• MODULE I : CONCRETE (12hrs)

• Ingredients of Concrete: Cement, Fine

aggregate, Coarse aggregate, Water,
Reinforcement.
• Concrete: PCC and RCC, Grades, Properties,
Water cement ratio.
• Process of concreting : Formwork for
concrete, Mixing of concrete, Cutting,
bending and placing of reinforcement,
Placing of concrete, Scaffolding, Curing
• Properties of concrete: fresh concrete,
workability, segregation and bleeding,
factors affecting workability & strength.
Various types of concrete.

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Concrete
• The word concrete comes from the Latin word "concretus".
Which means compact.
• It’s a composite material
• composed of coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid
cement which hardens over time.
• It’s an artificial stone made of sand, stone, water & cement.

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History
• The history of cementing materials together goes
back to the time when prehistoric man prepare his
cave to build shelter.
• He used mud and clay to fill the gap between
stone. To keep out the wind and cold.
• Later the Assyrians and Babylonians used clay as
their bonding substance and straw to make a
shape.
• The Egyptians used lime and gypsum and crushed
stone to create a material that would harden even
better.

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PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE
• The important properties of concrete, which govern the design of a concrete mix are
• Strength
• Durability
• Workability
• Economy.
• Capable of resisting its disintegration and decay
• The concrete should be durable with regard to the various weathering conditions such as action
of atmospheric gases, moisture changes, temperature variations.
• For durable concrete, water-cement ratio should be as small as possible to get a workable mix.
• A well – compacted concrete has less voids and pores and has more durability.

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PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE

• Concrete has relatively high compressive strength, but much lower tensile strength.
• For this reason is usually reinforced with materials that are strong in tension (often steel).
• The elasticity of concrete is relatively constant at low stress levels but starts decreasing at higher
stress levels as matrix cracking develops.
• Concrete has a very low coefficient of thermal expansion and shrinks as it matures.
• All concrete structures will crack to some extent, due to shrinkage and tension.
• Concrete that is subjected to long-duration forces is prone to creep.
• Tests can be made to ensure the properties of concrete correspond to

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TYPES OF CONCRETE AND ITS USES
• Concrete are classified into different types:
• 1. According to binding material used in concrete.
• 2. According to design of concrete.
• 3. According to purpose of concrete.

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Types of concrete
• CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO BINDING MATERIAL:
• According to binding material used concrete are classified into two types.
• (1) Cement concrete • CEMENT CONCRETE
• (2) lime concrete • The concrete consisting of cement, sand and
coarse aggregates mixed in a suitable
proportions in addition to water is called
cement concrete.
• In this type of concrete cement is used as a
binding material, sand as fine aggregates and
gravel, crushed stones as coarse aggregates.
• cement concrete is commonly used in
buildings and other important engineering
works where strength and durability is of
prime importance
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Types of concrete
• CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO BINDING MATERIAL:
• According to binding material used concrete are classified into two types.
• (1) Cement concrete
• LIME CONCRETE
• (2) lime concrete
• The concrete consisting of lime, fine aggregates, and coarse
aggregates mixed in a suitable proportions with water is
called lime concrete.
• In this type of concrete hydraulic lime is generally used as a
binding material, sand and cinder are used as fine
aggregates and broken bricks, gravel can be used as coarse
aggregates.

prepared by Ar.Veena I asst professor I GIA

TYPES OF CONCRETE AND ITS USES
• CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO DESIGN OF CONCRETE
• (1) Plain cement concrete.
• (2) Reinforced cement concrete(RCC).
• (3) Pre-stressed cement concrete(PCC).
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• PLAIN CEMENT CONCRETE
• The cement concrete in which no reinforcement is
provided is called plain cement concrete or mass
cement concrete.
• This type of concrete is strong in taking compressive
stresses but weak in taking tensile stresses.
• Plain cement concrete is commonly used in for
foundation work and flooring of buildings.
TYPES OF CONCRETE AND ITS USES
• CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO DESIGN OF CONCRETE
• (1) Plain cement concrete.
• (2) Reinforced cement concrete(RCC).
• (3) Pre-stressed cement concrete(PCC).
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• REINFORCED CEMENT CONCRETE(RCC)
• The cement concrete in which reinforcement is
embedded for taking tensile stress is called
reinforced cement concrete.
• In this type of concrete the steel reinforcement
is to be used generally in the form of round
bars,6mm to 32mm dia.
• This concrete is equally strong in taking
tensile, compressive and shear stresses
• RCC is commonly used for construction of
slabs, beams, columns, foundation, precast
concrete.
TYPES OF CONCRETE AND ITS USES
• CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO DESIGN OF CONCRETE
• (1) Plain cement concrete.
• (2) Reinforced cement concrete(RCC).
• Pre-stressed cement concrete(PCC).
• (3) Pre-stressed cement concrete(PCC).
• The cement concrete in which high compressive
stresses are artificially induced before their actual
use is called pre-stresses cement concrete.
• in this type of cement concrete, the high
compressive stresses are induced by pre-tensioning
the reinforcement before placing the concrete, and
the reinforcement is released when final setting of
the concrete take place
• This concrete can take up high tensile and
compressive stresses without development of
cracks. The quantity of reinforcement can be
considerably reduced by using this concrete
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• Nadakkavu school

