Chapter 1

CONCRETE MIX DESIGN

Chapter Outline
Concrete Mix design and
design problems

Course outcomes covered

Identify and describe the legal
codes,
standards, and legal
responsibilities
.
Describe
how the compliance with a
code
is achieved

DEFINITION

Concrete mix design is defined as the

appropriate selection
and proportioning of constituents to produce a
concrete with pre-defined characteristics in the
fresh and hardened states.

In general, concrete mixes are designed in order

to achieve a defined workability, strength and
durability .

The selection and proportioning of

materials depend on:
The structural requirements of the
concrete
The environment to which the
structure will be exposed
The job site conditions, especially the
methods of concrete production,
transport, placement, compaction
and finishing
The characteristics of the available
raw materials
3

The consistency of fresh

concrete depends on

Water Content (kg/m3)

W/c Ratio
Fineness Modulus of the Aggregate
Use of Water Reducers (Plasticizers /
Super plasticizers)
Type and shape of Aggregate
Entrained Air Content
5

Mix temperature
aggregates dust
cement type
additions (silica fume, fly-ash, slag,
fibers), etc.

Type of mixes
Nominal mixes
Standard mixes
Designed mixes

Nominal mixes
In the past the specifications for concrete
prescribed the proportions of cement, fine
and coarse aggregates. These mixes of
fixed cement-aggregate ratio which
ensures adequate strength are termed
Nominal mixes.
These offer simplicity and under normal
circumstances, have a margin of strength
above that specified.
However, due to the variability of mix
ingredients the nominal concrete for a
given workability varies widely in strength.
8

Standard mixes
The nominal mixes of fixed cement-aggregate
ratio (by volume) vary widely in strength and may
result in under- or over-rich mixes. For this
reason, the minimum compressive strength has
been included in many specifications. These
mixes are termed Standard mixes.
The concrete mixes has been designated into a
number of grades as M10, M15, M20, M25, M30,
M35 and M40. In this designation the letter M
refers to the mix and the NUMBER refers to the
Characteristic Compressive Strength at the age of
28 days curing in N/mm2 .
The mixes of grades M10, M15, M20 and M25
correspond approximately to the mix proportions
9
(1:3:6), (1:2:4), (1:1.5:3) and (1:1:2) respectively.

Designed Mixes
In these mixes the performance of the
concrete is specified by the designer but
the mix proportions are determined by the
producer of concrete, except that the
minimum cement content can be laid down.
This is most rational approach to the selection of
mix proportions with specific materials in mind
possessing more or less unique characteristics.
The approach results in the production of
concrete with the appropriate properties most
economically. However, the designed mix does
not serve as a guide since this does not
guarantee the correct mix proportions for the
prescribed performance.
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The requirements which form the basis

of selection and proportioning of mix
ingredients are :
a ) The minimum compressive strength
required from structural consideration
b) The adequate workability necessary for
full compaction with the compacting
equipment available.
c) Maximum water-cement ratio and/or
maximum cement content to give
adequate durability for the particular site
conditions
d) Maximum cement content to avoid
shrinkage cracking due to temperature
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Methods of mix design

Several methods of mix design

evolved over the years in
different countries
Ex: ACI practice, British
practice, Indian
Standard
recommendations. etc.

Calculation of gel/space ratio

Factors affecting the choice of mix proportions

The various factors affecting the mix design are:

1. Compressive strength
It is one of the most important properties of
concrete and influences many other
describable properties of the hardened
concrete. The mean compressive strength
required at a specific age, usually 28 days,
determines the nominal water-cement
ratio of the mix. The other factor affecting
the strength of concrete at a given age
and cured at a prescribed temperature is
the degree of compaction. According to
Abrahams law the strength of fully

 2. Workability
The degree of workability required
depends on three factors. These are
the size of the section to be
concreted, the amount of
reinforcement, and the method of
compaction to be used. For the narrow
and complicated section with
numerous corners or inaccessible
parts, the concrete must have a high
workability so that full compaction can
be achieved with a reasonable amount
of effort. This also applies to the
embedded steel sections. The desired
workability depends on the

 3. Durability
The durability of concrete is its
resistance to the aggressive
environmental conditions. High
strength concrete is generally
more durable than low strength
concrete. In the situations when
the high strength is not
necessary but the conditions of
exposure are such that high
durability is vital, the durability
requirement will determine the

 4. Maximum nominal size of

aggregate
In general, larger the maximum size of
aggregate, smaller is the cement
requirement for a particular watercement ratio, because the workability
of concrete increases with increase in
maximum size of the aggregate.
However, the compressive strength
tends to increase with the decrease in
size of aggregate.
Standards recommend that the

5. Grading and type of aggregate

The grading of aggregate influences the mix
proportions for a specified workability and watercement ratio. Coarser the grading leaner will be mix
which can be used. Very lean mix is not desirable
since it does not contain enough finer material to
make the concrete cohesive.
The type of aggregate influences strongly the
aggregate-cement ratio for the desired workability
and stipulated water cement ratio. An important
feature of a satisfactory aggregate is the uniformity
of the grading which can be achieved by mixing
different size fractions.

