CSE 20308

Construction Materials

Course Instructor
Prof. Chi-sun Poon
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Course Layout
Concrete (10 weeks)
Module I. Introduction and Basic Concepts
 Definition
 Advantages of concrete as a construction material
 Comparison between structural concrete and steel
 Types of structural concrete (Plain concrete, Reinforced cement concrete,
Prestressed concrete)
 Constituent materials of concrete – a brief introduction (cement,
aggregates, water and admixtures)
 Production of concrete – a brief review

Module II. Cement

 Chemical composition of cement
 Manufacture of Portland cement

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Module II. Cement (contd.)
 Hydration of cement
 Types of Portland cement
 Tests to evaluate physical and mechanical properties of cement

Module III. Aggregates

 General classification of aggregates
 Physical and mechanical properties of aggregates
 Size and grading of aggregates
 Grading requirements
 Maximum aggregate size

Module IV. Properties of Fresh Concrete

 Workability of concrete
 Factors affecting workability
 Measurement of workability

Module IV. Properties of Fresh Concrete (contd.)

 Problems in fresh concrete (Segregation, Bleeding)
 Placing and compaction of concrete

Module V. Properties of Hardened Concrete

 Factors affecting the strength of concrete
- Water-cement ratio
- Aggregate-cement ratio
- Strength and maximum size of aggregates
- Compaction, mixing temperature and curing method
- Effect of age
 Tensile strength of concrete
 Relation between tensile and compressive strength of concrete
 Bond strength of concrete

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Module VI. Testing of Hardened Concrete
 Compressive strength tests
- Destructive tests (Cube test, Cylinder test, Core test)
- Non-destructive tests (Rebound hammer, Penetration resistance,
Pull- out, Ultrasonic Pulse velocity)
 Tensile strength test
 Flexural test (modulus of rupture)
 Bond strength test

Module VII. Concrete Admixtures

 Benefits of admixtures
 Types of admixtures (Water-reducers, Accelerators, Retarders)
 Mineral admixtures (Silica fume, Fly ash, Blast furnace slag)
 Performance and properties of blended concretes

Module VIII. Concrete Mix Design

 Process of mix selection
 Factors affecting the mix proportions
- Durability
- Strength
- Cost
 Mix design methods
- Absolute volume approach
- British method (DOE)
- ASTM method

Module IX. Special Concretes

 High performance concrete
 Fiber reinforced concrete
 Roller compacted concrete
 Light weight concrete
 Polymer composites

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Module X. Durability of Concrete
 Permeability of concrete
 Sulphate attack
 Attack by sea water
 Acid attack
 Alkali-aggregate reaction
 Corrosion of reinforcement

Text Book
A.M. Neville and J.J. Brooks. 1990. “Concrete Technology”. Longman and
Hall, London.

Reference Books
A.M. Neville. 1995. “Properties of Concrete”. Longman and Hall, London.

J.F. Young; S. Mindless; R.J. Gray; and A. Bentur. 1998. “The Science and
Technology of Civil Engineering Materials”. Prentice-Hall International Inc.,
New York.

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Steel (3 weeks)
Module I. Introduction and Basic Concepts
 Definition
 Advantages of steel construction
 Chemical composition of steel
 Steel production mechanism
 Types of structural steel

Module II. Mechanical Properties and Testing of Steel - I

 Tension
 Stress-strain curve of steel
 Compression
 Hardness
 Impact

Module III. Mechanical Properties and Testing of Steel - II

 Ductility of steel
 Fatigue behavior of steel
- Nature of fatigue
- Fatigue loading
- The S-N diagram
- Improvement techniques
 Creep mechanism
 Typical failures in steel structures

Module IV. Durability of Steel Structures

 Corrosion
- Corrosion Process
- Types of corrosion
- Corrosion Protection
 Fire
- Fire properties of steel
- Protection methods

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Text Book
G.W. Owens; P.R. Knowles; and P.J. Dowling. 1992. “Steel Designers
Manual (5th Edition)”. Blackwell Scientific Publications, London.

Reference Books
C.G. Salmon and J.E. Johnson. 1980. “Steel Structures (2nd Edition)”. Harper
& Row, Publishers, New York.