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Cement Concrete
• It is a mixture of cement, sand pebbles or crushed rocks and water
• Features of cement concrete
• readily moulded into durable structural items of various sizes
• shapes at practically no considerable labour expenditure.

• It is possible to control the properties of cement concrete within a wide range by using
appropriate ingredients and by applying special processing techniques – mechanical,
chemical and physical
• It is possible to mechanise completely its preparation and placing processes
• It possesses adequate plasticity for the mechanical working

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Properties of Cement Concrete
• It has a high compressive strength
• Free from corrosion
• No appreciable effect of atmospheric agents on it
• Hardens with age
• Process of hardening continues for a long time after the
concrete has attained sufficient strength
• More economical than steel
• It binds rapidly with steel and it is week in tension
• RCC –Reinforced cement concrete –steel reinforcement

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Properties of Cement Concrete
• Under two conditions the cement concrete has the tendency to shrink
• Initial shrinkage of cement concrete –mainly due to the loss of water
through forms, absorption by surfaces of forms etc.
• The shrinkage occurs as it hardens – this tendency of cement concrete
can be minimised by proper curing of concrete.
• Has a tendency to be porous –due to the presence of coids which are
formed during and after its placing
• Precautions
• there should be grading and consolidating of the aggregates
• Minimum water cement ratio should be adopted

• Its strength and quality to the site depend entirely on local conditions
and persons handling it

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Materials used in R C C work
• Four materials required for making RCC
• Cement • CEMENT
• Aggregates • Earlier the lime was used as a cementing material
• Steel • At present Portland cement is used for the cement
• Water concrete work
• Other types : rapid hardening cement
• High alumina content

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Aggregates
• These are the inert to chemically inactive materials which form the bulk
of cement concrete
• Bound together by means of cement
• Classified into two :
• Fine and Coarse.
• Fine Aggregate
• passed through BIS test sieve no 480
• < 4.75 mm
• Natural river sand
• Finely crushed stone is used as fine aggregate where river sand is not
available

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Aggregates
Coarse Aggregate
• Materials which is retained on BIS test sieve no 480
• > 4.75 mm
• Broken stone is generally used
• Nature of work decides the maximise size of the coarse
aggregate
• For thin slabs and walls, the maximum size of coarse
aggregate should be 1/3 of the thickness of the concrete
section
• The aggregate used should be hard, durable and clean
• Aggregate should be free from lumps of clay, organic and
vegetable matter, fine dust etc
• Presence of debris prevents adhesion of aggregates and
reduce the strength of concrete

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Steel
• Generally in the form of round bars of mild steel
• Diameter of 5mm to 40mm
• Sometimes square bars or twisted bars or ribbed
torsteel are used as steel reinforcement.
• For road slabs and such other constructions, the
reinforcement may also consist of sheets of rolled steel
• Hyrib –steel lath is also used as steel reinforcement.

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Water
• Least expensive but most important ingredient of
concrete
• Should be clean and free from harmful
impurities such as oil, alkali , acid etc.

