NPTEL MOOC COURSE ON

Basic Construction Materials

By Dr Manu Santhanam and Dr. Radhakrishna G Pillai | IIT Madras

Teaching Assistant: Umesh Hule

1
 OVERVIEW – Week 6

• Steps in concrete construction

• Mix design of concrete

• Workability tests

• Concrete placement and compaction

• Curing of concrete

• Concrete properties

• Concrete durability

• Pre-tensioning and post-tensioning

2
Q) Unit of the result obtained through compacting factor test

a) Unitless Q) _____ ensures adequate cover for reinforcements in

b) mm concrete
c) seconds a) Cover pad
d) m/s b) Tie bar
c) Cover block
d) Rebar spacer
Q) In a situation where a simply supported beam is uniformly loaded from the top, steel
reinforcements _________:
a) Needn’t be provided
b) Are provided at the bottom section of the beam
c) Are provided at the top section of the beam
d) Are provided in the middle of the beam
Q) The cement:sand:stone ratio used while volume batching for structural concrete
a) 1:2:3
b) 1:2:4
c) 1:1.5:2
3
d) 1:1:2
Q) Generally, one bag of cement weighs Q) Compared to the setting time of ordinary concrete, the setting
a) 10 kg time of concrete with water reducers is ______
b) 50 kg a) less
c) 100 kg b) more
d) 25 kg c) same
d) Not enough data to comment on

Q) Volume batching of concrete constituents is followed on site rather than weight batching
a) True Weigh batching desirable – as it leads to a proper control of
b) False concrete properties… In volume batching, water content is not
properly controlled… further, problems of bulking
Q) Finer the cement, slower the rate of heat development
a) False Also, no consensus on amount of water to be added
b) True

Q) Concrete setting time is equal to the cement setting time Cement: aggregate ratio and presence of additives influence the
a) False concrete setting time \
b) True
Q) Rate of strength gain of concrete Q) Cylindrical strength < cubic strength for concrete
a) Increases and then decreases a) True
b) Is a constant b) False
c) Decreases and then increases
St Venant's principle. End conditions during test will affect the specimen upto the
least lateral dimension. Metal flat ends grips the concrete. Interface resistance
develops. These flat ends prevent the lateral bulging (caused by poisson’s effect).
Causes increase in compressive strength. In cylinder, the end effects are present
upto a certain distance only. Only pure compression at the centre.
Q) Height to diameter ratio for concrete cylindrical specimens used for strength tests is ___
a) 1:1
b) 1:2
c) 2:1 Q) Choose the correct option
d) 1:3 a) Cylinder strength = 0.25*Cube strength
b) Cylinder strength = 0.85*Cube strength
c) Cylinder strength = 0.50*Cube strength
Q) Due to end friction, the crack pattern in a cube compression testing is__________
a) Vertical – in the direction of load application d) Cylinder strength = 0.75*Cube strength
b) Horizontal – perpendicular to the load application
c) Cone-shaped
d) Irregular shaped 5
Q) Cylinder testing is more realistic to the site scenario than cube testing for compression
a) False
b) True Cylinder is cast and testing also in same direction. Cube is cast and testing done not
in same direction

Q) Generally tensile strength of concrete is 1/7th or 1/10th of compressive strength

a) More or less similar to the compressive strength
b) Lesser than compressive strength Q) In flexural strength testing, tension is present at the
c) More than compressive strength a) Bottom side of the beam
b) Top side of the beam
c) Centre of the beam
Q) In 2-point loading, the region between the 2 loads is of

a) Pure shear
b) Pure bending
c) Pure compression
d) Pure tension

6
Q) Grooves are cut on the road surface during final finishing for reducing noise pollution and avoid hydroplaning
a) True
b) False
Q) Downward bend is sagging and upward bend is
Q) The preferred method of curing of a horizontal hogging
member in cold-weather concreting a) True
is_______________. b) False
Q) Steel type used for prestressing is the same as
a) Wet burlap clothing the one used as reinforcement
b) Fogging a) True
c) Insulating blanket b) False
d) Ponding

Q) Modulus of elasticity of concrete (E) =

a) 5000fck0.5 Q) Grout filling needs to be carried out in the case of
b) 500fck0.5 a) Pre-tensioning
c) 5000fck2 b) Post-tensioning
d) 500fck2 Q) Name the two time-dependent deformations:
a) Shrinkage
7
b) Creep
Issue Definition
A) Segregation i. Accumulation of water on the surface
B) Laitance ii. Powdered cement paste
C) Bleeding iii. Shrinkage cracks on the cement paste settled on the
surface
D) Crazing iv. Settling of aggregates at the bottom

a) A-i, B-ii, C-iii, D-iv

b) A-iii, B-ii, C-i, D-iv
c) A-iv, B-ii, C-i, D-iii
d) A-iv, B-i, C-ii, D-iii

8
THANK YOU