Engineering Materials

CE 201

Concrete Mix Design

Prepared by
Debasish Sen
Lecturer, Department of CE
AUST
Concrete Mix Design
Mix design can be defined as the process of selecting suitable ingredients of
concrete and determining their relative proportions with the objective of
producing concrete of certain minimum strength and durability as economically
as possible.

Aim of the mix design is to determine

 Water content
 Cement content
 Amount of CA
 Amount of FA
Two basic types of information required to perform Mix Design of Concrete

1. Mix design specification

 Cement type
 Workability i.e. Slump value
 Maximum size of aggregate
 Required compressive strength
 Air content
2. Properties of mix components

Coarse
Cement Fine Aggregate
Aggregate

Nominal SSD Bulk

Type maximum Specific
size Gravity

SSD bulk
Specific Absorption
specific
gravity Capacity
gravity

Absorption Fineness
capacity Modulus

Dry-rodded
density
Background Data

 Sieve analysis of FA and CA

 Unit weight of CA
 Bulk specific gravities and absorption of aggregates
 Mixing water requirement of concrete developed from experience with
available aggregates.
 Relationship between strength and water cement ratio
 Specific gravity of Portland Cement
 Optimum combination of CA to meet the maximum density grading for
mass concrete
 Estimate of proportions of mix for preliminary design.
ACI Concrete Mix Design steps

Step 1: Choice of slump value

Step 2: Choice of maximum aggregate size
Step 3: Estimation of mixing water and air content
Step 4: Selection of w/c ratio
Step 5:Calculation of cement content
Step 6: Estimation of coarse aggregate content
Step 7:Estimation of FA content by the absolute volume method
Step 8:Adjustment for moisture in the Aggregate
Step 9: Trial batch adjustment
ACI Concrete Mix Design
ACI Concrete Mix Design
ACI Concrete Mix Design
ACI Concrete Mix Design
ACI Concrete Mix Design

Example 1
Concrete is required for an exterior column of a building. The specified
strength is 5000 psi at 28 days. Cement should be Type-I with sp. Gravity of
3.15.The maximum size of coarse aggregate should be 20 mm [¾ in]. The
fine aggregate has a fineness modulus of 2.70. Preliminary tests indicate that
CA and FA have a specific gravity [SSD] of 2.70 and 2.65 respectively.
Absorption capacity of CA and FA are 1 and 1.3%. Moisture content of CA
and FA are 0 and 3%.The dry-rodded unit weight of CA is 1600 Kg/m3 [100
lb/ft3].
ACI Concrete Mix Design

Step 1: Choice of slump value

From Table 19.3

Slump value range = 1 – 4 inch

Step 2: Choice of maximum aggregate size

Maximum Aggregate Size = 0.75 inch

Step 3: Estimation of mixing water and air content

From Table 19.4

With slump value range = 1 – 4 inch and Max. Agg. Size ¾ inch
Approximate mixing water = 315 lb/yd3 =315 lb per yd3 of concrete
Air content = 2%
ACI Concrete Mix Design

Step 4: Selection of w/c ratio

From Table 19.1

Target strength 5000 psi at 28 days
W/C = 0.48 [Non-air entrained concrete]

Step 5:Calculation of cement content

Weight of cement = Weight of water / w/c

=315 lb/yd3 / 0.48
=656 lb per yd3 of concrete

Step 6: Estimation of coarse aggregate content

From Table 19.9

Dry-rodded coarse aggregate per unit volume of concrete = 0.63
ACI Concrete Mix Design

Step 6: Estimation of coarse aggregate content [cont.]

CA required for 1 cubic yard concrete = 0.63 yd3

= 0.63 x 27 ft3
= 17.01 ft3
Oven dry weight of CA = 100 lb/ft3 x 17 .01 ft3
= 1701 lb per yd3 of concrete
Weight of SSD aggregate = [1 + A.C.] x Weight [OD]
= [1 + 1/100] x 1701
= 1718 lb per yd3 of concrete
ACI Concrete Mix Design

Step 7: Estimation of FA content by the absolute volume method

Water = 315 lb/ 62.4 lb/ft3 = 5.05 ft3 per yd3 of concrete
Cement = 656 lb/ (3.15 x 62.4 lb/ft3) = 3.34 ft3 per yd3 of concrete
CA = 1718/ (2.70 x 62.4 lb/ft3) = 10.20 ft3 per yd3 of concrete
Air 2% x 27ft3 = 0.54 ft3 per yd3 of concrete
Total = 19.13 ft3 per yd3 of concrete
So, FA volume = 27 ft3 -19.13 ft3 =7.18 ft3
SSD weight of FA = 7.87 ft3 x 2.65 x 62.4 lb/ft3 = 1301 lb per yd3 of concrete
ACI Concrete Mix Design

Step 8:Adjustment for moisture in the Aggregate

FA required = [1 + M.C.] x Weight [SSD]