J.F. Young; S. Mindless; R.J. Gray; and A. Bentur. 1998. “The Science and
Technology of Civil Engineering Materials”. Prentice-Hall International Inc.,
Newyork.

V.D. Eisenhutenleute. 1992. “Steel: A Handbook for Materials Research and

Engineering”. Springer-Verlag, Paris.

Assessment Method
• 70% Examination
• 30% Coursework

Course Work
• Laboratory report/project 20%
• E‐learning quizzes  10%

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Course Handouts http://www.cse.polyu.edu.hk/~cecspoon/

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Concrete
Concrete is a stone-like composite material prepared by careful
proportioning of cement, aggregates and water mixed in a suitable
manner to give the required physical and mechanical properties.

Cement

Aggregates Concrete

Water

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Advantages of Concrete as a Construction Material
• Cheapest and most readily available constituent materials.
• Easiness to give any structural shape and size.
• Easy and cheap maintenance.
• Excellent resistance to water which makes it suitable for the
construction of water retaining structures like dams,
aqueducts, pipe lines etc.
• Excellent fire resistance properties.
• Less requirement of skilled labor.
• Energy saving and environment friendly.

Advantages of Concrete over Steel Structures

NERGY-SAVING

NGINEERING PROPERTIES

CONOMICAL

COLOGICAL

A ‘4-E’ Criteria in the Selection of Construction Materials

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Comparison of the Properties of Structural Materials
Materials Density Ultimate Strength Modulus of Elasticity Failure
(kg/m3) (MPa) (GPa)

Steel 7850 240 200 Ductile

(Hot Rolled)

Steel 7850 420 200 Semi-Ductile

(Cold Rolled)

Cast Iron 7200 40 100 Brittle

Wrought Iron 7700 210 190 Semi-Brittle

Aluminum 2700 220 71 Ductile

Concrete 2400 40-100 80 Brittle

Wood 620 120-200 150 Ductile

Advantages of Concrete over Steel Structures

Engineering Properties
• Maintenance
 No corrosion.
 No surface treatment in normal environment.

• Fire Resistance
• Resistance to Cyclic Loading
 The fatigue strength of steel structures is greatly influenced by local
stress fields in welded joints, corrosion pittings and sudden changes
in geometry while concrete structures have no such problems.
 Till 1996, the fatigue failure of concrete structures was only 10% of
the steel structures.

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Advantages of Concrete over Steel Structures
• Vibration Damping
 Better damping resistance due to greater self weight.

• Control of Deflections
 For the same span, deflection in concrete structures are less due to rigid
shape and greater moment of inertia by forming deep hollow sections.

• Resistance to Cryogenic Temperatures

 Concrete structures continuously show ductile behavior even at very low
temperatures like -160oC (for the storage of LNG) while the steel structures
show extremely brittle behavior.

• Ease of Production
 Constituent materials easily available. No need of any complex plant.

Advantages of Concrete over Steel Structures

Economic Considerations
• Constituent materials are cheap and easily available.
• Less requirement of skilled labor and machinery.

Energy Considerations

Production of 1 ton of
concrete saves 82%
energy as compared
to similar capacity
steel structure.

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Advantages of Concrete over Steel Structures
Ecological Considerations

• No heat radiation produced by sun reflection.

• No toxic fumes as emitted by paints and surface coatings
in steel structures.

Response of Concrete and Steel under Loading

Brittle

Ductile

a. Normal Density Concrete b. Structural Steel

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Types of Concrete
Based upon Weight
• Normal Weight Concrete
 Density = 2400 kg/m3
 Prepared by natural sand and gravel or crushed-rock aggregates.

• Light Weight Concrete

 Density < 1800 kg/m3
 Prepared by natural or pyro-processed aggregates having lower bulk
density.

• Heavy Weight Concrete

 Density > 3200 kg/m3
 Prepared from heavy density aggregates and used for radiation shielding.

Types of Concrete
Based upon Strength
• Normal Strength Concrete
 Compressive Strength = 20 - 40 MPa
 Used in all sorts of ordinary construction works.

