CHAPTER EIGHT

CONCRETE

MIX

DESIGN
 The concrete mix design can be defined as choosing the appropriate mixing and
quantity to produce concrete with the least cost and minimum of special
requirements (especially workability & strength).

Basic Concepts in Mix Design

1) cost
2) specifications
Minimum compressive strength
Maximum w/c
Min. & Max. cement content
Min. density

Factor Affecting Choose of Mix Proportion

1) Strength
2) Quality control
3) Durability
4) Workability
5) Maximum aggregate size M.A.Z
6) Grading & type of aggregate.

The methods used in design use the proportion of components:

• By weight
• By volume: - Solid volume (absolute volume)
- Bulk volume (total volume)

Various Methods of Proportion

a) Arbitrary Proportions
b) Fineness modulus method
c) Maximum density method
e) Indian Road Congress, IRC 44 method
d) ACI Committee 211 method
f) British B.S 8110 method (DOE)

Mean strength & minimum strength

Structural design is based on the assumption of a certain minimum (or specified)
strength "fc" of concrete, but the actual strength of concrete produced is a variable
 quantity; therefore (in selecting a concrete mix) we aim at a target (mean)
strength "fm" higher than the minimum strength.
To determine the value of the target, and mean strength, we must test some
specimens from a concrete batch of a mix of the proportions of the same
ingredients. The target strength value depends on the number of the tested
specimens and the specimens that have strength under fc.
Thus, fc is the strength of a given mix to be exceeded by a predetermined
proportion of all test results, usually 95% or 99% (standard deviation is equal to
5% or 1%).
Thus, the fm depends on the value of standard deviation (S.D)
fm= fc + M = fc + K.S
S = Standard deviation
K = Constant

Condition of moisture in aggregate

Standard case for

Standard case for
American method
British method
saturated & surface moist wet
oven dry air dry dry S.S.D

W1 W2 W3 W4
Surface water

(free water)
moist cont.
surface

moisture
absorption capacity

total moisture

moisture = zero < absorption absorption > absorption

content W 3 − W1
capacity capacity capacity
Absorption capacity (%) = * 100
W1

W 2 − W1
Moisture content for air dry (%) = * 100
W1
 W 4 − W1
Total moisture for moist condition (%) = * 100
W1

W 3 − W1 W 4 −W3
Total moisture (%) = * 100 + *100
W1 W3

American Method (for Mix Design) (ACI-318-211)

The ACI-211 describes the selection method of mix proportions with other
cementatious materials and also containing admixtures. This method takes into
account the characteristics of the material to be used.
* American method is based on the "dry Oven" condition for aggregate.

Strength & Required Average Compressive Strength

The cylindrical specimen is used here instead of cubic to test the compressive
strength. The specified compressive strength, fc˘, at 28 days is the strength that is
expected to be equal to or exceeded by the average of any set of three consecutive
strength tests.
* Similar to British standard method, in selecting a concrete mix, we aim at a target
(required)"f'cr" strength higher than the minimum (specified fc˘) strength.

f˘cr = fc˘+ M = fc˘+ K.S

the value of standard deviation is depend on the number of tests done on the concrete
mix of the same proportion. The value of standard deviation is shown in table -2-
and table -3- .
Here, the f˘cr for the selected mixture is equal to the larger of equations 1 and 2
(for fc˘<35 MPa) or Eq.3 (for fc˘>35 MPa)

------- 1
------- 2

------- 3
Water – cementitious materials W/CM
The water – cementitious materials ratio is the mass of water divided by the mass
of cementitious materials (Portland cement, fly ash, silica fume and natural
pozzolanas). The W/CM selected for mix design must be lowest value required to
meet anticipated exposure conditions. Table (4) or Fig. (1) show the requirements
for various exposure conditions.
Aggregates
Two characteristics of aggregate have an important influence on proportioning
concrete mixtures (affect the workability) :
1. Grading.
2. Nature of particles (shape - porosity)
The bulk volume of coarse aggregate can be determined from Fig. (3) or table (8).
(Note: The “Rounded gravel” can reduce the required water by 25 Kg/m3)

Slump
Concrete must always be made with a workability, consistency, and plasticity
suitable for job conditions. Workability is a measure of how easy or difficult is to
place, consolidate, and finish concrete. Consistency is the ability of freshly mixed
concrete to flow. Plasticity determines concrete's ease of molding. When slump is
not specified, an approximate value can be selected from table (1).

Water content
The water content of concrete is influenced by a number of factors: aggregate (size,
shape and texture), W/CM, air content , cementing materials type and content,
admixtures and environmental conditions.
The approximate water contents in table -6- are for angular coarse aggregates
(crushed stone). For some concrete and aggregates, the water estimates can be
reduced by approximately 10 kg for subangular aggregate, 20 kg for gravel with
some crushed particles, and 25 kg for a round gravel to produce the slump shown.

Admixtures
Water reducing admixtures are added to concrete mainly to reduce the water content.
It usually decrease water content by 5% to 10%. High range water reducers reduce
water contents between 12 to 30%.
Steps of Design

Step1 Determination of Slump

Different slumps are needed for various types of concrete and it is usually indicated
in the job specifications a range (Min-Max), when the slump is not specified, an
approximated value can be selected from table (1).

Step2 " Required strength "

First, check the design strength (f˘c) with that in table (5).
Determine the required target strength f˘cr , use Eqs. (1-3), (table 2) or (table3) .

Step3 " W/CM "

Find the required W/C ratio use (Fig.1) or (table4). Check the lower or upper limit
of W/CM given by specification or the value of table -5-

Step 4 " Water Content"

From Fig (2) or (table 6), find the required water content which depend on the
required slump.
(Note: The “Rounded gravel” can reduce the required water by 25 Kg/m3)

Step 5 '' Cement Content"

The cement content is based on w/cm ratio & water content, thus the cement
content is equal to:
Water content / (W/CM). check with the minimum requirements determine in
table -7- .

