Advance Concrete Technology

Revision of Unit 1
Manufactured sand as aggregate
Manufactured sand (M-sand) is a substitute of natural or
river sand used for construction and it is produced from
crushing of hard stone.
General Requirements of Manufactured Sand-
1.All the sand particles should have higher crushing strength.
2.The surface texture of the particles should be smooth
3.Sp.gravity-2.5 to 2.9 & water absorption- 2 to 4%
4.Zone-II,FM- Maximum 3
5.There should not be any organic impurities
6.Silt in sand should not be more than 2%, for crushed sand.
7.In manufactured sand the permissible limit of fines
(dust)below 75 microns shall not exceed 15%.

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 Copper slag as Fine aggregate
1. Copper slag is a industrial Bi-product obtained during the
lusterless smelting and refining of copper process. Copper slag
is an abrasive blasting grit made of granulated slag from metal
smelting processes .
2. Copper Slag, which is byproduct of the manufacture of copper
is one of the promising industrial by-product which is being
used for land filling to grit blasting.
3. To produce every ton of refined copper, approximately 2.2–3.0
tons copper slag is generated as a by-product material.
4. One of the primary advantages to copper slag is the low risk it
poses to health and the environment.
5. Copper slag also has a high strength-to-weight ratio, making it
an effective option in concrete, or as a fill material under the
roadway. Copper slag is widely used in the sand blasting
industry and it has been used in the manufacture of abrasive
tools. 2
 Copper slag as Fine aggregate
•Composition of copper slag
Composition % by mass
Fe2O3 55-60
Fe3O4 <10
Sio2 27-33
Cao 1-3.5
S 0.2-1.5
Al2O3 <3

Sp. Gravity is 2.5-4.

Fineness Modulus is approx-2.6 to 3.2
Research recommended that use of copper slag upto 40-50% (by
weight if sand) can be use as a fine aggregate to obtain a good in
cement mortar and concrete.

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Copper slag as fine aggregate :Effect on
workability & strength
 As we replace natural sand by copper slag above 25% of whole
then workability changes and needs modifications.
 At high % (generally above 25% ) use of copper slag shows
bleeding & Segregation problem in concrete but can be control by
adding more fines like fly ash, quarry dust etc. and super plasticisers in
mix.
Even 100% replacement of river sand by copper slag gives better
workability and strength in low W/C ratio mixes than conventional mix
because of low water absorption characteristics of copper slag.
There is increase in density of concrete by 9 to 22% with use of
copper slag( This is mainly due to high specific gravity of slag)
 Irrespective of W/C ratio, as copper slag content increases- strength
increases.
 Research said that 50% copper slag & 50% river sand gives better
result.
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 Workability of FRESH concrete
As per IS 6461-1973(Part-7) workability of fresh
concrete is defined as the ease & homogeneity
with which concrete can be mixed, transported,
placed in form work, compacted & finished.
The workability is associated with the following four
concepts:
1.Ease of flow (internal friction)
2.Prevention of segregation
3.Prevention of harshness
4.Prevention of bleeding
Workable concrete have a uniform colour, the aggregates
will be lubricated with sufficient paste, so that it can be
easily poured into formwork.
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 Factors Affecting Workability
Stiff Concrete Normal concrete Flowing concrete

Vee Bee Comp.Factor & slump Slump-flow

1. Water content or W/C ratio- More the W/C ratio more will be the
workability of concrete but decreases strength and durability of
concrete. High W/C ratio means high water content per cubic meter
of concrete, which increases workability but at the same time
increased water content increases segregation and bleeding and
cement slump will easily escape through joints of formwork.

2. Size of aggregate- For bigger size of aggregate, lesser is the

surface are and hence less amount of water is required for wetting
the surface and less matrix or paste is required for lubricating the
surface to reduce internal friction. Hence, it is observed that as size
increase up to certain limit, for aggregate the workability increases.
Smaller size aggregate, more surface area, more past required to
maintain workability. 6
 Factors Affecting Workability
3.Shape and texture of aggregate- Angular, flaky or elongated shape
aggregate makes the concrete very harsh where rounded aggregate
require less cement paste, water content and gives more workability.
4.Mix proportion- The higher the aggregate / cement ratio, lesser is the
paste available for providing lubrication, per unit surface area of
aggregate which restrained the mobility of aggregate.
5.Grading of aggregate- A well graded aggregate which has less
amount of voids in a given volume gives higher workability. When the
grading is done properly, the volumes of voids are less and excess
paste is available to give better lubricating effect. Poor graded
aggregates reduce the workability.
6.Quantity and type of admixture- Admixtures like plasticizers, super-
plasticizers, air entraining agents, pozzolana improves the workability,
at lower water content. As the dosage or quantity of admixture
increases up to certain limit, workability increases but its again depends
on environmental conditions. Use of pozzolanic material also increase
lubricating effect and workability.
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 Factors Affecting Workability
7. Amount of entrained air- Air entraining agents reduce internal
friction between particles and improve lubricating effect.

8. Temperature and environmental condition- If temperature is high,

wind speed is high during summer season, the evaporation
increases, and decrease workability. In high cold weather also
workability decreases.

9. Time required and method of transportation- As the time passes,

the loss of water content is due to evaporation which reduces
workability. The mode of transportation like manually through
buckets, wing conveyor belt, truck, pipe etc. Will take time to
transport and sometime increase segregation which changes
workability.

