Concrete Technology

Proportioning of Concrete Mixtures

Dr Sonalisa Ray Assistant Professor Department of Civil Engineering Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee

 Selection of materials Mixture proportioning Process of arriving at the right combination of cement, aggregates water and admixtures aggregates, Significantly affect cost and properties of concrete Mix design requirements: (a) Workability of fresh concrete Strength of harden concrete Durability under adverse situations (b) Arrive Arri e at lowest lo est possible cost Selection of suitable materials at reasonable price Cost, Workability, Strength and Durability

Cost
S Small ll difference diff in i the th price i of f aggregates t will ill affect ff t the th final fi l cost Selection of expensive perhaps unnecessary aggregates would increase the cost to many folds Cement cost is much more than aggregates Suitable replacement of pozzolanic or cementitious by products

Workability
Affect both cost and quality Low workability: increases the cost of handling
Poor strength, durability and appearance

Segregation and bleeding causes expensive finish

Yield Yi ld less l durable d bl concrete t

Note: Consistency should not be more than necessary Cohesiveness C h i and d finishability fi i h bilit of f concrete t should h ld be b improved i d by increasing the sand/coarse aggregate ratio alone Water reducing and set retarding admixtures need to be used when high consistency is required

Strength and Durability

Strength specified is treated as minimum required strength Closely dependent on W/C ratio and content of air entrained in concrete t Under normal condition of exposure, mix design ignores durability

Variables in Mix Proportioning

W/C ratio Cement content/cement to aggregate ratio Gradation of aggregates Consistency

Statistical Quality Control of Concrete

Variability of test results, results vary from batch to batch In construction material In construction method Distribution of strength Normal distribution/Gaussian distribution
y 1 e 2 2 f mean f min k
x
2

Methods of Proportioning
ACI committee 211 method IS recommended method, IS 10262:2009 DOE method High strength concrete mix design

ACI Committee 211 Method

Sieve analysis of fine and coarse aggregates; fineness modulus Dry rodded unit weight of coarse aggregates Bulk specific gravity of the material Absorption capacity or free moisture in the aggregate Air content and grading of the available aggregates Relationship between strength and W/C ratio for available combination of cement and aggregate Job specifications if any; maximum W/C ratio and strength at early l ages (normally ( ll 28day 28d strength t th is i specified) ifi d)

Mix Design
Step 1: Choice of slump
Mixtures with stiffest possible consistency which can be easily handled

Step 2: Choice of maximum size of aggregate

Large max size aggregates produce less void space Max size of coarse aggregates should be consistent with the dimension of the structure Max aggregate size should not exceed,
1/5th of the narrowest dimension between the sides of the forms 1/3rd the depth of the slab 3/4th of the minimum clear spacing between reinforcing bars

Step 3: Estimation of the mixing water content and air content

Depends on max particle size of aggregates and entrained air

Step 4: Selection of W/C ratio

For different aggregates and cement types, the relationship between strength t th and d W/C ratio ti might i ht be b different diff t

Step 5: Calculation of the cement content

 Step 6: Estimation of the coarse aggregate content Volume can be estimated from its maximum aggregate size and d fineness fi modulus d l of f fine fi aggregates t Step 7: Estimation of the fine aggregate content Step S 8 8: Adj Adjustments f for the h aggregate moisture i Step 9: Trial batch adjustments

 Fresh concrete need to be checked for Workability Unit weight Air content Harden strength If desired criteria does not satisfy, y the mix may y require q g grading g improvement, by the way of changing CA and FA, change of shape and size of CA. Last option is to increase water content, keeping W/C ratio constant. Might i h cause yield i ld To keep yield constant, both FA and CA quantities need to b increases be i correspondingly di l

Mix Selection for No-Slump No Slump Concrete

No slump concrete Extremely dry Very stiff Stiff Modification need to be made Modification is made in water requirement
Concrete of 75-100 mm is taken as reference value