• Low Strength Concrete

 Compressive Strength < 20 MPa
 Used for non-structural applications such as base concrete for footings.

• High Strength Concrete

 Compressive Strength > 40 MPa
 Used in lower columns of high rise buildings, bridge decks and piers, off-
shore structures, cross-harbor tunnels etc.

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Types of Concrete
Based upon Structural Action
• Plain Cement Concrete (P.C.C.)
 Essentially consists of cement, aggregates, water and/or admixtures.
 Used for non-structural applications like base for foundations and
pavements, shotcreting etc.

P.C.C

An ordinary column footing A typical pavement section

Types of Concrete
Based upon Structural Action
• Reinforced Cement Concrete (R.C.C.)
 A concrete usually containing steel bars and is designed on the
assumption that the two materials act together in resisting forces.
 Used in all structural applications like beams, columns, piles etc.

R.C.C

steel
steel

An ordinary column footing A typical R.C.C. beam

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Types of Concrete
Based upon Structural Action
• Prestressed Concrete (P.C.)
 A concrete in which by tensioning steel tendons, prestress of such
magnitude and distribution is introduced that the tensile stresses resulting
from the service loads are counteracted to a desired degree.
 Used for girders of long span bridges, large roof slab where large
deflections are a problem.

Steel tendon

P.C.

Fabrication of Prestressed Concrete

Pre-tensioning
In this method, the prestressing strands are tensioned between massive
abutments in a casting yard prior to placing the concrete in the beam
forms. The beam is poured around the tension strands, and after the
concrete has attained sufficient strength, the jacking pressure is
released. This transfers the prestressing force to the concrete by bond
and friction along the strands.

Pull the steels before adding concrete

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Fabrication of Prestressed Concrete
Post-tensioning
In post-tensioning, the pre-stressing is done after the casting the beam.
During the casting, a hollow conduit is placed at the specific position to
contain pre-stressing strands. Once the beam has acquired sufficient
strength, the pre-stressing tendon is passed through the conduit.
Usually, one end of the pre-stressing tendon is anchored, and all the
force is applied at the other end. After attainment of the desired amount
of pre-stress force, the tendon is wedged against the concrete and the
jacking equipment is removed.
Pull the steels after adding concrete

Constituent
Materials
of Concrete

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Conventional Concrete

Cement

Aggregates Concrete

Water

• Compressive Strength = 25 - 40 MPa

• Suitable for Ordinary Construction
• Low to Moderate Durability

Moder n Concrete

Cement

Aggregates
Concrete

Admixtures

Water

• Compressive Strength = 60 - 150 MPa

• Very high Durability

Long funtion time

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Cement
A powdered mixture of calcareous (lime) and argillaceous (clay)
minerals, burned at a clinckering temperature and finely grinded upon
cooling.

Cement by itself is not a binder, but develops the binding property as a

result of hydration (i.e., from chemical reaction between cement
minerals and water).

A cement is called hydraulic when the hydration products are stable in a

aqueous environment. The most commonly used hydraulic cement for
making concrete is Portland cement, which essentially consists of
hydraulic calcium silicates.

Gypsum is usually added in cement as a retarder to increase the setting

time for cement by delaying the hydration process.

Aggregates

• Aggregate is an inert, inexpensive

material dispersed throughout the
cement paste so as to produce a
large volume of concrete.

• Aggregates occupies approximately

three-quarters of the volume of
concrete.

• The physical, thermal and sometimes, chemical properties of

aggregates influence the performance of concrete by
improving its volume stability and durability over the cement
paste.

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Classification of Aggregates

• Coarse Aggregates
All those particles which are larger than 4.75 mm (retained on No. 4
sieve). The size usually varies between 4.75-50 mm. They form
around 55%-70% of the total aggregate mass.

• Fine Aggregates
Particles smaller than 4.75 mm (passed through No. 4 sieve). Their
size usually varies between 4.75 mm - 75m (No. 200 sieve). They
form around 30%-45% of the total aggregate mass.

Fine Coarse

Admixtures
Admixtures are mineral or organic substances which are added to
change or improve all/some of the properties of concrete in fresh
or hardened state. They are usually added during concrete mixing
and can be distinguished from Additives which are added at the
cement manufacturing stage.