• Sea water used where sea water is abundant and

potable water is costly
• Sea water can be used to make cement concrete
• Problems:
• Strength
• Corrosion of reinforcement

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Water
• Strength
• Sea water contains 3.50 percent of dissolved salt
• Chlorides tend to accelerate the setting time and
improve the strength of the concrete in early stages
• Sulphate tends to retard the setting of cement and
discourage the strength of concrete in early stages
• Net action of Cl2 and SO4 results in fall of about
8 – 20 percent
• Sea water develop dampness and efflorescence

• Corrosion of reinforcement
• Minimum cement content : 3kN/m3
• Minimum cover over the reinforcement should be
75 mm
• Sea water cannot be used in prestressed concrete.
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Admixtures
• Sometimes the ingredients other than the mentioned is
added in concrete to give it certain improved qualities or for
changing different physical properties in its fresh and
hardened stages They are known as admixtures
• The addition of admixtures may improve the concrete with
respect to its strength, hardness, workability, water resisting
power etc.
• Example of admixtures are
• Alum, aluminium sulphate, barium oxide, bitumen, calcium chloride,
coal ash common salt , iron oxide, lime etc.
• CaCl2 is added as admixture, it absorbs water from the
concrete and water cement ratio falls down .- it gives quick
setting concrete
• But not suitable for concrete with reinforcing bars.
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Admixtures
• Before adding a admixture following factors • Depending upon their activities the admixtures are
should be considered categorized into 5:
• Grading curves of aggregates and their • Accelerators
respective properties • Air entraining admixtures
• Method of construction • High range of water reducers or super plasticiers
• Quantity of cement per m3 of concrete • Normal range of water reducers or plasticiers
• Requirement of slump and retention • Retarders.
• Temperature variation
• Type and make of cement
• Water cement ration

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Proportion of concrete
• Process of selection of relative proportions of
cement, sand and coarse aggregate ad water to
obtain a concrete of desired quality is known as the
proportioning concrete.
• The proportion of coarse aggregate, fine aggregate,
cement and water should be such that the resulting
concrete has the following properties
• When concrete is fresh, it should have enough
workability so that it can be placed in the formwork
economically
• The concrete must posses maximum density or in
other words it should be the strongest and most
watertight
• The cost of materials and labour required to form
the concrete should be minimum

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Different methods of proportioning concrete
• Arbitrary method
• Fitness modulus method
• Minimum void method
• Maximum density method
• Water cement ration method
• Arbitrary method
• Volumetric proportions of cement,sand and coarse aggregate are fixed
arbitararily
• 1:2:4 or 1:3:6
• Depends upon the nature of work
• Fine : Coarse aggregate 1:2
• General expression for the proportions of cement: sand: coarse aggregate
• 1: n : 2n
• Recommended proportions are
• 1:1:2 and 1:1.2:2.4 - high strength concrete
• 1:1 ½ :3 and 1:2:4 - normal work
• 1:3:6 and 1:4:8 - for foundations and mass concrete work
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 Different methods of proportioning concrete
• Concrete as per BIS 456-1978 is designated in 7 grades
• M10, M15, M25, M30, M35,M40
• M – refers to the mix
• Number indicates the specified compressive strength of that mix at 28 days expressed in
N/mm2
• Grades of concrete lower than M15 are not to be used in RCC work
• M5 -1:5:10
• M10 -1:3:6
• M20 -1:1 ½:3
• M7.5 -1:4:8
• M15 -1:2:4
• M25- 1:1:2

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Different methods of proportioning concrete
• Arbitrary method
• Fineness modulus method
• Minimum void method
• Maximum density method
• Water cement ration method

• Fineness modulus method

• Fineness of fine aggregate and coarse aggregate are measured
• 10 BIS sieves are used
• No of sieves used are from 80mm to number 15

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Different methods of proportioning concrete
• Arbitrary method
• Fineness modulus method
• Minimum void method
• Maximum density method
• Water cement ration method
• Minimum void method
• The voids of coarse aggregate and fine
aggregate are measures separately
• In actual practice the quantity of fine aggregate
used in the mix is about 10% more than the
voids of the coarse aggregate
• Quantity of cement is kept about 15% more
than the voids in the fine aggregate.

• Doesn’t give satisfactory result

• The presence of cement, water and fine
aggregate separate the constituents of the
coarse aggregate hence the voids of the coarse
aggregate determined previously in the absence
of fine aggregate and cement are increased
• Voids of the fine aggregate and coarse aggregate
due to the addition of cement and water
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Different methods of proportioning concrete
• Maximum density method
• Arbitrary method
• A box is filled with varying proportions of fine
• Fineness modulus method
and coarse aggregates.
• Minimum void method
• The proportion which gives heaviest weight is
• Maximum density method then adopted.
• Water cement ration method
• Not very popular
• The grading cannot be accurately achieved
• There is no control over the strength of the
concrete

prepared by Ar.Veena I asst professor I GIA

Different methods of proportioning concrete
• Arbitrary method
• Fineness modulus method
• Minimum void method
• Maximum density method
• Water cement ratio method
• Water cement ratio method
• Strength of well compacted concrete with
good workability is dependent only on the
water cement ratio
• Lower water content produces stiff paste
having greater binding property and hence the
lowering of water cement ratio within certain
limits results in the increased strength.
• Higher water cement ratio increases the
workability
• Increase in water cement ration results lower
strength of concrete