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 Segregation
2. Segregation-
•Segregation can be defined as the separation of the constituent materials like
aggregates, cement slurry etc. of concrete.

•A good concrete which looks homogeneous mix, uniform colour and all
ingredients are properly distributed in whole mass of concrete.

•Causes of Segregation-
1. Working proportion or bad proportioned mix in which aggregate content is
higher than paste available.
2. Excess water content and insufficient mixing.
3. Badly designed mixer and mixing for long time.
4. Dropping of concrete from height (generally not more than 1 m) for
columns.
5. Transportation of concrete for longer distances by wheel borrow, conveyor
belt.
6. Over vibration of concrete for long time.
7. Discharge of concrete at dense reinforcement.
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 Bleeding
• Control of Segregation-
1. Proper water - cement ratio.
2. Proper proportion of mix.
3. Proper designed mixer and blades.
4. Controlled vibration and compaction.
5. Proper mixing and transportation of concrete.
6. Proper placing of concrete in dense reinforced members and in case of
road pavements.

3. Bleeding-
•Bleeding is sometimes called as water gain.
•It is a particular form of segregation, in which some of the water from the
concrete comes out to the surface of the concrete being lowest specific gravity
among all the ingredients.
•In bleeding, water moves upward and water voids may be formed which
weaken the bond between aggregate and steel.
•Bleeding sometimes helpful like when the rate of evaporation is higher than
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rate of bleeding.
 Properties of Harden Concrete
The principal properties of harden concrete which are of
practical importance are as follows -
(a) Short term : Compressive strength, flexural and tensile
strength, elastic modulus and bond characteristics.
(b) Long terms : Durability, impermeability, abrasion, shrinkage
and creep deformations, response, to temperature variations.
Factors Affecting Strength of Concrete-
(1) Water - cement ratio or Water- binder ratio
(2) Gel / Space ratio.
(3) Aggregate - cement ratio and paste - aggregate bond.
(4) Aggregate size, concentration and grading.
(5) Curing, age and maturity of concrete and temperature.
(6) Degree of hydration, porosity and consolidation.
(7) Specimen properties and loading parameters.
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 Water - cement ratio (w/c)or
Water- binder ratio (w/b)
 It is defined as weight of water added at the time of mixing to
the weight of cement in concrete mix. Water-cement ratio
affects strength of concrete directly.
Strength of concrete primarily depends upon the strength of
cement paste and the strength of paste on dilution of paste.
The strength of paste increases as increase in cement content
and decrease in water content and air content.

Assuming full compaction and at given age and normal

temperature, strength of concrete can be taken to be inversely
proportional to the water/cement ratio. This is nothing but
Abrams law which states that the higher the w/c ratio, the lower
the compressive strength as shown in figure.

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 Water - cement ratio (w/c)or
Water- binder ratio (w/b)
•In modern concrete, w/c is frequently replaced with w/b (water/binder),
because Portland cement is not the only binding material in such
modern concrete.
•The w/c or w/b ratio is one of the most important factors influencing
concrete properties, such as compressive strength, permeability, and
durability. A lower w/c ratio or w/b ratio will lead to a stronger and more
durable concrete.

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 Gel / Space ratio
Gel is the hydrated cement while space is volume
occupied by hydrated cement plus capillary pores.
Gel - Space ratio is the ratio of volume of hydrated
cement gel to the total space occupied by hydrated cement
gel and capillary pores.
It is a measure of capillary pores space or alternative to
porosity. Decrease in capillary porosity in a hydrated
product shall increase gel/space ratio.

Volume of gel(including gel pores)

Gel space ratio= --------------------------------------------------
Vol. of cement gel + vol. of capillary pores)

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 Gel / Space ratio
Gel-space ratio is better approach which effect strength of
concrete as it consider the following factors-
(1) Degree of hydration
(2) All properties of cement used
(3) Temperature at which hydration takes place
(4) Effect of W/C ratio
(5) Air content in case of air entrained concrete

 Higher is the gel / space ratio that reduces the porosity

which increases strength of concrete.

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 Aggregate - cement ratio
Aggregate cement ratio is the secondary factor which affects
strength. Higher aggregate / cement ratio reduce strength.
In concrete a interface between the paste and aggregate
known as Interfacial Transition Zone (ITZ).
ITZ is the region next to particles of coarse aggregate about
10 to 50 m thick. It is weaker than aggregate and bulk hydrated
cement paste, but still it governs strength of concrete mostly in
normal grade concrete.
Surface roughness of aggregates plays important role, as
roughness increases bond strength.
More aggregate content lesser is the shrinkage of cement
paste. More aggregate content increases the strength but
introduces discontinuity and stress concentration.

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 Maturity of Concrete
Concrete develops strength with age due to continued hydration.
Initially rate of gain of strength is fast which reduces as time increases.
Concrete develops strength due to Bogue’s compounds and fineness
of cement particles when we study paste.
As per IS 456, there is a gain of strength beyond 28 days because
of type of cement, extended curing, environmental conditions etc.
Rise in the atmospheric temperature speed up the rate of hydration
resulting increase in early age strength, but will affect poor physical
structure, porous and less strong.
Since the degree of cement hydration depends on time (age) and
temperature, the strength of concrete evaluated from the concept of
maturity.
Maturity is expressed as a function of the time and the temperature
of curing.
Maturity =  (time  temperature)
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