Modification in the values of bulk volume of coarse aggregates t

Flowing Concrete
Pumpable concrete The mix under pressure must not segregate and bleed Must be able to bind all constituent materials together Must be able to deform while flowing through pipeline at b d and bends d tapered d section i ASTM C 1017-07, slump > 190 mm Commonly a slump of 200 mm or a compacting factor of 0.96 to 0.98

 Increase FA content by 5% above the usual content (with the corresponding reduction in CA): contributes to cohesion Grading of aggregates is also important Highly angular, angular flaky or elongated coarse aggregates should be avoided (avoid bleeding and segregation) Total mass of particles smaller than 300 m in the aggregate + mass of cementitious materials > 450 Kg/m3, when maximum gg g size is 20 mm aggregate Min quantity of fines is a function of max aggregate size

High Performance Concrete

High workability
Can be controlled by an appropriate dosage of SP

High Hi h strength h
Water content need to chosen based on W/C ratio required from strength consideration

High durability
Excessive amount of cementitious material need to be avoided so as control shrinkage; 500-550 kg/m3 (of which about 10% is silica fume) is desirable maximum Portland cement with high fineness is preferred

Requirement of high modulus of elasticity

Coarse aggregates of high modulus vaule Good interface bonding properties

NO accepted method of mix proportioning is available (ACI 211.4R-93)

IS Mix Proportioning
Characteristics compressive strength Degree of workability Type and maximum size of aggregate Standard deviation for compressive strength Kind of admixture Specific gravities of all ingredients

Steps
Target mean strength
ft =fck + t x s

Selection of W/C ratio

Keeping W/C ratio, ratio strength is dependent on type of cement, cement max size of aggregate, grading, surface texture and other characteristics Relationship between strength and W/C ratio need to be established

Selection of water content

Increase in aggregate size, reduction in W/C ratio, reduction in slump, use of f rounded d d and d natural t l aggregates, t use of f plasticizers: l ti i Reduce R d water content Increase in temperature, p increase in cement content, increase in slump, p increase in W/C ratio, use of angular aggregates, manufactured sand and large percentage of fines wrt coarse: Increase water requirement

 IS Code: Up to M35 grade For angular CA, natural sand, W/C = 0.6, CF = 0.8 Other conditions of workability, W/C ratio, grading of FA, rounded d d sub-angular b l aggregates adjustment dj needs d to be b done d Beyond M35 grade W/C = 0.35

 Calculation of cement content Estimation of air content

Function of max aggregate size

Calculation of aggregate content Combination C bi i of f different diff coarse aggregates

IS 383-1970

Trial T i l mixes i

IS 10262: 1982

IS 10262: 1982

IS 10262: 2009

IS 456

Mix Design: High Performance Concrete

Conventional method (strength up to 60 MPa, 180 mm slump) Good predictive values to design of concrete mix Modern M d concrete t W/C or W/B extends towards very low value Contains C i several l supplementary l cementitious ii materials i l Contains silica fume, drastically changes properties of fresh and d harden h d concrete t Slump can be altered by SP

Mix Design: High Performance Concrete

Draw backs
Step 1: Slump - essentially dependent on the amount of mixing water and d on the h amount of f superplasticizer l i i used d Step 2: MSA - No longer advantageous to select as coarse an aggregate as possible to reduce the amount of mixing water needed to meet a certain slump Select the coarse aggregate as small as possible for placeability considerations and also for concrete strength considerations Step 3: Water content Contains supplementary cementitious materials (fly ash, slag, silica fume) Strength and W/C ratio relationship must be established in each particular case Step 4: CA content No longer dependent on FM of sand

 In HPC many characteristics need to meet simultaneously

Low permeability, high durability, low shrinkage, low creep, high modulus high strength modulus, strength, high and lasting workability

Large no. no of mix components difficult for mix designing Requires large no. trials

DOE Method