6. Quality Control
The degree of control can be
estimated statistically by the
variations in test results. The
variation in strength results from
the variations in the properties of
the mix ingredients and lack of
control of accuracy in batching,
mixing, placing, curing and
testing. The lower the difference
between the mean and minimum
strengths of the mix lower will be
the cement-content required. The

Mix Proportion designations

The common method of expressing the
proportions of ingredients of a concrete mix
is in the terms of parts or ratios of cement,
fine & coarse aggregates.
For e.g., a concrete mix of proportions 1:2:4
means that cement, fine and coarse
aggregate are in the ratio 1:2:4 or the mix
contains
one part of cement
two parts of fine aggregate and
four parts of coarse aggregate.
The proportions are either by volume or
by mass.

Steps for Mix design

Given Data:
GRADE of Concrete = M 30
Specific Gravity of Cement
= 3.15
Specific Gravity of Coarse Aggregates =
2.85
Specific Gravity of Fine Aggregates = 2.73
Maximum size of Aggregates
= 20 mm
Percentage of Fine aggregate
= 36%
Accepted proportion of results 1 in 5, 20%
Site Control
= GOOD

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 Step I:- Compute Target Mean Compressive Strength:

Fck =

fck +

(t * S)

Fck =

Target Mean Compressive Strength at 28 days in

N/Sq.mm

fck

Characteristic Compressive Strength at 28 days in

N/Sq.mm

Standard Deviation in N/Sq.mm ( from table 2)

A Statistic, depending on accepted proportion of

low results. ( from table 1)

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 Step II: Select the Water cement ratio ( from table 3)

Water cement ratio =
Step III: Select the water content per cubic metre
( from table 4)
Water content =
Step IV:- Compute the quantity of cement as follows.

Cement

Water content
------------W/C Ratio

=
24

Step VI:- Then we find the quantities of Fine & Coarse

aggregate by absolute volume method.
V = (W+C/Sc+(1/p) * (fa/Sfa)) * (1/1000)
and
V = (W+C/Sc+(1/(1-p)) * (ca/Sca)) * (1/1000)

- (Eq.1)
- (Eq.2)

Where
V = Absolute volume of fresh concrete = 1 m3
W = Mass of Water content (Kg) per m3 of concrete
C = Mass of Cement (Kg) per m3 of
concrete
p = Percentage of fine aggregate.
fa = Mass of fine aggregate
ca = Mass of coarse aggregate
Sc = Specific gravity of cement.
Sfa = Specific gravity of fine aggregate.
Sca = Specific gravity of coarse aggregate.
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 Fine aggregate:
V = (W+C/Sc+(1/p) * (fa/Sfa)) *
(1/1000)

Coarse aggregate
V = (W+C/Sc+(1/(1-p)) * (ca/Sca)) *
(1/1000)
26

Cement
=
Fine aggregate
=
Coarse aggregate
=
Water
=

Ratio: Cement : FA : CA : Water

27

Table 1: Values of

Accepted proportion of
low results

1 in 5,

20%

0.84

1 in 10,

10%

1.28

1 in 15,

6.7%

1.50

1 in 20,

5%

1.65

1in 40,

2.5%

1.86

1 in 100, 1%

2.33

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Table 2: Standard Deviation

Grade of
Concrete

Assumed Standard Deviation

(N/mm2)
Good Site Control

Fair Site Control

M20, M25

4.0

5.0

M30, M35
M40,M45
M50

5.0

6.0

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Table 3: Water-Cement ratio

S.
No.

Concrete
Grade

Minimum expected W/C

M10

0.9

M15

0.7

M20

0.55

M25

0.50

M30

0.45

M35

0.40

M40

0.35

M45

0.30

30

Table 4: Water content

concrete.

per m3 of

Maximum size of
Aggregate
(mm)

Water Content per

cubic metre of
concrete
(Kg)

10

208

20

186

40

165

31

Problem : Determine the quantity of M 30 Concrete

required for casting cube (100 x100 x100) mm. Take
density of concrete as 2400 kg/cubic metre. Assume
20% extra.

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