Engineering

CIV2226
Week 2 Concrete Mix Design
 Developing a Mixture to Achieve the Required
Concrete Performance
Download & Read:
Week 2 Practice Class
Mix design Background &
Guidelines
from Moodle
Background to Weeks 1 & 2
lectures and Week 2
Practice Class)
Concrete Recipe:
Ingredients?
Concrete Constituents:

Fine and Coarse Cementitious

Aggregates (Week 3) Materials: the “glue”
(Week 2)

Water
Chemical Admixtures Fibres
(Week 3) (Week 3)
Laboratory Classes:

Portland
Cement
Pakenham
Lyndhurst Sand
Crushed Basalt Cementitious
Fine and Coarse Aggregates Materials: the “glue”
(Week 2)

Water
Chemical Admixtures Fibres
(Week 3) (Week 3)
Laboratory Classes:
Pakenham Crushed Basalt
Lyndhurst Sand Maximum size 14 mm

Portland
Cement
Fine and Coarse Cementitious Materials
Aggregates (Week 2)

Chemical Admixtures Water

(Week 3) Fibres (Week 3)
Cement
 dry powder of very fine particles
 forms a paste when mixed with water
 chemical reaction with water - hydration
 “glue”
 paste coats all the aggregates together
 hardens and forms a solid mass

More detail in Week 2

Water
 needed for two purposes:
– chemical reaction with cement
– workability
 only 1/3 of the water is needed for chemical
reaction
 extra water remains in pores and holes
 results in porosity
 Good for workability
 Bad for strength More detail in Weeks 2-6
Aggregates
 cheap fillers
 hard material
 provide strength
 provide for volume stability
 provide abrasion resistance

More detail in Week 3

Workability
The ease with which the fresh concrete can be
handled, placed & compacted (Week 4)
Workability - Slump Test
 Inverted cone
100 mm
 Filled with concrete in
three layers of equal
volume 300

200

200 mm
 Slump Test Remove
slump cone

steel Full Slump

rod Cone

• Concrete placed in 3
Measure the
layers of equal volume
Slump
• Each layer compacted
by rodding 25 times
 Slump Test

Stiff 0-50 mm
Medium 50-125 mm
Fluid 125-175 mm

High Workability Low Workability

Factors Affecting Slump:
Water Content
 Add water at the constant cement
content, w/c increases, slump
increases
 Add water at a constant water
cement ratio, have to increase
cement as well, slump increases
Factors affecting slump: paste content
Aggregates

Low paste content:

less lubrication High paste content:
higher lubrication:
Harsh mix (<slump)
Rich mix (>slump)
Factors affecting slump: aggregate size
Larger particles = less surface area
→ thicker coating of cement paste
→ greater lubrication, easy sliding
of particles
>slump
Factors affecting slump: aggregate size
Smaller particles, more surface area,
thinner coating, interlocking of particles
< slump

• Higher Paste Content (water + cement) = > slump

• Add More Water = > slump (but lower strength)
 Strength
Standard age for strength reporting: 28 days
Presentation title 28th February 2011 19
Compressive Strength
Major factors of influence:
 Water/cement ratio (w/c) w/c strength
 Age  Age strength
 Type of curing (water curing for
cement hydration)
 Degree of compaction (good
compaction = less voids: strength)

More in Week 4 ….
 Our Task during Week 2 Practice Class:
Design a laboratory mix that meets:
 Workability (“slump”)
 Strength
(in reality, there could be many other factors)

For Example:
Group 5
Your Mix Requirements:
28 Day Strength: 50 MPa
Slump = 150 mm

From:Week 2 Practice Class

Mix design Background & Guidelines (Moodle)
 Mix Design Methods

• Hundreds of concrete mix design methods …

• Road Note 4: accepted UK system in the 1940s, 50s & beyond
– 4 alternative gradings → harsher or sandier mix
• BRE/DOE or “British” Method: Replaced Road Note 4 & relates
% fine aggregate to its grading and the w/c
• ACI Method (American Concrete Institute): combined effect of
grading, particle density and particle shape of the coarse
aggregate
 Concrete Mix Design – British
Method (refer to Week 2 Practice Class Mix
Design Notes)
Typical Mix Design
To make 1 m3 of Concrete:
Cement = ?? kg
Water = ?? kg
Fine Aggregate (sand) = ?? kg
Coarse Aggregate = ?? kg
Example Mix Design Calculation:

Design the following mix:

• Strength: 60 MPa
• Slump: 120 mm
Methodology:
 Stage 1: Design for strength → free water to cement ratio of
the concrete mixture
 Stage 2: Design for workability → free water content
 Stage 3: Combines the results of Stages 1 and 2 to give the
cement content
 Stage 4: Deals with the determination of the total aggregate
content
 Stage 5: Deals with the selection of the fine and coarse
aggregate contents

 the mix proportions to create your laboratory mixture

Stage 1: Design for strength
→ free w/c (water to cement ratio)
“British Method”
Firstly, design for w/c = 0.5, then back-calculate the w/c for your
particular mix

