
3
A
Very Quick
Reaction
Tetra-Calcium
Aluminoferrite
4CaO.Al
2
O
3
Fe
2
O
3
C
4
AF
Not Very
Important




Hydration of water in cement :
When cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate and water are mixed and blended,
water and cement come together through a chemical process called hydration and
produced cement paste.
This cement paste was acted as a binder/adhesive to the concrete components such
as fine (sand) or coarse aggregates.



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Function of chemical substances in cement :
- to modify the properties of hardened concrete.
- to ensure the quality of concrete during mixing, transporting, placing, and
curing.
- to overcome certain emergencies during concrete operations.
















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3.0 Storage Methods of Cement


Storage methods in a factory
- By using silos storage method
-



Storage methods at the construction site
- In most construction projects godowns are constructed at site for storage of a
few days requirement of cement.
- cement bags should be laid on a dry platform made of wooden planks resting
over brick-masonry concrete, dry sand aggregates raised about 15 cm above
the ground level.

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4.0 Fine and Coarse Aggregate

Criteria For Aggregates
1. Aggregate is used to describe the gravels, crushed stones & other materials
which are mixed with cement & water to make concrete.
2. Aggregate is form 75% of the volume of concrete, so chosen the suitable
materials is important & also aggregate should contain no constituent material
which might have adverse affect of the hardening of cement or the durability of
hardened cement.

Physical properties :
Normal Density Aggregate:
1. Aggregate having a specific gravity between about 2.5 and 3.0 & a bulk density
in ranges 1450 to 1750 kg/m
3
.
2. It can be classified as normal aggregate and it may be of crushed aggregate or
naturally reduced in size.






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Light Weight Aggregate:
1. Any aggregate with a particle density of less than 200 kg/m
3
or dry loose bulk
density of less than 1200 kg/m
3
is defined as Light Weight Aggregate.
2. Subdivided into following groups:
Naturally Occurring Materials Important examples of these are pumice,
volcanic tuff, porous limestone.
Naturally Occurring Materials Which Required Further Processing Expanded
Clay, Shale & Slate and other Expanded Minerals such as Perlite & Vermiculite.
Materials Which Occur as Industrial By Products Sintered Pulverished Fuel Ash
(Fly Ash), Sintered Slate & Colliery Waste, Foamed or Expanded Blast Furnace
Slag.
Has Low Density & High Water Absorption.
Other characteristic of concrete using Light Weight Concrete are coarse surface
texture due to reduced workability, lower tensile strength, lower modulus of
elasticity (50% - 70% of the normal concrete), tendency to segregate, higher
creep and shrinkage.
High Density Aggregate:
1. Aggregate of specific gravity, that is ranging from 2.8 to 2.0 & unit weight from
2800 to 2900 kg/m
3
are used to make high density concrete.
2. Examples of aggregate: magnetite & barytes.
3. The compressive strength: 20 21 N/mm
2
.
4. The cement-aggregate ratio varies from 1:5 & 1:9 with a water-cement ratio
between 0.5 0.65. They produce dense & crack free concrete.
5. This aggregate is not suitably graded and hence, it is difficult to have adequate
workability without segregation.


Functions of aggregate in concrete.
The functions of aggregate in concrete is as a mass particle which are suitable for
resisting action of applied load, abrasion & percolation of moisture and the action of
weather.
It is also as to reduce the volume changes resulting from setting and hardening of
concrete















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5.0 Properties of Water Used In Concrete Mixtures

QUALITY OF WATER SUITABLE FOR CONCRETE MIXTURE:
It should be free from oil.
It should be potable i.e. Fit for drinking purpose.
Free from acids or alkalis or other such organics impurities. The PH value of
water shall generally be not less than 6.
Free from iron, vegetable matter or any other substance which is likely to have
adverse effect on concrete.
Salt water is not recommended because of the present of harmful salt

FUNCTION OF WATER IN THE CONCRETE MIXTURE:
1) To enable the chemical reaction which cause setting & hardening.
2) To lubricate the mixture of gravel, sand and cement in order to facilitate placing.
3) To easy a workability for concrete mixture.







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6.0 Basic Concept Of Concrete Mix

DEFINITION OF CONCRETE MIXTURE:
- process of selecting the appropriate constituents of concrete materials to
produce concrete mixes that can be strong, tough, has high workability and
economical.
CONCRETE MIX RATIO:
1) The use of concrete to determine the required mix ratio.
2) Normally, concrete is strong in compression stresses but weak in the tensile
stress.
3) Mix ratio usually used was 1:2:4 (cement: sand: coarse aggregate), 1:3:6 and
1:5:10 depended on its purpose and application.
4) Table below shown an example of concrete mix ratio that depends on its
purpose:
MIX RATIO USES
1:1.5:3 For Pre-Cast Concrete, Water Tank, etc
1:2:4 For Reinforced Concrete to make column, beam, wall, etc
1:3:6 For Floor, Mass Concrete, etc
1:5:10 For site wall in the trenches of hard ground and a concrete floor
under suspension


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7.0 Fresh Concrete

Fresh concrete is a mixture of water, cement, aggregate and admixture. The
constituents materials should be uniformly distributed after mixing within the concrete
mass during handling and placing. Workability of fresh concrete, that is the ease with
which concrete is placed and consolidated


Factors influencing workability :
a) Water-Cement Ratio.
b) Aggregate-Cement Ratio.
c) Admixture/Additives Substances.
d) Shape & Fleshiness of Aggregate.
e) Time & Temperature.







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8.0 Additives In Concrete Mixture

Types of additive :
RETARDING SUBSTANCES
ACCLERATING SUBSTANCES
SUPERPLASTICIZER SUBSTANCES
WATER REDUCING SUBSTANCES
AIR ENTRAINING SUBSTANCES













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Refrences :


http://www.lmcc.com/concrete_news/0307/hydration_and_strength.asp

http://matse1.matse.illinois.edu/concrete/prin.html

CC 203 Chapter 1 note













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