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Grading of aggregates
• To obtain concrete of denser quality, the fine and coarse aggregates are properly graded
• BIS test sieves nos. 480,240, 120,60,30,15

• Difficult to provide grading of coarse aggregates than of sand

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 Water Cement Ratio
• Water in the concrete has to perform the following two
functions
• Water enters into chemical reaction with the cement
and this action causes the setting and hardening of
concrete
• Water lubricates the aggregates and it facilitates the
passage of cement through voids of aggregates –
Workability
• Water requires 0.50 -0.60 times the weight of the
cement
• “The ration of the amount of water to the amount of
cement by weight is termed as the water cement
ration”
• Strength and quality of concrete primarily depend
upon this ratio.

Quantity of water is expressed in L per bag of cement ( 1 bag of cement 30 L then water cement ration will be 0.60)
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 Water Cement Ratio
• Strength of concrete is inversely proportional to the water cement ratio
• For structures which are regularly wetting and drying, the water cement ratio by weight should be
0.45 and 0.55 for thin section and mass concreting
• For structures which are continuously under water, water cement ration should be 0.55 -0.65 for
thin sections and mass concrete

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Workability
• Ease or difficulty with which the concrete is handled,
transported and placed between the forms with minimum
loss of homogeneity.
• It is also defined as the amount of useful internal work
necessary to produce full compaction
• If concrete mixture is too wet the coarse aggregate settle at
the bottom of concrete mass and resulting concrete become
of non uniform composition
• If concrete mixture is too dry, it will be difficult to handle
and place it in position
• Stiff concrete mixture : Vibrated concrete
• Wet concrete mixture : thin sections containing
reinforcing bars
• To test workability various tests are developed :
SLUMP TEST

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SLUMP TEST
• Standard slump cone is placed on the ground
• The operator holds the cone firmly by standing on
the foot pieces.
• Cone filled 1/4th portion and rammed with a rod
• Remaining portion filled with similar layers and the
top of concrete surface is stuck off
• Cone gradually raised vertically and removed
• The slump of concrete is obtained by deducting
height of concret after subsidence from 30cm

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Slump Test
• Grants the facility to easily detect the difference in water content of successive
batches of concrete of the same identical mix
• The apparatus is cheap, portable and convenient to be used at site

• LIMITATIONS
• There are chances of many shapes of slump to occur and it is difficult to decide
which is correct
• Slump occurs only in case of plastic mixers

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MIXING
• The operation of manufacture of concrete is called ‘mixing’.
• The mixing can be done by two methods:
• HAND MIXING
• Mixing is done manually on a steel plate or on a 2m x 2m in size or on a clean hard surface.
• This method is resorted to when the quantity of concrete needed for the work is small
• Sand and cement in appropriate proportions are mixed first in a dry state.
• The coarse aggregate is then added and the whole mixture is mixed thoroughly with the help of
shovels.
• The predetermined amount of water is then sprinkled over the mix, till the colour of concrete
obtained is homogeneous and workable mix is obtained.

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 MIXING
• MACHINE MIXING
• Concrete should normally be mixed in a mechanical mixer.
• The main part of the mixer is a drum in which the ingredients are mixed thoroughly by
mechanically rotating the drum.
• The drum is made of steel plates, with a number of blades put in inclined position in the
drum.
• As the drum rotates, the materials encounter resistance to rotation from the blades and
this disturbing effects helps in a good mixing of the ingredients.
• The mixers are either operated electrically or else are driven by oil engines attached to them.
• Coarse aggregate should be fed first, then sand and lastly cement.
• In the revolving state, when the three get thoroughly mixed, water should be added either
with the help of a can or automatically through the pipe attached to the mixer.
• Mixing should be continued until there is a uniform distribution of the materials and the mass
is uniform in colour and consistency, but in no case shall the mixing be done for less than two
minutes.
• Concrete mixers may be of two types:
• Batch Mixers
• Continuous Mixers prepared by Ar.Veena I asst professor I GIA