= [1 + 3/100 ] x 1301 lb per yd3 of concrete
= 1340 lb per yd3 of concrete
Water required = Water - FA x M.C.
= 315 lb – 1301 x 3/100
= 276 lb per yd3 of concrete
So, the estimated batch weights per cubic yard of concrete are as follows

Materials Quantity[lb]
Cement 656
Water 276
CA (SSD) 1718
FA (wet) 1340
ACI Concrete Mix Design

Step 9: Trial batch adjustment

The ACI method is written on the basis that a trial batch of concrete will be
prepared in the laboratory, and adjusted to give the desired slump, freedom
from segregation, finishability, unit weight, air content and strength.
ACI Concrete Mix Design

Home work
Concrete is required for the column of a building. The specified strength is
2900 psi at 28 days. The maximum size of coarse aggregate should be 20
mm [¾ in]. The fine aggregate has a fineness modulus of 2.60. Preliminary
tests indicate that both aggregates have a specific gravity [SSD] of 2.65 and
have negligible absorption and moisture content; the bulk density of CA is
1600 Kg/m3 [100 lb/ft3].
British method of Concrete Mix Design

Step 1: Selection of w/c from curves

Step 2: Estimate water content based on slump / Vebe time (seconds), M.S.A
and shape of aggregate
Step 3: Determination of the cement content
Step 4: Determination of the total aggregate content
Step 5: Determination of FA based on M.S.A and w/c and grading zone of
sand from curves.

Example 1

A mean 28-day compressive strength (measured on standard cubes) of 44

MPa (which is equivalent to a cylinder strength of 35 MPa); a slump of 50
mm; uncrushed aggregate with a maximum size of 20 mm; specific gravity
of aggregate of 2.64; 60 per cent of fine aggregate passes the 0.60 mm sieve;
no air entrainment required.
British method of Concrete Mix Design

Table 9.5: Approximate Compressive Strengths of Concretes Made with a

Free Water/Cement Ratio of 0.5 According to the 1997 British Method

Cement Type of coarse Compressive strength (MPa)

Strength Class aggregate
3 day 7 day 28 day 91 day
42.5 Uncrushed 22 30 42 49

42.5 crushed 27 36 49 56
52.5 Uncrushed 29 37 48 54

52.5 crushed 34 43 55 61
British method of Concrete Mix Design

Figure 9.3: Relation between compressive strength and free

water/cement ratio for use in the British mix selection method
British method of Concrete Mix Design

Table 9.6: Approximate free-water (mixing water) kg/m3 required for workability

MSA Type Slump Slump Slump Slump

(mm) 0-10 mm 10-30 mm 30-60 mm 60- 180
mm
10 Uncrushed 150 180 205 225
10 crushed 180 205 230 250
20 Uncrushed 135 160 180 195
20 crushed 170 190 210 225
40 Uncrushed 115 140 160 175
40 crushed 155 175 190 205
British method of Concrete Mix Design

Figure 9.4: Estimated wet density for fully compacted concrete (specific
gravity is given for saturated and surface-dry aggregate)
British method of Concrete Mix Design
British method of Concrete Mix Design
Step 1
From Table 9.5, for ordinary Portland cement and uncrushed aggregate, 28-day
strength is 42 MPa.
Enter this value on the ordinate corresponding to a water/cement ratio of 0.5 in
Fig. 9.3,this point is marked A.
Through A, a line is drawn ‘parallel’ to the nearest curve until it intersects the
ordinate corresponding to the specified strength of 44 MPa; this is point B.
The ordinate through this point gives the water/cement ratio of 0.48.

Step 2
From Table 9.6, for 20 mm uncrushed aggregate and a slump of 50 mm, the water
requirement is 180 kg/m3.

Step 3
The cement content is 180/0.48 = 375 kg/m3.
British method of Concrete Mix Design

Step 4
From Fig. 9.4, for a water content of 180 kg/m 3 and aggregate with a specific
gravity of 2.64, the fresh density of concrete of 2400 kg/m3.
The total aggregate content is

2400 – 375 – 180 = 1845 kg/m3.

Step 5
In Fig. 9.5, point out the particular diagram for the maximum size of aggregate
of 20 mm and a slump value of 50 mm.
On the line representing fine aggregate with 60 per cent passing the 0.60 mm
sieve, at a water/cement ratio of 0.48, the proportion of fine aggregate is 32 per
cent (by mass of total aggregate).
Fine aggregate content is 32 × 1845 = 590 kg/m3
Coarse aggregate content is 1845 – 590 = 1255 kg/m3.
Differences between British Method and ACI Method

British Method ACI Method

No adjustment of aggregate mixture Adjustment is required (since it uses

is required (uses SSD). Dry Rodded Unit Weight).

Based on strength and durability. Based on balance between economy

and requirements for strength,
placeability, density, etc.
Volume based calculations cannot be Both volume and weight based
done. Only weight based calculation calculations can be done.
is possible.

In mixing ingredients, air content is Air content is considered.

not considered.

It is used for producing only Non- It is used for producing both Air-
Air-Entrained concrete. Entrained and Non-Air-Entrained
concrete.
0.32

0.48