12/1/2015

For My Non Muslim Students :

“Work Hard For Fruitful End”

For My Muslim Students:

Always Perform Good Deeds Only To Please Allah...

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 12/1/2015

Quality Control In Construction

Defects In Concrete
 Among the defects that can arise to concrete
structure are :
a) Segregation
- due to high slump mixes, incorrect method
of handling concrete, over vibration
b) Plastic shrinkage and drying shrinkage
- improper curing
c) Honeycomb and rock pockets
- leaking at joints of the formwork
- Problems with fresh concrete mix
- Improper placement and vibration method

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Problems In Concrete Work

 Among the factors that can affect the
production of concrete are as follows:
a)Material used does not comply to the
requirement in the standards (BS or ASTM)
b)Faulty Workmanship
i) unskilled workers
ii) improper job due to lack of supervision

Introduction
 Satisfactory construction requires concrete or
other material possess specific properties.
 Quality control in construction is meant to
assure that these properties are obtained,
testing is an indispensable part of construction
process.
 Quality concrete involve the
a) Testing of materials
b) Quality of workmanship

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Characteristic Requirement For

Materials

a) Aggregates (ASTM C 33–90 or BS 882 :1992)

i) sieve analysis
ii) specific gravity
iii) reactivity / ASR
iv) resistance of abrasion
v) resistance to sulfates
vi) unit wt or density
vii) absorption and surface moisture
viii) compressive and flexural strength

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Sieve analysis of aggregate

Loss Angeles abrasion test to determine toughness

and abrasion resistance of aggregate

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b) Water
i) Chemical analysis
ii) To be on the safe side : always use tap
water

c) Cement (MS522 / BS 12 : 1991)

i) Types of cement – OPC, RHPC, OPC –air
entraining, LHPC, SRPC, blended PC,
Masonry PC, Oil Well Cement
ii)Chemical analysis C3S, C2S, C3A, C4AF
iii)Fineness – Effect during the first 7 days
iv)Soundness – due to magnesia or free lime
content
v)Consistency – ability to flow or mobility of
fresh mix (vicat)
vi)Setting time – Vicat or Gilmore needle

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vii)False set – Loss of plasticity w/o evolution

of heat
viii)Compressive strength – cement strength
based on mortar cube cannot be used to
predict concrete strength with great degree
of accuracy because of many variable in
concrete mixture and construction process.
ix)Heat of hydration – thermal expansion
x)Loss On Ignition (LOI) – high loss on
ignition is an indication of pre-hydration and
carbonation : could be due to improper and
prolonged storage or adulteration.

d) Admixtures (ASTM 1017 – 92)

i) Types of admixtures:
- High range water reducers, Air entraining
agent, Workability agent, Water reducers,
Superplasticizers, Retarders, Accelerators,
Workability agent, Water proofing agent

NOTE: Always do your own trial mix and test

on fresh concrete before selection of
admixtures

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e) Timber
i) species, compressive strength, moisture
content and chemical treatment
ii) In Malaysia – the authority on timber is
FRIM, Kepong
iii)Currently there is more than 50 species
available for construction
iv)Testing in accordance to MS 833, MS 360
and methods prescribed by FRIM
v)Why??? To ensure durability of the timber

e) Timber
i) BS 4449 and ISO
ii) Test for tensile strength – grade 460 or 250
iii)Chemical analysis
iv)Bond test
v)Weld strength – both for plates, steel bar or
welded meshes

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e) FRP – Fibre Reinforced Plastics

i) strength, pullout, fibre count / content
ii) Water absorption and flexural strength
iii)Use MS or ASTM E1067 – reapproved
1991
f) Bricks – clay or mortar or concrete bricks
i) Strength, water absorption, dimension etc
ii) BS, MS or ASTM

e) Pile – portion of piles cut from site

i) Strength – MS 26 or BS 1881
f) Grout – cubes made of grout MS26, ASTM
C938-97 or BS
i) Strength, flow time and composition
g)Tiles – roofing and floor tiles
i) Strength, Water retention and absorption and
squareness
h)CBM Core test – BS and ASTM or MS 26
i) Compressive strength, density
ii)L/d > 1.0

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Why Did We Have To Do The Test??

 To ensure the quality of the material

 To minimize maintenance cost
 To spare or reduce the involved parties in the
construction from getting into trouble at later
stage.

Who Pays For The Test???