Step 6 "Air Content "

Determine the target air content for the specified Max aggregate size use (Fig 2)
(of Table 6)

Step 7 "Coarse Aggregate content"

The quantity of coarse aggregate is depend on the Max aggregate size and can be
estimated from Fig(3) or table (8) . coarse Agg. content = bulk volume fraction of
coarse * bulk density.

Step8 "Fine Aggregate"

The volume of required fine aggregate can be determined by :
Fine Agg. = 1- (cement+water+coarse Agg.+air)
The weight of Fine Agg is then equal to : Fine (volume) * R.D * 1000
Step 9 " Admixture Content"
Estimation of admixture content according to cement content.

Ex (American Approach, Absolute Volume Method)

Given: concrete required for pavement exposed to moisture in a sever freeze-thaw
conditions.
Specified compressive strength fc˘ = 35 MPa (at 28 day) , air entrained required.
Slump: 50-75 mm
Cement type : GU , R.D 3.0
Coarse Agg. : well graded , M.A.S: 25mm , R.D:2.6 , absorption capaity :0.5% ,
oven dry bulk density =1600 kg/m3.
Fine Agg. R.D : 2.64 , absorption capacity: 0.7% , F.M:2.8
Water reducer : reduce water by 10% when use dosage rate is 3g per Kg of cement.
Design the mix, assume
1. for oven dry aggregate condition
2. for S.S.D condition for aggregate
3. for moist condition aggregate with : coarse Agg. moisture content 2%
fine agg. moisture content 6%
Solution
Step1 Slump
The slump is specified (50-75mm) (use 75mm)

Step2 Required strength

The design strength of 35 MPa is greater than the 31 MPa required in (Table5) for
the exposure condition. f˘cr (when no statistical on previous mixes are available)
from table 3 is equal to: f˘cr = fc˘+ 8.5 = 35+8.5= 43.5 MPa.

Step3 w/cm
From (table 5) , the Maximum allowable w/cm is 0.45. the recommended w/c from
Fig.1 (or table 4) is 0.31(for f˘cr =43.5 MPa)

Step4 From Fig (2) or (table 6), the recommended water content is 175 Kg/m3.
Rounded gravel can reduce the required water by 25 Kg/m 3 → 150 Kg/m3 . In
addition, the water reducer will reduce water demand by 10%.
→ water content is 150-0.1*150=135 Kg/m3

Step 5 cement Content

Cement content = water content / (w/c) = 135/0.31 = 435 Kg/m3
(this is grater than 335 Kg/m3 required for frost resistance [table 7])
Step 6 Air Content
From (table 6) (or Fig.2) the target air content is 6%.

Step 7 Coarse Aggregate content

from Fig(3) or table (8) the bulk volume of coarse Agg. is 0.67
mass of coarse Agg( oven dry) = 0.67*1600 = 1072 kg/m3

Step 8 Fine Aggregate.

First, estimate the bulk volume of mix ingredients :(mas/(R.D*1000))
Water = 135/(1*1000 )=0.135 m3
Cement = 435/(3*1000) = 0.145 m 3
Air = 6/100 = 0.06 m3
Coarse Agg. = 1072 / (2.68*1000) =0.4 m3
total volume = 0.74 m3

the total volume of fine Agg. = 1-.74= 0.26 m3

→ the mass of fine Agg. = 0.26 *2.64*1000=686 kg/m3

Step 9 Admixture Content

The water reducer dosage of 3 g per Kg of cement result 3/1000*435 = 1.305 kg/m3
* The quantities for oven dry Agg. Conditions

Per 1 m 3 Water
Cement Fine Agg. Coarse reducer
Water (kg)
(kg) (kg) Agg. (kg)
(kg)

For oven dry 435 135 686 1072 1.305

* Ingredients content for S.S.D conditions

Coarse Agg. = 1072 * (1+0.005) =1077 kg/m3
Fine Agg. = 686 * (1+0.007) =690 kg/m3
 Per 1 m 3 Water
Cement Fine Agg. Coarse reducer
Water (kg)
(kg) (kg) Agg. (kg)
(kg)

For S.S.D 435 126 690 1077 1.305

Water content = 135 –(1077-1072) – (690 – 686)= 126 kg/m3

* Ingredients content for moist conditions
coarse Agg.=1.02*1072=1093 kg/m3

fine Agg.=1.06*686=727 kg/m3

→ required added water: 135 – (1072 x 0.02) – (686 x 0.06) = 72.4 kg/m3

Per 1 m 3 Water
Cement Fine Agg. Coarse reducer
Water (kg)
(kg) (kg) Agg. (kg)
(kg)

Moist condition 435 72.4 727 1093 1.305

H.W
Design an air entrained concrete for the interior building (the concrete is not
exposed to severe condition of exposure). Design using ACI method then redesign
by C.P method, and according to the following requirement:
Characteristic copmr. Strength at 28 days = 20 MPa.
Defective rate = 5%
Standard deviation = 6 MPa
M.A.Z = 40 mm.
Slump = 50mm
Type of aggregate (uncrushed).
Entrained air to be used as found by the ACI method.
For fine agg. for coarse agg.
R.D 2.58 2.64
F.M 2.6 -
Dry rodded - - 1600 kg/m3
(bulk density)
Absorption capacity 1.5 % 1%
Design the mixture as : a) S.S.D basis b) Dry basis

-1

-2
-3

-4
-4
 Fig. 1 Approximate relationship between compressive

strength and water to cementing materials ratio for concrete

5
6

7
2

8
Fig(3). Bulk volume of coarse aggregate per unit
volume of concrete