EXAMPLE:
Design Strength (28 DAYS): 60 MPa
Table 3: Approximate compressive strengths (MPa) of
concrete mixes made with a free w/c = 0.5

Type of Compressive Strengths (MPa)

Type of coarse Age (days)
Cement aggregate 3 7 28 91
Type GP or Uncrushed 17 24 38 45
Type SR Crushed 22 31 45 54
Type HE Uncrushed 24 36 47 52
Crushed 31 39 52 60
 Relationship between:
Compressive Strength & Water/Cement Ratio
Example Figure 9
(refer to Prac Class notes)
Design Strength:
60 MPa
Sketch a best-fit curve
Step (i) (parallel to template
curves)
45 MPa when w/c=0.5 (Table 3
on previous slide)

Step (i)
w/c=0.5

Free w/c = 0.4 (for our example)

 Stage 2:
Design for workability
→ free water content
 Absorbed Moisture Free Moisture

Moisture

Fully Dry Air Dry Saturated and Saturated and

Condition (partially dry) Surface Dry Surface Wet

Saturated &
Oven Dry Surface Dry
Free Water Content
The total water in a concrete mix:
1. water absorbed by the
aggregate to bring it to a
saturated and surface-dry
condition; plus
2. the free-water available for
the hydration of the cement
and for the workability of the
fresh concrete

Aggregate particle
Our Example
Design Slump = 80mm
(crushed aggregate, 20 mm max. size)
→ Free Water Content = 210kg/m3 (based on Table 3)

Table 3
 Stage 3: Combines Stages 1 and 2
→ cement content

Cement Content = Free Water Content ÷ (w/c)

In this example (design strength = 60 MPa):

 Design w/c = 0.4 (from Figure 1)
 Say, crushed aggregate with max. size = 20mm
 Design slump = 80 mm:
Free Water content = 210kg/m3
→ Cement Content = 210/0.4 = 510kg/m3
 Stage 4:
Determine the total aggregate content
Total aggregate content
= Wet Density (concrete)
minus free water content
minus cement content

Wet Density (concrete)  need to calculate (Fig 11 in Notes)

See next slide

Wet density of fully compacted concrete
Stage 4 → total aggregate content

Calculate total aggregate content :

= Wet Density (concrete) – free water– cement content

Wet density of concrete (kg m 3)

2700
Specific gravity of
2600 combined aggregate
(on a saturated
surface-dry basis)
2500
2.9
2400 2.8
2.7
2300
Total aggregate content = 2.6
2.5
2350 – 210– 510= 1630 kg/m3 2200
2.4
2100
100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280
Free - water content (kg m3 )

The SG of aggregates ranges (refer to your Lab Notes regarding SG’s of

your aggregates)
Stage 5: Proportion of Fine/Coarse Aggregate
Firstly, calculate the Fineness Modulus

Fineness Modulus (needed for Figure 6)

Sieve Size Mass % retained Cumulative
Example (mm) retained % retained
Only (g)
(different to 4.75 6 2.0 2
the sieve test 2.36 31 10.1 12
results 1.18 30 9.8 22
provided to
0.6 59 19.2 41
you in the
0.3 107 34.9 76
guide)
0.15 53 17.3 93
0.075 21 6.8 -
Fine
Total = 307 Coarse
Total = 246
Fineness modulus = 2.46
Stage 5
Proportion of Fine/
Coarse Aggregate

Our Example: 14 mm (need to

interpolate)

Figure 12
Calculate:
Fineness Modulus
 Fineness Modulus (2.46)
 w/c=0.4 (previous calcs)

% fine aggregate
% fine aggregate
= 41%

w/c
Aggregate Contents

Total Aggregate = 1630 kg/m3 (refer to earlier slide)

Fine Aggregate = % Fine Aggregate * Total Aggregate

= 41% of 1630 kg/m3 = 669 kg/m3

Coarse Aggregate = Total Aggregate – Fine Aggregate

= 1630 – 669 = 961 kg/m3
 Week 2 Prac Class: Mix Design Assignment
• 1 assignment per group
• Refer to prac class notes for instructions
• The assignment should be presented properly with
introduction, methods and assumptions, calculations with
explanations, figures and diagrams, and conclusions.
• The following calculations should be clearly shown:
 w/c ratio (illustrated with diagrams);
 Water content;
 Fineness Modulus;
 Combined specific gravity;
 Wet Concrete Density;
 Total Aggregate content & % of fine aggregate;
 Mixture proportions based on 1 m3
 Laboratory mixture proportions (based on 0.03 m3)
Due before 4PM Thursday of Week 2 (CIV2226 assignment box
Tomorrow:
• Cements
• Blended cements
• “Green” cements