 Definitely not the consultant
 Usually the supplier or the contractor (main
con or sub con)

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Quality of Workmanship

Proportioning Concrete Mixtures

a) Mix characteristics
- By volume or by weight – design for
performance
- Strength requirement – grade of concrete:
- BS Design Mix (G30 and above) or
prescribed / standard mix (G25 and less)
- ACI Method : W/C ratio method
: Wt Method
: Absolute – volume method

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Batching
a) Must be measured accurately : example:
i) wt of each constituent
ii)trained personnel to carry out measuring
works

Mixing
a) Mixer type, volume for mix
-Manual mixing of concrete – trained
personnel only
-Ready mix :
i) Central mix – mix in stationary mixer and
deliver in agitating truck
ii)Shrink mix – partial completion of mixing
process in stationary mixer and completed
in a truck mixer
iii)Truck mix – completely mixed in truck

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b) Can be carried out only if :

i) Maximum w/b is not exceeded
ii) Maximum allowable slump is not exceeded
iii)Maximum allowable time for mixing and
agitating is not exceeded
iv)Concrete is mixed at least half of the
minimum required mixing time or number
or revolutions

Manual mixing of concrete by skilled personal

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Mixing of concrete

Conveying Concrete
 Problems:
a) Delays, Early stiffening and drying out,
Segregation
 Choosing the right method:
a)Physical size of work
b)Total amount of concrete to be placed
c)Place of work – at ground level, below
ground or above ground

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Placing & Finishing of Concrete

 Preparation of moulds
i) Proper types of moulds
- leakage, multiple use of moulds, cost of
moulds

Selection of proper mould is also important

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 Depositing of concrete
1) Continuously carried out at the nearest point
of final position
2)Slab : concrete should be placed at the end
of a perimeter working towards another end
3)Should not be dump in a dip pile then move
horizontally – this cause segregation
4)Each layer being thoroughly compacted
5)Rate of placement should be rapid enough so
that the layer is plastic when a new layer is
placed

6) Layers should be 150 to 500 mm in thickness

(6 to inches) for reinforced members
7) Mass work – 400 to 500 mm (15 – 50 mm)
Depending on the widths between forms and
amount of reinforcement
8) Water should be prevented at the end, in
corners or along faces of forms
9) Height of drop – 0.9 to 1.2 metres (3 to 4 ft)
10)Good practice to overflow by 25 mm(1 inch)
for columns and cut off after partly stiffened.

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11)To avoid cracking due to settlement, concrete

in columns and walls should be allowed to
stand for at least 2 hrs and preferably overnight
before concrete is placed in beams, slabs or
girders framing into them.

Consolidating of Concrete
 Internal and external vibrators – size and vpm
(vibration per minute)

Finishing of Concrete
 Textures, colours – selection of proper
equipment

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Placing and vibrating of concrete

Skilled labour is needed for good finishing work

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Joints In Walls And Floors

 Must be properly constructed – isolation joint,
sawed joint, pre-molded insert control joint,
and tongue & groove construction joint
 Selection of materials for joint is important –
example:precast units normally have a lot of
durability problems

Curing of Concrete
 Concrete strength increase with age as long as
favorable moisture and temperature is present.
 Ponding or immersion, spraying or fogging,
wet covering, impervious sheet or plastic
sheet, form left in place, steam curing,
insulating blankets or covers, wet gunny sacks

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Concrete slab is flooded for better curing

Concrete cured using gunny sack

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Concrete cured using insulating blanket

Samples Preparation For Testing

 Grout – 70 mm cubes: paste or mortar
 Plaster – 70 mm cubes:
 Concrete – 100mm (for 10 mm aggregates)
- 150mm (for 20 and 40 mm
aggregates)
 Cubes to be made by trained personnel and
fully compacted

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Strength Test of Hardened Concrete

 Test on molded concrete – cubes (MS and BS),
cylinders (ASTM) and prisms (MS & BS)
 At 7 days 2/3 of characteristic strength
 At 28 days should achieve full strength or
grade
 Or test can be carried out on drilled cores
(EICS)
 Pile samples – test in accordance to MS or BS

Compression Strength Test For Cubes

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Drilled concrete core

Conclusion
 Knowledge related to materials preparation and
proper method in carrying out the concrete
work possessed by the personnel involved can
lead towards construction of concrete structure
free from defects such as honeycomb, shrinkage
and lower strength than the targeted strength.
 Continuous supervision will ensure the concrete
structure constructed at site free from defects
and able to fulfill the specification required.

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Ever pretend like this before…

Plan your affairs and take proper precautions…

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