Types of Admixtures
• Accelerators
• Set-retarders
• Water-reducers or Superplasticizers
• Mineral Admixtures or Pozzolans

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Accelerators
They are added to accelerate the hardening or the development of
early strength of concrete. Accelerators are commonly used in
emergency repairs or in under-water concrete works.

Set-retarders
These are admixtures which delay the setting of concrete.
Retarders are useful when concreting in hot weather, when the
normal setting time is shortened by the higher temperature, and in
preventing the formation of cold joints between successive lifts.

Superplasticizers

Suplerplasticizers are admixtures which are added to the

concrete to increase its flowability often called workability.
These are used for three purposes:

• To achieve a higher strength by decreasing the water-cement

ratio at the same workability as an admixture free mix.
• To achieve the same workability by decreasing the cement
content so as to reduce the heat of hydration in mass concrete
which may produce serious cracking.
• To increase the workability so as to ease placing in
inaccessible locations.

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Mineral Admixtures/Pozzolans

Mineral Admixtures often called Pozzolans are siliceous

materials (SiO2: 55-90%) of very fine particle size that are
capable of entering into chemical reaction with lime at normal
temperature forming cementitious products similar to the ones
produced from Portland cement hydration thereby increasing
the strength of concrete.

Pozzolans can be used as an addition or replacement of

cement and sometimes also called as Supplementary
Cementing Materials. e.g. condensed silica fume, pulverized fly
ash, granulated blast furnace slag etc.

Advantages of Adding Mineral Admixtures

• Produce high to ultra strength concrete

• Increase abrasion and erosion resistance of concrete
• Increase cement paste - aggregate bond
• Ensure superior chemical durability
• Reduce segregation and bleeding
• Reduce thermal cracking and plastic shrinkage
• Provide better resistance to freeze-thaw cycle

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Water
• The quality of mixing water is very important as impurities in it
may interfere with the setting of the cement, may adversely
affect the strength of the concrete or cause staining of its
surface, and may also lead to corrosion of the reinforcement.
• The water fit for drinking is considered to be suitable for
concrete making and curing.
• In mixing water, the amount of dissolved solids should not be
more than 2000 ppm (preferably less than 1000 ppm) and it
should not have any color or odor.
• Sea water or any other water containing large amount of
chlorides or other alkalis should be avoided.

Production of Concrete

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 Weighing of Materials Removal of Formworks

Dry Mixing Curing

Wet Mixing Finishing

Placing in Formworks Compaction

Types of Concrete Production

 On-site mixing

Used at small construction sites

 Ready-mixed concrete

Used in large construction projects

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In-situ Concrete Production
Disadvantages

 Search of suitable materials.

 High risk due to shortage of materials.
 Storage problems.
 Inadequate quality control.
 More labor requirement.
 Increase in dust pollution.
 Careful planning and scheduling.

Ready Mixed Concrete Production

Advantages

 Close quality control of batching which reduces the variability of

the desired properties of the hardened concrete.
 Use on public sites or in highway construction where there is a
little space for a mixing plant and aggregate stockpiles.
 Use of agitator trucks to ensure care in transportation, thus
preventing segregation and maintain workability.
 Convenient and saving of time.

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Ready Mixed Concrete Production
Disadvantages

 Entry and parking problems at congested sites.

 Non-availability in small amounts.
 Advance order is required.
 Requirement of tower crane or pumps to place concrete.
 Non-availability in emergencies.
 More chances of wastage.

Properties of Good Concrete

Consistency in the Fresh State: The mix should be fluid enough
to be transported and compacted easily to the desired degree.

Cohesiveness: The mix should not segregate/bleed while being

transporting, placing or compacting in the form work.

Uniformity in Strength: The concrete should posses uniform

strength. A non-uniform strength is a sign of the presence of
honey-combs or flocs in concrete structure resulting from less
compaction or segregation.

Absence of Cracks: The pre-mature cracks may be produced in

concrete due to excessive heat of hydration, thermal and drying
shrinkage and affects the strength and durability remarkably.

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Questions/Queries ???

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